Karina Gould

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The Honourable
Karina Gould
PC MP
Karina Gould.jpg
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
Assumed office
October 26, 2021
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byAhmed Hussen
Minister of International Development
In office
November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byMaryam Monsef
Succeeded byHarjit Sajjan
Minister of Democratic Institutions
In office
February 1, 2017 – November 20, 2019
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byMaryam Monsef
Succeeded byPosition abolished
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
In office
January 10, 2017 – July 18, 2018
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byMaryam Monsef
Succeeded byDominic LeBlanc
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development
In office
December 2, 2015 – January 10, 2017
MinisterMarie-Claude Bibeau
Preceded byLois Brown
Succeeded byCelina Caesar-Chavannes
Member of Parliament
for Burlington
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byMike Wallace
Personal details
Born (1987-06-28) June 28, 1987 (age 34)
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Alberto Gerones
Children1
ResidenceBurlington, Ontario
Alma mater
Websitekgould.liberal.ca

Karina Gould PC MP (born June 28, 1987) is a Canadian politician who has been the minister of families, children and social development since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, she serves as a member of Parliament (MP) and has represented the riding of Burlington in the House of Commons since October 19, 2015. Gould was first appointed to Cabinet on February 1, 2017 as the minister of democratic institutions, serving in the role until she was appointed as the minister of international development on November 20, 2019, before assuming her current portfolio. Gould is the youngest woman to serve as a Cabinet minister in Canadian history.

Early life and career[edit]

Gould was born on June 28, 1987,[1] growing up in Burlington, Ontario in a family with three brothers.[2] Her paternal grandparents were Czech Jews who survived the Holocaust. Her mother is German and met her father while on a kibbutz in Israel.[3] At sixteen, she participated in the Forum for Young Canadians, spending a week in Ottawa learning about the federal government, which she credits as the impetus for her goal of a career in Parliament. After she graduated from M.M. Robinson High School in 2005,[4] she spent the next year volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico, where she met her husband, Alberto Gerones.[5]

Upon her return to Canada in 2006, Gould attended McGill University, earning a joint honours degree in political science as well as Latin American and Caribbean studies. Writing her honours thesis on the Canadian electoral system, she graduated first class honours with distinction in 2010. During her time as an undergraduate student she served as the president of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and helped organize fundraising for humanitarian aid for Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.[6][2]

In 2010, Gould took a job with the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., working as a consultant in the Migration and Development Program.[2] She is cited as contributing to the 2011 report, International Migration in the Americas: First Report of the Continuous Reporting System on International Migration in the Americas (SICREMI).[7]

Gould subsequently completed a master's degree in international relations at Oxford University.[8] Upon completion of her graduate studies at Oxford, Gould decided to move back to her hometown of Burlington, Ontario. She took a job working as a Trade and Investment Specialist for the Mexican Trade Commission "ProMexico" in Toronto.[2] Gould held this position for less than a year before announcing her candidacy in the 2015 election at the age of twenty-eight.

Political career[edit]

2015 Canadian federal election[edit]

During the election campaign, she attracted minor attention for deleting a three-year-old tweet expressing opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines – eventually not approved by the Trudeau government – and to the development of the Alberta tar sands in general.[2][9] She defeated Conservative incumbent Mike Wallace, who had represented the riding since the 2006 federal election, by winning 46% of the vote to his 42.5%.[8][10]

Reflecting upon her first campaign in 2019 interview, Gould said: "In 2015, I'd say the No. 1 thing people asked me at the door was how old I was and why I thought I could jump into politics at such a young age... And I know, for a fact, that they wouldn't ask a man of the same age those questions."[11]

Parliamentary Secretary[edit]

Gould was named the parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development and La Francophonie on December 2, 2015.[2][12] During her time in this role she chaired a foreign-aid strategy session at the Health Systems Research Conference in Vancouver (2016) where stated that it was important to empower women and girls within a feminist approach to foreign-aid.[13] During United States President Barack Obama's July 2016 state visit to Ottawa, he gave a shout out to Burlington during his address to Parliament (where his brother-in-law Konrad Ng lives) prompting Gould to wave for the cameras, in what Maclean's called her most high-profile moment.[2]

Minister of Democratic Institutions[edit]

On January 10, 2017, she was named Minister of Democratic Institutions, succeeding Maryam Monsef.[14] She also became the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.[1] These appointments made her the youngest female Cabinet minister in Canadian history, taking office at the age of twenty-nine.[8]

Despite electoral reforms being a pledged mandate of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2015 campaign, with this appointment such electoral reforms were no longer part of the Minister of Democratic Institutions mandate.[15][16] Instead, Gould's mandate included commitments to strengthen Canada's democratic institutions and improve Canada's democratic process by addressing and cyber threats like online meddling and the spread of disinformation from social media giants and combating foreign interference.[16][17][18] Gould has been credited as being instrumental in not both passing and defending Bill C-76 or Elections Modernization Act, which made significant amendments to the Canadian Elections Act, including numerous accommodations for voter accessibility, restrictions on third-party interference on election campaigns, and a prohibition on spending by foreign entities during elections.[19]

2019 Canadian federal election[edit]

Running as the incumbent in the 2019 Canadian federal election, Gould was re-elected to her seat.[20] Gould's hometown support proved to only be growing as her 2019 results surpassed that of 2015, winning 48.6% of the vote to Conservative Jane Michael's 33.2%[21] Winning just 157 seats as opposed to the 177 held prior, Gould's growing support in this key Southern Ontario riding enabled her party to obtain a minority government in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[22]

Minister for International Development[edit]

