Maria Van Bommel

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Maria Van Bommel is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the London area riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex for the Liberal Party.

Van Bommel attended the Centralia College of Agricultural Technology, Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario. Before entering public life, Van Bommel worked in farming, accounting and small business. She currently owns a poultry farm near Strathroy, Ontario. Van Bommel has served as a provincial director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, and was a founding member of the Ontario Farm Women's Network and the Canadian Farm Women's Network. She also served for nine years on the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital Board.

Van Bommel entered her political career at the municipal level, serving for two terms in East William Township. In the 2003 provincial election, she defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Marcel Beaubien by about 3500 votes in Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, a predominantly rural riding in the southwest region of the province.

Van Bommel is currently the parliamentary assistant on rural affairs for John Gerretsen, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and serves as co-chair of an "Industrial Pollution Action Team" formed by the provincial government.

Van Bommel is known to hold some socially conservative views. She opposed same-sex marriage during the 2003 campaign, and is also a vocal opponent of euthanasia.

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