Christine Elliott

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Christine Elliott is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a byelection on March 30, 2006.

A member of the Progressive Conservatives, she was elected in the Whitby—Ajax electoral district over Judi Longfield who was running as the provincial Liberal candidate. History showed that opposition parties in Canada tend to gain seats in by-elections. However, Longfield entered the race with strong name recognition from her past federal experience. ^[1] An early scheduled budget announcement was also expected to increase the chances of the Liberal government picking up seats, as it considered infrastructure upgrades for the Greater Toronto Area, although others pointed out that it could have hurt their prospects^[2]. During the by-election, Elliott and PC leader John Tory campaigned together, while Longfield's ads made no mention of Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty. Elliott won the seat by a narrow margin as predicted.

Elliott is the wife of Jim Flaherty, Whitby—Ajax's former MPP who resigned from the Legislature to contest the Whitby-Oshawa seat in the House of Commons during the 2006 federal election. Flaherty won the federal election against Longfield and is currently the federal Minister of Finance. Flaherty reportedly did not campaign heavily for his wife, deciding instead to focus upon his federal department. Although Flaherty had previously run against John Tory for the provincial PC leadership in 2004, Tory campaigned for Flaherty and Elliott during their campaigns.

Elliott's Whitby-Ajax electoral district will cease to exist in October 2007 during the next provincial election, as Ontario electoral districts will be realigned to match the current federal district boundaries. Elliott has announced an intention to run in the new provincial Whitby-Oshawa district. If she is elected in this district, it will mark the first time in Canadian history that a husband and wife have simultaneously represented the same electoral district at both federal and provincial levels.

Elliott, a lawyer, was educated at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to her election, she practiced corporate, real estate and estates law in Whitby.