1. Kellie Leitch was first elected in the 2011 federal election, succeeding Member of Parliament Helena Guergis who was dismissed from the Conservative Party caucus.
29 Facts About Kellie Leitch
1. 2.
Kellie Leitch served in Cabinet until the defeat of the Conservative government in the 2015 federal election.
3.
Kellie Leitch ran in the 2017 contest for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
4.
On January 23,2018, Kellie Leitch announced that she would not be seeking re-election for the 43rd Canadian federal election and would return to being a full-time surgeon.
5.
Kellie Leitch was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
6.
Kellie Leitch is the daughter of Eleanor Lynne and Kelburne "Kit" McNabb Leitch, who owned a construction company in Fort McMurray.
7.
Kellie Leitch graduated from Queen's University in 1991 with an undergraduate degree.
8.
Kellie Leitch earned her MD from the University of Toronto in 1994, MBA from Dalhousie University in 1998, and completed the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program in 2001 at the University of Toronto.
9.
Kellie Leitch formerly taught at the University of Western Ontario, where she served as the assistant dean of external affairs at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and is a former chair of paediatric surgery at the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario.
10.
Kellie Leitch was an orthopaedic pediatric surgeon at SickKids Hospital for one year before pursuing a career in politics.
11.
Kellie Leitch is an associate professor at the University of Toronto.
12.
Kellie Leitch was the founding chair of the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership and led the health sector stream of the MBA programme at the Richard Ivey School of Business located at the University of Western Ontario.
13.
In 2009, Kellie Leitch founded the Kids Health Foundation, an organization that sought to work with academia, the not-for-profit sector, government and industry to make Canada the healthiest place on earth for children to grow up.
14.
Kellie Leitch maintained her medical credentials while serving in politics, and had hospital privileges at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.
15.
Kellie Leitch is an active member of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
16.
Kellie Leitch was a strategist in Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Elliott's leadership bid in 2009.
17.
Kellie Leitch served as president of the Ontario PC Campus Association, and has been actively involved in the Conservative Party since she was 14.
18.
Kellie Leitch served as chair of the expert panel for the Children's Fitness Tax Credit in 2006, which made recommendations to Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, regarding the best ways to implement this tax credit designed to encourage health and fitness among Canadian children.
19.
Kellie Leitch serves on the boards for CANFAR, the National Research Council, YMCA, and Genome Canada, among others.
20.
Kellie Leitch later expressed regret in her involvement of the "barbaric cultural practices tip line".
21.
Kellie Leitch has since made an effort to apologize for her role in the proposed legislation, saying that she regrets her decisions.
22.
Kellie Leitch recruited Nick Kouvalis and Richard Ciano to head her leadership campaign, and Andy Pringle of the Toronto Police Services Board was her chief fundraiser.
23.
Kellie Leitch was the first official candidate to enter the race.
24.
Kellie Leitch proposed screening visitors, refugees and immigrants for "Canadian values".
25.
Kellie Leitch was not included into Andrew Scheer's shadow cabinet.
26.
On January 23,2018, Kellie Leitch announced that she would not seek re-election.
27.
Kellie Leitch threw her support towards Marc Biss and Tim Bulmer, to be the party candidate for her riding arguing that they were "real conservatives" while believing Yeates and Dowdall were not.
28.
On January 23,2018, Kellie Leitch announced that she would not be seeking re-election for the 43rd Canadian federal election and would return to being a full-time surgeon.
29.
Kellie Leitch was raised a Catholic, and still practices the religion.