Mitzie Hunter

Mitzie Jacquelin Hunter (born September 14, 1971) is a Canadian politician who represented Scarborough—Guildwood as a member of provincial parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2013 to 2023. A member of the Ontario Liberal Party, Hunter was a provincial cabinet minister from 2014 to 2018 and was the deputy leader of the party from 2022 to 2023. She resigned from the Ontario legislature on May 10, 2023, in order to be a candidate for mayor of Toronto in the 2023 by-election.[1]

Mitzie Hunter
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Scarborough—Guildwood
In office
August 1, 2013 – May 10, 2023
Preceded byMargarett Best
Deputy Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
In office
August 8, 2022 – May 10, 2023
LeaderJohn Fraser
Personal details
Born (1971-09-14) September 14, 1971
Jamaica
Political partyLiberal
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto at Scarborough, Rotman School of Management
OccupationPolitician

Background

Mitzie Jacquelin Hunter[2] was born in Jamaica on September 14, 1971. Her family immigrated to Canada in 1975, moving to Scarborough. Hunter graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts before earning a Master of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management.[3]

She was CEO of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, and was previously CAO of Toronto Community Housing. She also served as Vice President at Goodwill Industries of Toronto.[4]

Political career

In 2013 she ran as the Liberal candidate in a by-election called to replace Margarett Best who resigned due to health reasons. She defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Ken Kirupa by 1,246 votes.[5] She faced Kirupa again in 2014 this time defeating him by 7,610 votes.[6]

In June 2014, she was appointed as associate minister for the Ministry of Finance responsible for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.[7] On June 13, 2016, she was promoted to the senior position of minister of education.[8]

On January 17, 2018, it was announced that Hunter would leave her position as minister of education to replace outgoing Deb Matthews as the minister of advanced education and skills development.[9]

On August 14, 2019, Hunter announced her candidacy for the 2020 Ontario Liberal Party leadership race. At the leadership convention on March 7, 2020, she finished fourth.[10] She was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election.

Hunter became deputy leader of the Ontario Liberals and was considered a possible candidate in the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election. However, in March 2023, she said that she would be resigning her seat as an MPP to run in the 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election.[11]

Electoral record
2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Guildwood
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMitzie Hunter12,27145.85+12.51
Progressive ConservativeAlicia Vianga8,48431.70-1.44
New DemocraticVeronica Javier4,52316.90-10.72
GreenDean Boulding7452.78+0.33
New BlueOpa Hope Day3511.31+0.10
Ontario PartyWilliam Moore2480.93
People's Political PartyKevin Clarke1390.52
Total valid votes 26,761100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout 37.98
Eligible voters 70,445
Liberal hold Swing +6.98
Source: Elections Ontario[12]
2018 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Guildwood
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMitzie Hunter11,97233.34-16.72
Progressive ConservativeRoshan Nallaratnam11,89833.14+5.42
New DemocraticTom Packwood9,91727.62+10.7
GreenLinda Rice8782.45-0.49
LibertarianHamid-Reza Dehnad-Tabatabaei4451.24-0.12
TrilliumGeorge Marcos Garvida4191.17
Special NeedsWanda Ryan1590.44
The PeopleHeather Dunbar1510.42
IndependentBenjamin Mbaegbu660.18
Total valid votes 35,905100.0  
Liberal hold Swing -11.05
Source: Elections Ontario[13]
2014 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMitzie Hunter17,49850.06+14.21
Progressive ConservativeKen Kirupa9,68827.72-3.08
New DemocraticShuja Syed5,91516.92-11.43
GreenJeffrey W. R. Bustard1,0292.94+0.79
LibertarianRichard Kerr4761.36+0.87
FreedomKhalid Mokhtarzada2280.65+0.33
Canadians' ChoiceJohn Sawdon1200.34 
Total valid votes 34,954 100.0  
Liberal hold Swing +8.64
Source: Elections Ontario[14]
Ontario provincial by-election, August 1, 2013
Resignation of Margarett Best
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMitzie Hunter8,85235.85-13.09
Progressive ConservativeKen Kirupa7,60530.80+2.15
New DemocraticAdam Giambrone7,00028.35+8.93
GreenNick Leeson5322.15+0.86
IndependentJim Hamilton1950.79 
Special NeedsDanish Ahmed1830.74 
LibertarianHeath Thomas1200.49-0.79
Family CoalitionRaphael Rosch1040.42 
FreedomMatthew Oliver800.32-0.10
The PeopleBill Rawdah220.09 
Total valid votes 24,693 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 1800.72
Turnout 24,873 35.83
Eligible voters 69,425
Liberal hold Swing -7.62
Source: Elections Ontario[15]

References
  1. https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2023/05/02/toronto-mayoral-candidate-mitzie-hunter-reveals-date-shell-resign-as-mpp.html
  2. @ONPARLeducation (13 July 2022). "Within the halls of the Legislature are walls that contain the names of every Member of Provincial Parliament elected to Ontario's Legislature since 1867. The names for the 42nd Parliament were recently added. For the first time a Member's name was inscribed in Oji-Cree syllabics" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. Rushowy, Kristin (July 23, 2016). "At-risk students, special ed priorities for new Education Minister Mitzie Hunter". Toronto Star.
  4. "Ontario Liberals Announce Mitzie Hunter As Candidate For Scarborough-Guildwood". ontarioliberal.ca. June 13, 2017.
  5. "Liberal Mitzie Hunter nabs Scarborough riding seat". CBC News. August 1, 2013.
  6. "General Election by District: Scarborough-Guildwood". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  7. Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
  8. "Kathleen Wynne's shuffled cabinet features 40% women". CBC News. June 13, 2016.
  9. "Wynne shuffling cabinet to add new blood and replace retiring ministers". Toronto Star. January 17, 2018.
  10. Gibson, Victoria (March 7, 2020). "Steven Del Duca named Ontario Liberal leader in first-ballot victory". iPolitics. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  11. "Ontario Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter plans to resign seat to run for Toronto mayor". CBC News. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  12. "Candidates in: Scarborough—Guildwood (095)". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  13. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  14. "General Election Results by District, 082 Scarborough—Guildwood". Elections Ontario. 2014. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  15. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
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