View source for Brenda Elliott

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
|honorific-suffix =[[Executive Council of Ontario|ECO]]
| name             = Brenda Elliott
| image            = 
| imagesize        = 
| office           = [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]
| term_start       = 1995
| term_end         = 2003
| predecessor      = [[Derek Fletcher]]
| successor        = [[Liz Sandals]]
| constituency     = [[Guelph (provincial electoral district)|Guelph]]
| party            = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1950|10|27}}
| birth_place      = [[Goderich, Ontario]], Canada
| spouse           = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| profession       = Teacher, librarian
}}
'''Brenda Elliott''' (born October 27, 1950) is a former [[politician]] in Ontario, Canada. She served in the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] as a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] from 1995 to 2003, and was a [[cabinet minister]] in the governments of [[Mike Harris]] and [[Ernie Eves]].

==Background==
Elliott was born in [[Goderich, Ontario]]. She went to [[McMaster University]], and worked as a teacher and librarian. In 1972, she was elected to the [[Wellington County, Ontario|Wellington County]] Board of Education. She became interested in environmental causes during the 1990s, and in November 1989 opened a store in [[Guelph]], [[Ontario]] called For Earth's Sake.<ref name="WhoWho">{{cite book |title=Canadian Who's Who 2003, Volume 38 |author=Elizabeth Lumley |page=404}}</ref>

==Politics==
Elliott was elected to the Ontario legislature in the [[1995 Ontario general election|1995 provincial election]], defeating former [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Member of Provincial Parliament]] (MPP) [[Rick Ferraro]] and incumbent [[Ontario New Democratic Party|New Democrat]] [[Derek Fletcher]] in the [[Guelph (provincial electoral district)|Guelph]] constituency.<ref name="1995 results">{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=guelph&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 8, 1995 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306230307/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=guelph&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=March 6, 2014 }}</ref>  The Tories won a majority government in this election under [[Mike Harris]]'s leadership, and Elliott was appointed as [[Ministry of the Environment (Ontario)|Minister of Environment and Energy]] on June 26, 1995.<ref name="1995HarrisCab">{{cite news |title=Mike Harris' cabinet |newspaper=The Spectator |location=Hamilton, Ont |date=June 27, 1995 |page=A7}}</ref>

Due to Elliott's background in the [[environmental movement]], many believed she would be a strong advocate for "green" policies in the Harris cabinet.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}  She was dropped from cabinet on August 16, 1996,<ref name="1996HarrisCab">{{cite news |title=Tsubouchi demoted in Harris shuffle |first=William |last=Walker |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=August 16, 1996 |page=A1}}</ref> and served as a [[backbench]] supporter in the legislature for the next three years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

Elliott was easily re-elected in the [[1999 Ontario general election|1999 provincial election]] for the redistributed riding of [[Guelph—Wellington (provincial electoral district)|Guelph—Wellington]] by about ten thousand votes.<ref name="1999 results">{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=guelph&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 3, 1999 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303071244/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=Guelph&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=March 3, 2012 }}</ref>  On February 8, 2001, she returned to cabinet as [[Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]].<ref name="2001HarrisCab">{{cite news |title=Flaherty to be new Ontario finance chief |newspaper=Sudbury Star |date=February 8, 2001 |page=A5}}</ref>  When [[Ernie Eves]] replaced Mike Harris as [[Premier of Ontario]] in 2002, he named Elliott as his [[Ministry of Community and Social Services (Ontario)|Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services]].<ref name="2002EvesCabinet">{{cite news |title=Ont-Cabinet |publisher=Canadian Press NewsWire |location=Toronto, Ont |date=April 15, 2002}}</ref>

The Tories were defeated in the [[2003 Ontario general election|2003 provincial election]], and Elliott lost her seat to Liberal candidate [[Liz Sandals]] by 2,800 votes.<ref name="2003 results">{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=guelph&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 2, 2003 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303071248/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=guelph&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=March 3, 2012 }}</ref>

===Cabinet positions===
{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Ernie_Eves}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post1preceded = [[John Baird (Canadian politician)|John Baird]]
| post1         = [[Minister of Community and Social Services (Ontario)|Minister of Community, Family, and Social Services]]
| post1years    = 2002–2003
| post1note     = 
| post1followed = [[Sandra Pupatello]]
}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Mike_Harris}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post2preceded = [[Norm Sterling]]
| post2         = [[Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]]
| post2years    = 2001–2002
| post2note     =
| post2followed = [[Ernie Eves]]

| post1preceded = [[Bud Wildman]]
| post1         = [[Ministry of the Environment (Ontario)|Minister of Environment and Energy]]
| post1years    = 1995–1996
| post1note     =
| post1followed = [[Norm Sterling]]
}}
{{s-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{OntarioMPPbio|id=brenda-elliott}}

{{Harris Ministry}}
{{Eves Ministry}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Brenda}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Women government ministers of Canada]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Ontario]]
[[Category:People from Goderich, Ontario]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs]]
[[Category:Women MPPs in Ontario]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]