Sophie Kiwala
| Sophie Kiwala MPP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Kingston and the Islands | |
|
Assumed office June 12, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | John Gerretsen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1962 (age 53–54) Kingston, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Kingston, Ontario |
| Occupation | Executive assistant |
Sophie Kiwala (born 1962) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is an Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2014. She represents the riding of Kingston and the Islands.
Background
Kiwala was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario. She moved to Toronto shortly after finishing high school, and took courses at Humber College. In 1986 she married and moved with her husband to Turkey in the 1990s. She returned to Kingston in 1998 to look after her ailing mother.[1] She studied political science at Queen's University. Later she worked as House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken's office manager and then as Chief of Staff to MP Ted Hsu for seven years.[2]
Politics
Kiwala ran for the Liberal nomination after incumbent Liberal MPP John Gerretsen announced in 2013 that he would not be running for re-election. She defeated three other candidates for the nomination, including former Kingston mayor Harvey Rosen.[3] In the 2014 Ontario election, Kiwala was elected in the riding of Kingston and the Islands, defeating New Democrat candidate Mary Rita Holland by 6,022 votes.[4][5]
She is a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
In 2014, Kiwala focused attention on the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. As part of her campaign to raise awareness, she publicized the Faceless Doll Project, an art project which uses faceless female dolls to represent the missing women.[6] On October 23, 2014 she read a Members' motion in the legislature calling on the Ontario Legislature to support the National Aboriginal Organisations' call on the Federal government to initiate a public inquiry to study the issue.[7]
Election results
| Ontario general election, 2014: Kingston and the Islands | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Liberal | Sophie Kiwala | 20,838 | 41.59 | −7.25 | ||||
| New Democratic | Mary Rita Holland | 14,811 | 29.56 | +5.77 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Mark Bain | 10,652 | 21.26 | −1.06 | ||||
| Green | Robert Kiley | 3,556 | 7.10 | +3.40 | ||||
| Freedom | Jonathan Reid | 242 | 0.48 | +0.32 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 50,099 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | −6.51 | ||||||
Source(s)
Elections Ontario (2014). "Official result from the records, 036 Kingston and the Islands" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2015. | ||||||||
References
- ↑ Matak, Vincent (June 10, 2014). "Resilience defines Liberal candidate Kiwala". Kingston Heritage. Metroland Media.
- ↑ Pratt-Campbell, Hollie (June 5, 2014). "A history of hard work and constituent care make her a strong choice for Kingston and the Islands, says Liberal MPP candidate". Kingston Heritage. Metroland Media.
- ↑ "Kiwala wins Liberal nomination". Kingston Whig-Standard. March 3, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
- ↑ "Sophie Kiwala Elected in Kingston and the Islands". CKWS. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
- ↑ "General Election by District: Kingston and the Islands". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014.
- ↑ Ferguson, Elliot (September 23, 2014). "Faceless figures represent missing, murdered women". Kingston Whig-Standard.
- ↑ "Official Records for 23 October 2014". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. October 23, 2014.