BARRIE

MP Kellie Leitch named to cabinet position

CTV Barrie Published Monday, July 15, 2013 11:01AM EDT

Conservative MP and pediatric surgeon, Kellie Leitch is shown during an interview at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa on Friday, June 1, 2012. Leitch was named Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women July 15, 2013. (Fred Chartrand / The Canadian Press)

Text:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed MP Dr. Kellie Leitch to her first cabinet position this morning.

Harper named Leitch Minister of Labour and Minister of the Status of Women. Leitch was elected MP in Simcoe-Grey in 2011.

Leitch replaces Rona Ambrose as Minister of Status of Women, and Lisa Raitt as Minister of Labour. Raitt was named Minister of Transport and Ambrose, Minister of Health.

Leitch is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and an associate professor of surgery. She is the former chair of the Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership. In 2005 she was named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 for her work in medicine and business. She is also an Order of Ontario recipient for her advocacy for children and youth.

Simcoe-Grey was previously held by Tory MP Helena Guergis, who had been the Minster of the Status of Women. Guergis was forced to resign from her cabinet position and leave the Conservative Party in April 2010 pending an RCMP investigation. She then ran in the 2011 election as an independent and was defeated by the rookie Leitch.

Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement was reappointed as President of the Treasury Board, a post he has held since 2011.