Monique Smith : Ask Biography

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Monique M. Smith is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Nipissing for the Liberal Party. Her father, Richard Smith, also represented Nipissing in the legislature from 1965 to 1977, and her mother Marthe Smith campaigned for the riding in 1987.

Smith was born and raised in North Bay, Ontario, the largest city in the Nipissing riding. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, and a law degree from Queen's University. After graduating, she worked at the Toronto law firm of McCarthy Tétrault until 1997, when she resigned to work as chief of staff for provincial Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty. She served as director of operations for the Liberals in the 1999 provincial election, which the party lost.

After this election, Smith became executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers, and represented the organization across the country. She returned to North Bay in 2002, and worked for the firm of Larmer and Larmer.

Smith first ran for political office in the 2003 provincial election, in the Nipissing riding (until recently held by former Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris). Despite her roots in the North Bay community, she was often described as a "Toronto lawyer" and a "parachute candidate" by the Tory campaign. These criticisms were unsuccessful, and she defeated her Conservative opponent Al McDonald by just over 3000 votes.

The Liberals won the election, and Smith was subsequently named parliamentary assistant to George Smitherman, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. In December 2003, Smitherman commissioned her to undertake a comprehensive review of the province's long-term care system. The review was published in May 2004 calling for more funding and inspections.

On October 30, 2007 following the provincial election, Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed Smith into cabinet as the province's Minister of Revenue.

In a cabinet shuffle on September 18, 2008, Smith was appointed as the province's Minister of Tourism.

On February 4, 2009 Smith was appointed Government House Leader. She continued as Ontario's Minister of Tourism until she was appointed Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in January 2010.

On November 19, 2010, Smith announced that she will not run in the 2011 election.