Tracy MacCharles (born ) is a former politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

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. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2018 who represented the riding of Pickering—Scarborough East. She was a member of cabinet in the government of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the me ...

Background

MacCharles was born and raised in Scarborough,

. She went to

Brock University Brock University is a public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The university bea ...

where she obtained a degree in Business and Public Administration. She worked in human resources management in various roles including Vice President of Human Resources at

Manulife Financial Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" an ...

. She was chair of the Ontario Accessibility Standards Advisory Council and was a member of the Durham Board of Education’s Special Education Advisory Committee. She lives in Pickering with her husband Stephen Little and their two children.

Politics

MacCharles ran in the 2011 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Pickering—Scarborough East. She defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Kevin Gaudet by 5,168 votes. She was easily re-elected in the 2014 election defeating Gaudet again, this time by 10,505 votes. On November 10, 2011, MacCharles was appointed as

Parliamentary Assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to the Minister of Children and Youth Services. On February 11, 2013 she was sworn in as Minister of Consumer Services under new Premier

. On June 24, 2014 she was appointed Minister of Children and Youth Services as well as Minister responsible for Women's Issues. On April 5, 2016, MacCharles announced changes in the autism services program, which included opening up 16,000 new spaces with an investment of $333 million additional dollars to the program. However, the announced changes also included removing children with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

over the age of five from the

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waitlist to the

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waitlist, and giving the families an $8000 stipend for these children to receive treatment. The move was resisted by some parents and expert groups. The government revised the changes two months later and MacCharles was demoted to the role of

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

, responsible for accessibility and women's issues in Ontario. On January 12, 2017, she was promoted to the position of Minister of Government and Consumer Services, a move precipitated by the resignation of

David Orazietti David Michael Orazietti (born November 12, 1968) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2016 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Sault Ste. Marie. He ...

in December 2016. MacCharles announced her retirement from provincial politics in April 2018, a few months before the next Ontario election.

Cabinet positions

Election results

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacCharles, Tracy 1963 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Brock University alumni Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Pickering, Ontario People from Scarborough, Toronto Politicians from Toronto Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario