39 Facts About Lisa Raitt

Lisa Sarah MacCormack Raitt was born on May 7,1968 and is a former Canadian politician who served as a federal Cabinet minister and member of Parliament from 2008 to 2019.

Lisa Raitt was re-elected in the newly formed riding of Milton.

Lisa Raitt contested the Conservative leadership in 2017, losing to Andrew Scheer, who made her deputy party leader and deputy opposition leader, a role she would hold until she was defeated in the 2019 election.

Lisa Raitt Sarah MacCormack was born on May 7,1968, in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and raised as the youngest of seven children.

Lisa Raitt's grandmother, Mary Christina "Tootsie", was a businesswoman.

Lisa Raitt got her first taste of politics by serving in the student government at her public all-girls school, Holy Angels High School.

Lisa Raitt graduated from St Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Lisa Raitt went on to do a master's degree in chemistry, specializing in environmental biochemical toxicology, at the University of Guelph.

Lisa Raitt completed a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario bar in 1998.

Lisa Raitt served as the Toronto Port Authority's corporate secretary and general counsel, and was named harbourmaster in April 2001.

Lisa Raitt was the first female harbourmaster of a Canadian port.

In 2002, Lisa Raitt was appointed as president and chief executive officer of the Toronto Port Authority, a federal Crown corporation that manages the Toronto Harbour as well as the Toronto City Centre Airport.

Lisa Raitt relinquished the post of harbourmaster to Angus Armstrong in 2004.

Lisa Raitt was responsible for the new TCCA1 ferry for passengers at the Toronto City Centre Airport, which is located at the western end of the Toronto Islands.

Lisa Raitt was quoted as "proud to have assisted in the remarkable growth of Porter Airlines" in her time at the TPA.

In September 2008, Lisa Raitt was appointed to run as the Conservative candidate in Halton against Liberal incumbent Garth Turner.

Lisa Raitt later joined the Liberals after briefly sitting as an independent member.

Lisa Raitt was named to the Cabinet of Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on October 30,2008, as Minister of Natural Resources.

Lisa Raitt was one of eleven women named to the Cabinet.

At an October 6,2009, meeting of the Oakville, Ontario, Chamber of Commerce, Lisa Raitt was on record discussing the possibilities of increased tourism and shipping opportunities in the North due to the melting polar ice cap.

Lisa Raitt claimed to have offered her resignation and that the offer was rejected by the prime minister.

Lisa Raitt made comments on the parliamentary skills of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

On January 19,2010, Lisa Raitt was shuffled from her role as minister of natural resources and named minister of labour.

Lisa Raitt is alleged to have asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to 'arrest these animals'.

In 2011, Lisa Raitt used back to work legislation twice to end strikes by Air Canada's flight attendants and by employees of Canada Post.

Lisa Raitt was shuffled out as minister of labour in 2013.

Lisa Raitt received praise from both opposition critics and union leaders for her work as minister.

Lisa Raitt was named Minister of Transport on July 15,2013, nine days after the Lac-Megantic derailment.

Lisa Raitt replaced Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean MP Denis Lebel, who was Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

Shortly after her appointment as transport minister in 2013, National Post columnist John Ivison wrote that Lisa Raitt was quickly becoming a contender to succeed Prime Minister Harper when he decided to step down.

Lisa Raitt issued a directive sometime in fall 2013 requiring railways to inform municipalities about the kinds of dangerous goods they were carting through their communities, but a spokesman for Canadian National said on January 8,2014, upon the occurrence of a hazardous derailment near Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, that it was too soon for those regulations to have come into effect.

The Conservative government was defeated in the 2015 federal election, though Lisa Raitt was elected in Milton, essentially the western part of her old riding.

Lisa Raitt had said she is "seriously considering" a bid for the party leadership.

On October 14,2016, Lisa Raitt stepped down as finance critic.

On November 2,2016, Lisa Raitt announced via Facebook that she was running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, though she eventually lost to Andrew Scheer.

Lisa Raitt endorsed Caroline Mulroney and served as her campaign co-chair.

Lisa Raitt is the first woman to hold the role for the Conservatives.

Lisa Raitt was defeated in the 2019 federal election by Liberal candidate Adam van Koeverden, despite the conservatives gaining seats across the country.

Lisa Raitt's defeat was considered significant as she was a front bench member of the party and the Deputy Opposition leader.