Melissa Lantsman

Melissa Lantsman MP (born April 8, 1984) is a Canadian politician and public relations executive who serves as the Member of Parliament for Thornhill in the House of Commons of Canada. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, she was elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election.[1] Lanstman is the first openly gay and first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP.[2] Upon Pierre Poilievre's election as Conservative Leader, he named Lantsman one of two deputy leaders along with Edmonton MP Tim Uppal.[3]

Melissa Lantsman
MP
Lantsman in 2022
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
September 13, 2022
Serving with Tim Uppal
LeaderPierre Poilievre
Preceded byLuc Berthold
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
Assumed office
September 13, 2022
Serving with Tim Uppal
PresidentRobert Batherson
LeaderPierre Poilievre
Preceded byLuc Berthold
Shadow Minister of Transport
In office
November 9, 2021 – October 12, 2022
LeaderErin O'Toole
Candice Bergen
Pierre Poilievre
Preceded byStephanie Kusie
Succeeded byMark Strahl
Member of Parliament
for Thornhill
Assumed office
September 20, 2021
Preceded byPeter Kent
Personal details
Born (1984-04-08) April 8, 1984
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyConservative (federal)
Progressive Conservative (provincial)
Alma materUniversity of Toronto (BA)
University of Ottawa
OccupationPolitician, public relations executive, political strategist

Lantsman previously worked as a communications advisor to several cabinet members in the 28th Canadian Ministry of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She was a senior advisor to the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and its chief spokesperson during the 2018 Ontario provincial election.[4] Lantsman was previously the National Vice President of Public Affairs at Enterprise Canada, a strategic communications firm.[5]

In 2020, upon Peter Kent's retirement from Parliament, Lantsman announced her intention to seek the federal Conservative nomination in Thornhill.[6] She defeated the incumbent Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament, Gila Martow, to become the riding's Conservative candidate on March 17, 2021.

Lantsman was elected to parliament on September 20, 2021, and sworn into office on October 28. Since November that year, she has served as the Shadow Minister of Transport in the Opposition Shadow Cabinet of Erin O'Toole.

Lantsman was elected the vice-chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport and Infrastructure.

Early life and education

Lantsman was born in Toronto in 1984 to a Russian Jewish family and raised in Thornhill. Her mother was an accountant and her father was an engineer who worked in the taxi business and ran several pawn shops. She attended a French-immersion program at Langstaff Secondary School in York Region and speaks fluent French in addition to English and Russian. Lantsman has one brother.

She attended University of Toronto and graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts. She later pursued graduate studies at the University of Ottawa and Rotman School of Management.

Career

As an adolescent, Lantsman volunteered for Conservative Party candidates in local elections. During the 2008 Canadian federal election, she was appointed a senior communications advisor, with the party forming a minority government. Thereafter, she was appointed director of communications for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Ministers Lawrence Cannon and John Baird, serving from 2008 to 2011. From 2011 to 2012, she was the director of communications of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, and accompanied Prime Minister Stephen Harper on domestic and foreign visits.

After a brief stint at The Coca-Cola Company as a senior public affairs advisor, Lantsman returned to government as director of communications for the Ministry of Finance under Joe Oliver. Following the Harper government's loss of the 2015 Canadian federal election, Lantsman returned to the private sector as a senior director for CIBC Capital Markets.

In 2018, Lantsman served as director of communications for Ontario MPP Caroline Mulroney's candidacy for leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. After Mulroney's loss, Lantsman joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario's campaign for the 2018 Ontario general election as its chief spokesperson and war room director.[7] In this role, she oversaw all press communications and social media releases by the campaign. The election resulted in a majority government for the Progressive Conservatives, the first since 2002 after 16 years of Liberal government in Ontario.[8] After the election, Lantsman joined Hill+Knowlton Strategies, an international public relations strategy firm, at its Toronto office.[7] In 2020, she joined Enterprise Canada, a strategic public relations consultancy, as its vice president for National Public Affairs.[9] She relinquished her partnership in Enterprise in 2021 to focus on her political candidacy.

Since 2019, Lantsman has appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News' Power & Politics as well as CTV's Power Play as a political panelist and has hosted a radio show on CFRB 1010 AM. She has sat on the board of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Jewish Addiction Community Services (JACS) and the Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto.

