62 Facts About Sandra Pupatello

Sandra Pupatello is a politician in Ontario, Canada.

Sandra Pupatello served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2011 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, serving as a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty.

Sandra Pupatello did not run in the 2011 provincial election and took a position as director of business and global markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

On November 8,2012, Pupatello announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ontario.

Sandra Pupatello served as chair of Hydro One from 2014 to 2015.

Sandra Pupatello made an unsuccessful attempt at returning to elected office in 2019 when she stood as the federal Liberal candidate in Windsor West.

Sandra Pupatello placed second behind New Democratic Party incumbent Brian Masse by a margin of 1,922 votes.

Sandra Pupatello again lost to Masse by an expanded margin of 8,032 votes.

Sandra Pupatello is married to Jim Bennett, a former leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party.

Sandra Pupatello became politically active by campaigning for Liberal Member of Parliament Herb Gray in the 1970s.

Sandra Pupatello holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Windsor.

Sandra Pupatello remained in the city after her graduation, serving as general manager of the city's Rotary Club and executive director of the Essex County Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Sandra Pupatello was a board member of the Windsor Regional Hospital and Windsor Regional Children's Centre and was president of the Fogolar Furlan Club.

Sandra Pupatello was named "Italian of the Year" for Windsor-Essex County in 1996, received the Charlie Clark Award for Outstanding Service from the University of Windsor in 2001, and was named "Windsor Woman of the Year" in 2003.

The Progressive Conservative Party won a majority government in the election, and Sandra Pupatello entered the legislature as an opposition Member of Provincial Parliament.

Sandra Pupatello was co-manager of Dwight Duncan's 1996 campaign to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.

Sandra Pupatello was re-elected by a landslide in the 1999 provincial election for the redistributed constituency of Windsor West, while the Progressive Conservatives were re-elected to a second consecutive majority government.

Sandra Pupatello remained a member of the opposition frontbench, serving over the next four years as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Official Opposition Critic for Health and Long-Term Care.

Sandra Pupatello was a vocal critic of the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves governments, frequently criticizing cutbacks to child care and other programs.

Sandra Pupatello later criticized the Progressive Conservative government's plans to introduce a private MRI clinic, arguing that it posed a long-term threat to public health care.

The Liberal Party won a majority government in the 2003 provincial election, and Sandra Pupatello was again re-elected in Windsor West with a significant majority.

Sandra Pupatello was spoken of as a possible candidate for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party when Dalton McGuinty was to retire in 2006.

Sandra Pupatello described the rule as counterproductive, in that many welfare officials were reluctant to bring forward charges out of concern for the extreme punitive consequences.

Sandra Pupatello announced that her government would take greater steps to find parents who are delinquent with child support payments.

In March 2004, Sandra Pupatello announced $2 million to assist low-income Ontarians with increased hydro bills.

Later in 2004, Sandra Pupatello announced that her government would eliminate a rule requiring welfare recipients to liquidate their education savings plans.

In January 2005, Sandra Pupatello was appointed to chair an ad hoc cabinet committee on the modernization of government.

Sandra Pupatello spearheaded passage of the Adoption Information Disclosure Act in 2005, allowing birth records to be released to adoptees.

Sandra Pupatello argued that the bill was necessary to provide adoptees with information about their personal history, and has noted that it provides safeguards for instances where safety issues are a concern.

In November 2005, the Ministry of Community and Social Services, under Sandra Pupatello's leadership, rolled out a series of amendments to the special diet allowance, a program which provides additional funding of up to $250 per month for social assistance recipients to cover the increased costs of certain medically related diets.

Sandra Pupatello argued that there was a loophole in the program, it was being exploited by activist groups and that the resulting drain on the system needed to be corrected.

Sandra Pupatello announced in January 2006 that her department would close Ontario's three remaining government-operated institutions for mentally disabled adults, and assist the occupants with moving into more integrated community facilities.

Sandra Pupatello noted that a "sea change in attitude" had occurred over institutionalization practices since the buildings were first established and that greater integration was now the preferred approach.

Sandra Pupatello described the backlog as "totally unacceptable", and announced that her ministry would work to correct it.

Sandra Pupatello introduced policy to allow further money to be 'flowed through' from the federal government's National Child Benefit Supplement in each year since 2003.

Sandra Pupatello was unable to implement a planned removal of the federal tax credit clawback and argued that the deficit inherited from the previous government made this change unviable before 2007.

Sandra Pupatello was promoted to Minister of Education on April 5,2006, after Gerard Kennedy resigned to run for the federal Liberal leadership.

Sandra Pupatello pledged more than $1 million to provide young students with swimming and water survival lessons, in the aftermath of a series of drowning deaths in the Guelph area the previous year.

In late May 2006, Sandra Pupatello introduced a strategic high school transition plan intended to reduce Ontario's high-school dropout rate.

Sandra Pupatello worked toward solving the vexing issue of the teacher funding formula, a problem that the Liberals inherited from the previous government.

Sandra Pupatello announced a comprehensive plan for changes at TV Ontario, including a greater focus on educational programming and more money for equipment upgrades.

Sandra Pupatello appointed a financial adviser to the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, which was experiencing difficulties balancing its budget.

Sandra Pupatello targeted administrative costs in the Toronto District School Board, arguing that the board had the means to balance its books without program cuts.

Sandra Pupatello accused New Democratic Party candidate Rev Cheri DiNovo of comparing Canada's media coverage of serial killer Karla Homolka to the persecution of Jesus Christ, and suggested that DiNovo was unfit to run for parliament.

Many argued that Sandra Pupatello took DiNovo's words completely out of context, and opposition politicians accused the Liberals of conducting a smear campaign.

Sandra Pupatello was reassigned as Minister of Economic Development and Trade on September 18,2006, following the resignation of Joe Cordiano.

Sandra Pupatello led provincial trade delegations to Alberta in late 2006 and early 2007, promoting Ontario's business sector to the western province's booming economy.

Sandra Pupatello took part in a trade mission to India and Pakistan in January 2007, and went on a four-day trade mission to Japan in April of the same year.

Sandra Pupatello's department has set up a growing number of marketing centres around the world.

In late 2005, Sandra Pupatello introduced a program to assist provincial emergency workers in identifying cases of domestic abuse.

Sandra Pupatello has introduced several initiatives to assist women from low-income backgrounds in entering the job market.

On November 8,2012, Sandra Pupatello announced that she was leaving her Bay Street job to seek the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Sandra Pupatello lost to Kathleen Wynne who subsequently asked her to become Minister of Finance in her first cabinet; Pupatello declined in favour of returning to the private sector.

Sandra Pupatello was succeeded as chair by David F Denison on April 16,2015, but remained on the Hydro One board of directors.

In May 2013, Sandra Pupatello was named CEO of the municipally owned Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation and occupied that position in addition to her old position at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Sandra Pupatello resigned in July 2015, despite having two years left in her contract, after months of criticism from some Windsor city councillors who grilled Pupatello over the WEEDC's failure to create jobs in the region.

Sandra Pupatello supported Paul Martin's bid to succeed Jean Chretien as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Sandra Pupatello supported Michael Ignatieff's bid for the party leadership in 2006.

Sandra Pupatello announced in August 2019 that she was seeking the federal Liberal nomination in Windsor West in the 2019 Canadian federal election.

Sandra Pupatello won the nomination and attempted to unseat incumbent New Democratic Party MP Brian Masse, coming second to him.

In July 2021, Sandra Pupatello announced her intention to stand for the second time as the Liberal candidate for Windsor West in the 2021 Canadian federal election.

Sandra Pupatello again placed second behind Masse who expanded his margin of victory.