1. In 2023, Donna Skelly was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
22 Facts About Donna Skelly
1. 2.
In 2016, Donna Skelly won a by-election to Hamilton City Council.
3.
Donna Skelly resigned from council after being elected to the legislature in 2018.
4.
Donna Skelly was born in Northern Ontario and graduated from the journalism program at Seneca College.
5.
Donna Skelly began her broadcast journalism career at CHIP-FM in Fort Coulonge, Quebec.
6.
In 1992, Donna Skelly began co-hosting the "Golden Horseshoe Report" on CHCH as part of a "revamp" of the station's evening news broadcast.
7.
In 2010, Donna Skelly was awarded local YWCA's Women of Distinction Award for her role in Hamilton's politics and public affairs.
8.
Donna Skelly was one of 12 local women honoured during that year's Women of Distinction Awards, including Donna Skelly's future fellow MPP, Sandy Shaw.
9.
Shortly after the 2011 election, Donna Skelly indicated her interest in running in the electoral district again.
10.
Lauwers was backed by Corrigan while Donna Skelly earned the endorsement of former MPP Toni Skarica.
11.
Donna Skelly was nominated as the PC candidate in September 2012, beating Lauwers 194 to 166 votes in the nomination race.
12.
Donna Skelly was nominated as the PC candidate in September 2012.
13.
Donna Skelly joined the race shortly after and won over 22 other candidates.
14.
Donna Skelly opposed the city's LRT project, and adjusting the city's ward boundaries in response to population increases.
15.
Donna Skelly supported a motion by then-councillor Matthew Green to study a move to ranked ballots for Hamilton's municipal elections.
16.
In 2017, Donna Skelly generated controversy when she suggested cutting funding from the Hamilton Public Library as a way to cut taxes.
17.
Donna Skelly's suggestion earned a strong online backlash, including from author Margaret Atwood.
18.
At the time, Donna Skelly did not confirm her interest in seeking the party's nomination.
19.
Skelly was the centre of controversy during the 2018 election campaign when PressProgress, the media wing of the Broadbent Institute, reported that Skelly had attended a Christmas event in 2017 organized by McMaster University and Mohawk College campus conservative groups and spoke about "Free Bird Media", an alt-right website that featured videos and interviews with far-right Canadian political figures such as Paul Fromm, James Sears, and Kevin J Johnson.
20.
Free Bird Media's founder, Alex Van Hamme, indicated that Donna Skelly told the crowd Canada needed more media like the site, though Donna Skelly later said she did not know anything about Free Bird Media and was just "handed a hat" with the group's branding.
21.
Shortly after being sworn in, Doug Ford announced Donna Skelly would become the Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Economic Development Jim Wilson.
22.
In March 2023, Donna Skelly announced that Carmeuse Lime Limited would not proceed with its controversial application to burn alternative low-carbon fuels at its Dundas operations.