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Home | Office Holder | Brad Duguid
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Before seeking elected office, Duguid worked in government services at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, serving as executive assistant to both Ontario MPP Frank Faubert and Members of Parliament (MPs) Catherine Callbeck and Derek Lee. In 1994, he was elected as a city councillor for the suburban municipality of Scarborough. In the elections of 1997 and 2000, he was elected as a councillor in the amalgamated "megacity" of Toronto. During his time in municipal government, Duguid was known for his work on community safety issues and affordable housing. He drafted a crime-prevention strategy for Toronto in 1999, and was a founder of the "Scarborough Community Safety Council", the "Scarborough Community Safety Audit Program" and the "Business Crime Prevention Seminar Program". He was also known as a supporter of then-Mayor of Toronto, Mel Lastman. In the 2003 election, Duguid supported John Tory over David Miller for Mayor of Toronto, ironically Tory would later become leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. On May 1, 2003, Duguid was appointed by Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty as the party's candidate for Scarborough Centre in the upcoming provincial election. This upset many in the local party association, as Ontario general election, 1999 candidate Costas Manios was widely expected to win the nomination again. Manios decided to run against Duguid as an Independent (essentially campaigning as an "Independent Liberal"), and many believed he would deny Duguid victory by splitting the Liberal vote. Instead, the provincial trend overrode local factors-Duguid defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Marilyn Mushinski by over 10,000 votes, while Manios finished fourth, behind Michael Laxer of the Ontario New Democratic Party. On October 23, 2003, Duguid was appointed Parliamentary Assistant on urban issues to John Gerretsen, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. As such, he has often clashed with Mayor David Miller over allegations by the mayor that the province has reneged on funding promises to the city. Following his re-election in 2007, Duguid was appointed Minister of Labour, where he ensured job protection for military reservists and improved health and safety in the workplace. He also saw the creation of the new Family Day holiday, allowing Ontario families to spend quality time together. In a Cabinet shuffle on September 18, 2008, Duguid was appointed as the province's Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. As Minister of Aboriginal Affairs from 2008 to 2010, Duguid worked at building relationships through agreements with a number of First Nations and Métis organizations, including the framework to transfer Ipperwash Park to the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation. Uniting two of his passions � youth outreach and hockey � Duguid also brought PLAY to First Nations’ youth, a project that provides hockey coaching, mentoring and, potentially, facilities to Aboriginal communities in the north. On January 18, 2010 he was appointed Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. |