Cheryl Hardcastle

Cheryl Hardcastle MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Windsor—Tecumseh
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Joe Comartin
Deputy Mayor of Tecumseh
In office December 7, 2010 – December 9, 2014
Preceded by	Tom Burton
Succeeded by	Joe Bachetti
Personal details
Born	(1961-11-20) November 20, 1961 Windsor, Ontario
Political party	New Democratic Party
Residence	Tecumseh, Ontario
Profession	Newspaper Editor

Cheryl Hardcastle MP is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the federal electoral district of Windsor—Tecumseh during the 2015 Canadian federal election. She is a member of the New Democratic Party. During the 42nd Canadian Parliament, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair appointed Hardcastle to be the party's critic for Sports and Persons with Disabilities. After Mulcair was replaced Jagmeet Singh, he added "International Human Rights" to her critic duties, where she now sits as Vice-Chair to the Subcommittee for International Human Rights.

She introduced one private member bill, C-348, which sought to make Employment and Social Development Canada responsible for providing information and guidance to persons with disabilities on all federal applications for grants, benefits, compensation and any other programs and services, as a means of reducing the administrative burden on applicants. The bill was debated at second reading but defeated with the Liberal Party majority voting against it.

Background

Before entering politics, Hardcastle worked for almost 20 years as a reporter and editor of the former Tecumseh Tribune. Prior to becoming an MP, Cheryl earned her reputation as an effective, inclusive leader as Tecumseh's Deputy Mayor from 2011-2014, serving on both Tecumseh Council and Essex County Council. She was also a member of the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority Board and the Essex Region Conservation Authority Board. A past member of Pathway to Potential and National Pension Reform Committee, she has worked to reduce poverty in Windsor-Essex County and to help more Canadians retire with dignity. Cheryl has organized minor sports programs and tournaments, serving as Direction of the Tecumseh Baseball club and President for the Sun Parlour Female Hockey Association. She is a founding member of the Tecumseh Area Historical Society and is an instructor and author of beginning-level readers for adults.

Cheryl graduated from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Government and a Bachelor's degree in Communication and Media Studies.

Municipal Government

As a Deputy Mayor, Cheryl served in Municipal Governance for Town of Tecumseh and County of Essex. During her time in Municipal Government Cheryl served as a Chair of the following Town Committees: Personnel Committee of Council; Arts and Cultural Advisory; Tecumseh Heritage Advisory; Accessibility Advisory; War of 1812 Commemoration Committee; 38TH Annual Tecumseh Corn Festival Committee. Cheryl was also a representative of Town Council in Tecumseh BIA.

Cheryl served as Essex's County representative on regional authorities:

• Windsor-Essex Poverty Reduction Strategy - Pathway to Potential - Currently working on determining living wage in region and Evaluation and Reporting Working Group.
• Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority board member since elected and currently Chairperson of the Technical Review Committee dealing with claims for residential properties affected by the closed Maidstone Landfill, in accordance with Ministry of Environment orders.
• Essex Region Conservation Authority board member for two years. In January 2013, Cheryl stepped aside to allow another elected representative to have the opportunity to serve on this board, in order to broaden perspectives and strengthen resolve on conservation policies.

Federal Politics

During the 42nd Canadian Parliament, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair appointed Hardcastle to be the party's critic for Sports and Persons with Disabilities. After Mulcair was replaced by Jagmeet Singh, he added "International Human Rights" to her critic duties.

Cheryl introduced one private member bill, C-348, which sought to make Employment and Social Development Canada responsible for providing information and guidance to persons with disabilities on all federal applications for grants, benefits, compensation and any other programs and services, as a means of reducing the administrative burden on applicants. The bill was debated at second reading but defeated with the Liberal Party Majority voting against it.

Cheryl lobbied the government by introducing private member's motion M-56 Canadian with Disabilities Act, m-55 Convention Against Torture, and M-54 Option Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Person's with Disabilities.

Cheryl serves as Vice-Chair on Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada of the Standing Committees on Health and as Vice-Chair for the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Cheryl serves as a member of Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group, and Canada Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Cheryl Hardcastle	23,215	43.5	-6.42	–
	Conservative	Jo-Anne Gignac	14,656	27.5	-6.05	–
	Liberal	Frank Schiller	14,177	26.6	+13.66	–
	Green	David Momotiuk	1,047	2.0	-1.04	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Laura Chesnik	249	0.5	-0.04	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			–	100.0		$225,623.23
Total rejected ballots			–	–	–
Turnout			–	–	–
Eligible voters			86,351
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-0.37
Source: Elections Canada

2014 Tecumseh mayoral election
Mayoral Candidate	Vote	%
Gary McNamara (X)	5,526	56.76
Cheryl Hardcastle	3,868	39.72
Antonello Di Millo	343	3.52

2010 Tecumseh Deputy mayoral election
Mayoral Candidate	Vote	%
Cheryl Hardcastle	4,598	54.86
Tom Burton (X)	3,783	45.14