Gould became the minister for international development, a key position in Trudeau's foreign policy. It came to light on May 18, 2020 that Gould was formally in charge of the Canadian government's sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). As minister she is entrusted the discussions with Dr. Tedros Adhanom, WHO's director-general. She had a "good and frank conversation" with him via electronic means the week before the 73rd World Health Assembly.[23]

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development[edit]

Gould was shuffled to the families, children and social development portfolio on October 26, 2021.[24]

Personal life[edit]

Gould married her husband, Alberto Gerones, in 2011.[25] She gave birth to her first child Oliver on March 8, 2018, making her the first sitting federal Cabinet minister to give birth while in office.[26] Her breastfeeding her then three-month-old son during question period in the House of Commons attracted media attention during June 2018.[27]

Electoral record[edit]

2019 Canadian federal election: Burlington
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Karina Gould 34,989 48.61 +2.63 $106,261.57
Conservative Jane Michael 23,930 33.24 -9.24 $86,302.63
New Democratic Lenaee Dupuis 7,372 10.24 +1.14 $31,070.76
Green Gareth Williams 4,750 6.60 +4.16 $6,940.18
People's Peter Smetana 944 1.31 $5,500.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 71,985 99.17
Total rejected ballots 600 0.83 +0.45
Turnout 72,585 72.44 -0.76
Eligible voters 100,201
Liberal hold Swing +5.93
Source: Elections Canada[28][29]
2015 Canadian federal election: Burlington
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Karina Gould 32,229 45.98 +22.74 $104,313.08
Conservative Mike Wallace 29,780 42.48 -11.66 $105,053.18
New Democratic David Laird 6,381 9.10 -9.75 $28,503.64
Green Vince Fiorito 1,710 2.44 -1.10 $1,631.97
Total valid votes/expense limit 70,100 99.63   $239,840.79
Total rejected ballots 263 0.37
Turnout 70,363 73.20
Eligible voters 96,126
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +17.20
Source: Elections Canada[30][31]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "GOULD, The Hon. Karina, P.C." Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Proudfoot, Shannon (January 10, 2017). "Who is Karina Gould, Trudeau's newest and youngest minister?". Maclean's. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  3. ^ https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/six-jewish-mps-head-to-ottawa
  4. ^ "Meet Hon. Karina Gould". Liberal Party of Canada. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  5. ^ Proudfoot, Shannon (28 March 2017). "Karina Gould's trial by fire". Macleans. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. ^ Le Cannellier, Clara. "From McGill to Parliament Hill". McGill University. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  7. ^ "SICREMI Report 2011" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Sienkiewicz, Alexander (January 12, 2017). "Meet the 29-year-old who is the youngest ever female Canadian cabinet member". CBC News. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  9. ^ Joanna Smith, Liberal candidate Karina Gould deletes ‘tar sands’ tweet Archived 2020-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, The Toronto Star, August 11, 2015.
  10. ^ "Voter Information Service - Past Results: Burlington (Ontario)". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  11. ^ Gibson, Victoria. "'This is not a place for me': female politicians reveal frustrations on the campaign trail". iPolitics. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  12. ^ http://pm.gc.ca/sites/pm/files/docs/parliamentary_secretaries_e.pdf Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, Privy Council of Canada. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  13. ^ "2016 CMAJ Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  14. ^ Tasker, John Paul (10 January 2017). "The 3 new faces of Justin Trudeau's Liberal cabinet". cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  15. ^ Geddes, John. "Can Justin Trudeau fix the vote with electoral reform?". Macleans. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Minister of Democratic Institutions Mandate Letter". Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  17. ^ Thompson, Elizabeth. "'More needs to be done,' Gould says after some online election meddling detected". CBC News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  18. ^ Lum, Zi-Ann. "Gould 'Not Feeling Great' About Social Media Giants' Response To Election Meddling Fears". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  19. ^ Vigliotti, Marco. "Elections bill gets Royal Assent after fractious path through Parliament". iPolitics. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  20. ^ Cilliers, Roland. "'This victory is not mine, it's for all of you': Liberal Karina Gould takes Burlington riding in a landslide". The Star. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Voter Information Service - Who are the candidates in my electoral district?". www.elections.ca. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Canada election 2019: Results from the federal election". Global News. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  23. ^ Haws, Emily (18 May 2020). "Not WHO's place to be skeptical of China, says international development minister". CBC. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  24. ^ Curry, Bill; Kirkup, Kristy; Raman-Wilms, Menaka; Dickson, Janice (2021-10-26). "Trudeau cabinet shuffle: Anita Anand moves to Defence, Steven Guilbeault to Environment, Mélanie Joly to Foreign Affairs". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  25. ^ Gable, Blair. "Karina Gould hopes becoming Canada's first federal cabinet minister to give birth while in office will set precedent". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  26. ^ Dehaas, Josh (2018-03-09). "Minister Karina Gould makes history with birth of baby boy". CTVNews. Archived from the original on 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
  27. ^ "Karina Gould applauded for breastfeeding son in House of Commons". CTV News. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  28. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  29. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  30. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Burlington, 30 September 2015
  31. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links[edit]

29th Ministry – Cabinet of Justin Trudeau
Cabinet posts (3)
Predecessor Office Successor
Maryam Monsef Minister of International Development
November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021 		Harjit Sajjan
Maryam Monsef President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
January 10, 2017 – July 18, 2018 		Dominic LeBlanc
Maryam Monsef Minister of Democratic Institutions
February 1, 2017 – November 20, 2019 		Dominic LeBlanc[1]
  1. ^ folded into the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada file
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