Political candidacy

In 2020, Conservative then-Member of Parliament for Thornhill Peter Kent announced that he would not seek reelection at the next year's federal election.[4] Kent had represented the electoral district since 2008. The riding has Canada's highest proportion of Jewish residents, at 37%.[4]

Lantsman announced her candidacy for the Conservative nomination on November 27, 2020. She was endorsed by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, former federal ministers John Baird, Joe Oliver, Pierre Poilievre, Rona Ambrose, Michelle Rempel Garner and Lisa Raitt, and incumbent Ontario provincial ministers Caroline Mulroney, Stephen Lecce, Greg Rickford and Paul Calandra. She was also endorsed by federal and provincial Conservative legislators, including Eric Duncan, Scott Aitchison, Logan Kanapathi, Stan Cho, Roman Baber and Vijay Thanigasalam.[10]

Lantsman faced the incumbent Member of Provincial Parliament for Thornhill, Gila Martow, in the nomination contest.[10] She participated in a series of nomination debates with Martow between December 2020 and March 2021.[10] On April 3, 2021, Lantsman defeated Martow in the nomination election and was certified as the Conservative candidate for Thornhill. She faced Liberal candidate Gary Gladstone in the 2021 Canadian federal election on September 20 and, per preliminary results, won the seat with 51.3% of the vote.

44th Parliament (2021–present)

Lantsman was sworn into the 44th Canadian Parliament on October 26, 2021. On November 9, she was appointed by Erin O'Toole to serve as the Shadow Minister of Transport.[11]

On February 16, 2022, in response to a question raised by Lantsman regarding the usage of the Emergencies Act, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau replied, "Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas."[12] Lantsman responded, "I am a strong Jewish woman and a member of this House and the descendant of Holocaust survivors. I have never been made to feel less except for today when the Prime Minister accused me of standing with swastikas. I think he owes me an apology. I'd like an apology."[13] Trudeau did not respond to Lantsman's request.[14]

On February 27, Candice Bergen appointed Lantsman to serve in the Conservative Party leadership team as Chair of Outreach in addition to her role as Shadow Minister of Transport.[15]

After the September 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, new Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre named Lantsman co-Deputy Leader along with Alberta MP Tim Uppal.[16]

Electoral record

Thornhill
2021 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeMelissa Lantsman25,68751.3%-3.26%–
LiberalGary Gladstone18,16836.3%+0.88%–
New DemocraticRaz Razvi3,0416.1%-0.38%–
People'sSamuel Greenfield2,3224.6%––
GreenDaniella Mikanovsky8441.7%-1.29%–
Total valid votes / Expense limit 50,062 99.2 0.28 $114,997.02
Total rejected ballots 390 0.77 -0.31
Turnout 50,452 58.8 -4.82
Eligible voters 85,739 76.06% 0.66%
Conservative hold Swing -4.14
Source: Elections Canada[17]

Personal life

Lantsman is gay and was married in 2017.[18] She suffers from severe Crohn's disease.[19]

References
  1. "Conservative Melissa Lantsman takes Thornhill, which once belonged to Peter Kent". Toronto Star. September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  2. Benzie, Robert (November 23, 2020). "Key Premier Doug Ford allies battle for federal Tory nomination in Thornhill". Toronto Star.
  3. John Paul Tasker (13 September 2022). "Poilievre unveils House of Commons leadership team that includes two LGBT MPs". CBC. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  4. Sarick, Lila (November 27, 2020). "Martow, Lantsman Vie for Tory Nod in Thornhill". Canadian Jewish Record. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  5. "Melissa Lantsman Joins Enterprise as Vice President, National Public Affairs". Enterprise Canada. January 23, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  6. "Key Premier Doug Ford allies battle for federal Tory nomination in Thornhill". Toronto Star. November 23, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. Silver, Janet E. (November 24, 2020). "Comings and Goings: Melissa Lantsman to run for Conservative nomination". iPolitics. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  8. Rodriguez, Jeremiah (June 7, 2018). "Doug Ford's PC Party wins majority in 2018 Ontario election". Maclean's. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  9. "Melissa Lantsman Seeks Conservative Nod For Thornhill". TheJ.ca. December 23, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  10. Nanji, Sabrina (December 18, 2020). "Gila Martow doesn't toe the PC line in Thornhill debate". Politics Today. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  11. O'Toole, Erin (November 9, 2021). "Erin O'Toole announces Conservative Shadow Cabinet".
  12. Tasker, John Paul. "Trudeau accuses Conservative MPs of standing with 'people who wave swastikas'". CBC. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  13. Walsh, Marieke (16 February 2022). "Trudeau accuses Conservatives of standing with 'people who wave swastikas' during heated debate in House". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  14. John Paul Tasker (February 17, 2022). "Trudeau accuses Conservative MPs of standing with 'people who wave swastikas'". CBC. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  15. Bergen, Candice (February 27, 2022). "Bergen announces changes to Conservative Leadership Team". Conservative Party of Canada.
  16. "Poilievre taps Scheer to serve in new leadership team ahead of Parliament's return". 13 September 2022.
  17. "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  18. "Real Weddings: Inside a dance-filled same-sex celebration at the Four Seasons". Toronto Life. January 9, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  19. "Crohn's and colitis: In search of a cure for a 'Jewish' disease". 6 June 2017.
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