Yasmin Ratansi

Yasmin Ratansi (born January 4, 1951) is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Don Valley East in the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2011. She is a member of the Liberal Party. Ratansi is an Ismaili Muslim, and was the first Muslim woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.

Before politics

Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, she emigrated to Canada in 1974.^[1] She worked as a management consultant. She is a Certified General Accountant (CGA), a member of the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, and a fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada. In 2009, Ratansi was bestowed with the John Leslie Award by CGA Canada, given in recognition of CGAs "who have achieved a high and favourable profile in the Canadian community."^[2]

Politics

In 1979 Ratansi joined the Liberal party and campaigned for David Collenette.^[1] Later she was the federal Liberal candidate for Don Valley East in the 1988 federal election. In the nomination for the Liberal candidacy leading up to the vote, rival Mel Catre complained that voting irregularities allowed Ratansi supporters to vote freely while his supporters were barred from voting. A subsequent investigation failed to prove these allegations.^[3] Ratansi finished in second place 2,838 votes behind the Conservative winner Alan Redway. She served on the party's federal campaign committee in 1992 and was treasurer of the party's Ontario wing from 1993 to 1997. In 1998 she served as one of three co-chairs on the campaign to elect Mel Lastman as mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Toronto.^[4]

In 2004 she ran again facing former MPP David Johnson. During her campaign she spoke about the issue of immigrant underemployment. She also supported a publicly run health system. She won the riding by more than 10,000 votes.^[1]

During her tenure in parliament, Ratansi sat through three parliamentary sessions. During this time she acted as the Official Opposition's Critic for National Revenue and as critic for the Canada Revenue Agency. She also chaired a number of committees including the Status of Women and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.^[5] She also served as Liberal Caucus treasurer.

Electoral record

References

External links

• Yasmin Ratansi – Parliament of Canada biography