Bonnie Brown (politician)

M. A. Bonnie Brown (born March 2, 1941) is the former Member of Parliament for the riding of Oakville and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. She is considered a left-wing Liberal, politically.[1]

Bonnie Brown
Member of Parliament for Oakville—Milton
In office
1993–1997
Preceded byOtto Jelinek
Succeeded byriding dissolved
Member of Parliament for Oakville
In office
1997–2008
Preceded byfirst member
Succeeded byTerence Young
Personal details
Born (1941-03-02) March 2, 1941
Toronto, Ontario
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Ron Coupland
ResidenceOakville
ProfessionExecutive director, social worker, teacher

Biography

Brown was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She first won a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the 1993 Federal Election in the Oakville-Milton riding. After Oakville-Milton was divided into two ridings, Oakville and Halton, she was re-elected in Oakville in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006. In the 2006 election, she won by a margin of 744 votes.[2] She was defeated by Conservative Party of Canada candidate Terence Young in the October 14, 2008 federal election.[3]

Prior to entering politics full-time, Brown was employed as a social worker and teacher. She was elected as a school trustee in 1987 and was then elected to the Oakville, Ontario Town Council, and later, the Halton Regional Council. In 1993, she replaced retiring incumbent Otto Jelinek (PC) as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Oakville-Milton.

She has served as chair of the Liberal Caucus Committee on Social Policy before being elected chair of the Commons all-party Standing Committee on Health. During her time on the Commons Health Committee, she recommended that patents on human genes should not be allowed.[4]

Bonnie Brown was the first Liberal MP to publicly speak out against the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[1] She also opposed Canada's involvement in a U.S.-led missile defense program proposal.[5] She was also influential in Canada's ratification of the Kyoto Accord on Climate Change. Brown has advocated a carbon tax in the past and supported health issues.[2]

She is involved with the Advancement of Women Halton, a group which advocates for women's issues.[6]

References
  1. Spears, John (24 January 2006). "Brown Looking at Fifth Term". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2015 – via Newspaper Source - EBSCO.
  2. Mitchell, Bob (9 October 2008). "Oakville (2006: Liberal Bonnie Brown won by 744 votes)". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2015 – via Newspaper Source - EBSCO.
  3. Mitchell, Bob (15 October 2008). "Young Knocks Out Incumbent". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2015 – via Newspaper Source - EBSCO.
  4. Bueckert, Dennis (23 January 2002). "Patents Quietly Issued on Human Genes". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2015 – via Newspaper Source - EBSCO.
  5. Campion-Smith, Bruce (28 October 2004). "Liberal Caucus Plan to Debate Missile Defence". Toronto Star. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. Holroyd, Ian (10 May 2015). "Advancement of women Halton is Leveraging Power of Numbers for Women". Oakville Beaver. Retrieved 19 July 2015 – via Inside Halton.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.