Christine Hart | |
---|---|
Ontario MPP | |
In office 1986–1990 |
|
Preceded by | Robert Elgie |
Succeeded by | Gary Malkowski |
Constituency | York East |
Personal details | |
Born |
Halifax, Nova Scotia |
February 3, 1950
Political party | Liberal |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Christine Hart (born February 3, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1986 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.
Hart was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her father was a trial judge. She graduated from the law school at the University of Toronto in 1973 and worked for law firm Weir and Foulds.
She was elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election, held on April 17, 1986 in the Toronto riding of York East. Hart defeated her closest opponent, Progressive Conservative Gina Brannan, by 1,391 votes in a riding formerly held by the PCs. She was re-elected by a much greater margin in the 1987 provincial election.
Hart was appointed Minister of Culture and Communications on August 2, 1989. She resigned on June 4, 1990 over a possible conflict of interest with a telecommunications company that had donated to her election campaign over which her ministry had influence.
The Liberals were defeated by the New Democratic Party in the 1990 provincial election. Hart was defeated by New Democrat candidate Gary Malkowski by 789 votes.
After losing the election, she went to Harvard to receive training in mediation. In 1994 she joined the Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre which provided an alternative to trail based litigation. In May 1997, she became president of KPMG Conflict Solutions Inc., a company specializing in mediation services.