Carol Mitchell (born ) is a former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 2003 to 2011 representing the riding of Huron—Bruce. She was a cabinet minister in the government of

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

Background

Mitchell was born in

Clinton, Ontario Clinton is a community in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, located in the municipality of Central Huron. Clinton was established in 1831, when Jonas Gibbings and brothers Peter and Stephen Vanderburg cleare ...

in Huron County and was educated at

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. She is a past member of

Girl Guides of Canada Girl Guides of Canada (GGC; ) is the national Guiding association of Canada. Guiding in Canada started on September 7, 1910, and GGC was among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in 1928. Histo ...

. She worked in retailing after her graduation, and ran stores selling children's clothes in Clinton and Bayfield.

Politics

She was elected to Clinton's town council in 1993, and became its reeve later in the decade. She also served on the Huron County council, and was elected as the first reeve of the amalgamated municipality of Central Huron. She was elected as warden of Huron County in 1999 and 2000. In the 2003 provincial election she ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Huron—Bruce and defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Helen Johns, a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

, by about 3,000 votes. On October 23, 2003, she was named

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

to Steve Peters, the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. In March 2006, Mitchell was named parliamentary assistant to

David Caplan David Richard Caplan (November 15, 1964 – July 24, 2019) was a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the ridings of Oriole (provincial electoral district), Oriole ...

, the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal. Upon re-election in the fall of 2007, Mitchell was named Government

Caucus Chair A caucus chair is a person who chairs the meetings of a caucus. Often, the caucus chair is assigned other duties as well. Canada In Canada, the elected members of each party in Parliament, including senators, or a provincial legislature, ele ...

and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, with a concentration on Municipal Affairs. On January 18, 2010, Mitchell was named Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as part of a

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

by Premier

. She was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Lisa Thompson in the 2011 election.

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Carol 1957 births Women government ministers of Canada Fanshawe College alumni Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Goderich, Ontario Women mayors of places in Ontario Women MPPs in Ontario 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 21st-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century mayors of places in Ontario