Sarmite Bulte

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Hon. Sarmite Bulte

Sarmite D. "Sam" Bulte, PC , BA , LL.B born September 27, 1953) is a Latvian-Canadian lawyer, advocate and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she represented the Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park in the Canadian House of Commons through three successive parliaments from June 2, 1997 to January 22, 2006. In the January 23, 2006 election, she was defeated by New Democratic Party candidate Peggy Nash.

Bulte was the first Canadian from the Baltics to take a seat in Parliament.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Bulte received a Honours Bachelor of Arts from University College, University of Toronto, Specialist Certificate in English in 1975. In 1978, she received an Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor. In 1980 she was called to the Law Society of Upper Canada. In July 2004, she was appointed to the Privy Council.

Bulte was considered as one of the more left-wing members of the Liberal Party of Canada on social issues. She was known in Parliament for her special report of women's entrepreneurship. She was also a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Youth Entrepreneurs as well as the member of the Liberal Caucus Task Force on Financial Institutions and the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. She served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for the Status of Women and the Minister of Industry with special emphasis on Women Entrepreneurs.

Bulte chaired the Ontario caucus, traveled extensively to advocate for Canada's seat on the UN Security Council and was frequently called upon to deal directly with foreign parliaments in her capacity as Canadian head of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Bulte is currently working as a consultant to the Ontario government on entrepreneurship issues.

During the 2006 federal election, Bulte was criticized by law professor Michael Geist, ^[1] historian Jack Granatstein ^[2] and blogger Cory Doctorow ^[3] among others. The criticism centred around an apparent conflict of interest relating to her position as "one of the leading people on copyright policy, possibly even the future Canadian heritage minister" ^[4] and her stance in favour of stricter copyright laws in the face of substantial campaign contributions from Canadian and American entertainment industries.

The charge was never formally made to any officer of parliament or legal entity, has never been verified and Bulte has never been investigated. It could be considered merely a political attack on a parliamentarian who championed the issue of intellectual property.

She is married with three children, David, Lara and Alex.