Minna, Maria

Ontario, Beaches - East York, Liberal Party of Canada

Maria Minna was first elected to Parliament in 1993. She was re-elected in 1997, 2000 and 2004.

She was appointed Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development in 1994 and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 1996 to 1998.

As Minister for International Co-operation from August 1999, until January 2002, she doubled Canada’s overseas investment in health and nutrition and quadrupled investments in education, HIV/AIDS prevention and child protection. She also ensured that gender equality and human rights formed an integral part of all of those priority areas.

As a Member of Parliament, Ms. Minna fought hard to maintain Canada’s social safety net and universal health care system. She also fought for the National Child Tax Benefit to reduce child poverty, and for programs to support early childhood development.

She is a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance and chairs the Social Policy Committee of the National Liberal Caucus. Ms. Minna also Chairs the Canada-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group. In 2005, she led an all party delegation of Members of Parliament, Senators and leaders from the Canadian Sri Lankan business community to the island nation, to demonstrate Canada’s support of the reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the tsunamis, and to encourage the peace process. She also chairs the Canadian branch of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament, an international non-partisan forum for parliamentarians committed to nuclear disarmament.

From 1981 to 1992, Ms. Minna served as volunteer president of COSTI-IIAS, Canada’s largest immigrant services organization. She also served as a director of the National Council on Welfare and as a member of the United Way Campaign Committee, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, the National Action Committee on Immigrant and Visible Minority Women, and as President of the National Congress of Italian-Canadians.

majority seats = 155