Colin Carrie

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Colin Carrie (born April 11, 1962 in Hamilton, Ontario)^{[citation needed]} is a Canadian politician. He is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Oshawa in the province of Ontario for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Colin Carrie was elected to the House of Commons in June 2004 and was re-elected in January 2006. On February 7, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Carrie to the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, The Honourable Maxime Bernier.

Carrie is the son of a late Royal Canadian Navy officer, and lived in several Canadian cities before settling in Oshawa at age fifteen. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo, and was awarded a Doctor of Chiropractic in 1989 from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1989. He has worked as a chiropractor in private life, and is co-owner of the Lakeview Chiropractic and Wellness Clinic. He is past executive member of the Durham Chiropractic Society and former chair of Spinal Health Week in Durham Region, and has been financial secretary of the Oshawa Knights of Columbus [1].

Carrie was a director of the Oshawa Progressive Conservative Party Association, before that party's 2004 merger with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party. He was elected for Oshawa in the 2004 federal election, defeating NDP candidate Sid Ryan and Liberal Louise Parkes in a close three-way race. In a close two-way race with returning NDP challenger Sid Ryan, Carrie retained his seat in the 2006 election as part of the first Conservative government to be elected in Canada in almost 13 years.

In the 38th Parliament, Carrie served as a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. After his election in 2004, he reintroduced Private Member's Bill C-420 (previously introduced by James Lunney) to end the listing of vitamins, minerals and related products as drugs under the Canadian Food and Drugs Act. This measure, endorsed and largely designed by Freedom Party activist Trueman Tuck, has been criticized by some as removing a safety provision from the regulation of natural health products.[2] Supporters of the bill argued that it would benefit the position of small producers relative to the pharmaceutical industry.[3]

Carrie has served as Chair of the Conservative Party of Canada’s (CPC) Automotive Caucus and was a member of the CPC's Energy Caucus and Seniors Caucus.

On January 19, 2007, Elections Canada charged Alan Clarke, a former activist in Colin Carrie's 2006 federal election campaign over an alleged defamation against Oshawa NDP candidate, Sid Ryan. Clarke was also sued for one million dollars in damages for defamation by Ryan, who is also Ontario President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).[4]