Maria Minna
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The Honourable Maria Minna PC |
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| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Beaches—East York |
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In office 1997–2011 |
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| Preceded by | riding renamed from Beaches—Woodbine |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Kellway |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Beaches—Woodbine |
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In office 1993–1997 |
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| Preceded by | Neil Young |
| Succeeded by | riding renamed to Beaches—East York |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 14, 1948 Pofi, Italy |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | Robert MacBain |
| Residence | Toronto |
| Profession | businesswoman, public policy consultant |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Maria Minna, PC, (born March 14, 1948) is a former Canadian politician who represented the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 2011.
Minna was born in Pofi, Italy, and moved to Canada with her family at the age of 9. They settled in Toronto, Ontario in the Christie Pits area. Her father worked in the construction industry and her mother laboured as a factory worker. She is the third eldest of five children, having three sisters and a brother. She attended a vocational high school earning a diploma and started working as a secretary. At age 24 she attended the University of Toronto where she graduated with an Honours B.A. in Sociology. At age 34, she married Robert MacBain, a public relations consultant.
From 1981 to 1992, she served as the volunteer president of COSTI-IIAS, Canada's largest immigrant services organization. She also served as president of the National Congress of Italian-Canadians.
Due in part to her high profile, Minna was appointed to serve on two task forces with the Worker's Compensation Board. In 1986 she co-chaired the Task Force on Vocational Rehabilitation and in 1991 she chaired a Task Force on Service Delivery. Both led to significant improvements in the operation of the WCB.
Minna sought the Liberal nomination for the riding of York West in 1984. She lost to Sergio Marchi. She also tried to get nominated in the riding of York North in 1988 but lost to Maurizio Bevilacqua. The York North nomination fight turned ugly amidst claims of delegate stacking and improper procedures. Minna later appealed the nomination but withdrew the complaint claiming that the appeal process was tainted.
She was elected to parliament in the 1993 election in which the Liberal party won all but one of the 99 Ontario seats. Although the former Liberal candidate ran against her as an independent, she defeated New Democratic Party (NDP) incumbent Neil Young by a margin of two-to-one, thus becoming the first Liberal in history to represent the Beaches area south of the Danforth. As of 2008 she has been re-elected five times easily defeating high-profile candidates such as Peter Tabuns (2004 election, by 7,738 votes) and Marilyn Churley (2006 election, by 2,778 votes;2008 election, by 4035 votes).
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