Garnett Genuis

Garnett Genuis MP (born January 23, 1987) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan (in Alberta) in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[2] In 2019, he was re-elected to sit in the 43rd Canadian Parliament.

Garnett Genuis MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	district created
Personal details
Born	(1987-01-23) January 23, 1987[1] Strathcona County, Alberta
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Genuis
Children	Gianna, Judah, Lilly, Phineas (Finn)
Alma mater	Carleton University (BA) London School of Economics (MSc)

Early life

Genuis was born in 1987[3] and grew up in Strathcona County, before moving to attend Carleton University in Ottawa. While there, he wrote a regular column for the Sherwood Park News as a political correspondent. Genuis’ experience helped him to obtain a position as assistant to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and advisor on the staff of former minister Rona Ambrose. Genuis then obtained a master's degree in public policy from the London School of Economics.[4]

Career

2012 Alberta general election

Genuis ran in the 2012 Alberta general election as the Wildrose MLA candidate for Sherwood Park. He lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Cathy Olesen.[5]

2015: MP in Ottawa

In March 2014, Genuis announced his intention to seek the Conservative nomination for the 2015 Canadian federal election in the newly formed riding of Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. He won the nomination in November 2014.[4] Genuis won the federal election on October 19, 2015, capturing 64% of the votes in the riding [6] and becoming its Member of Parliament.

In November 2015, Genuis was appointed deputy critic for Human Rights and Religious Freedom. He served under head critic David Anderson.[7] On August 30, 2017, he was made Deputy Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, after leaving his previous position.

In March 2016, Genuis was named one of the most outspoken MPs in the House of Commons by Maclean’s Magazine.[8] In November 2017, Genuis was named Maclean's Parliamentarian of the Year, based on a vote by members of the House of Commons. Genuis was the youngest recipient to date of the award.[9]

In a 2017 episode of the television series Political Blind Date, Genuis and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith discussed their differing perspectives on the legalization of marijuana in Canada.[10]

In May 2019, Genuis supported Andrew Scheer's vision for a new foreign policy.[11]

In August 2019, Genuis wrote an op-ed in which he explained his position on the Canada-China relations file. He suggested a curtailment of Canada's involvement in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and that Canada challenge China at the WTO. Genuis bases his analysis in human rights and a criticism of the so-called "self-identified experts".[12]

2019: MP in Ottawa

Genuis was re-elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament with a whopping 73.4% of the popular vote. His party however only won 121 of 338 seats, so he remained in opposition.

Genuis was instrumental in the push for the House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.[13] The Huawei pressure to build the Canadian 5G cellular network concerns him, as does the influence on Canadian campuses that is held by the Chinese firm.[14]

Genuis was openly hostile to the appointment of Dominic Barton as Canada's ambassador to China, being uncomfortable with the latter's work put him in a conflict of interest, because he had advised over 20 Chinese state-owned enterprises.[13]

Publications

• The Fight for a Principled Foreign Policy: Commentary and Select Speeches from my First Year in Parliament. Kidlington Publishing. October 2016.

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Garnett Genuis	53,600	73.4	+9.46
	New Democratic	Aidan Theroux	8,867	12.1	+2.29
	Liberal	Ron Thiering	7,357	10.1	-10.32
	Green	Laura Sanderson	1,592	2.2	-0.27
	People's	Darren Villetard	1,334	1.8	-
	Veterans Coalition	Patrick McElrea	300	0.4	-
Total valid votes/Expense limit			73,050	100.0
Total rejected ballots			321
Turnout			73,371	77.0
Eligible voters			95,317
	Conservative hold		Swing		+3.59
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

2015 Canadian federal election: Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Garnett Genuis	42,642	63.94	+14.48	$114,842.36
	Liberal	Rod Frank	13,615	20.42	+13.95	$23,559.35
	New Democratic	Joanne Cave	6,540	9.81	-1.42	$15,416.14
	Green	Brandie Harrop	1,648	2.47	-1.59	$3,796.57
	Independent	James Ford	1,563	2.34	-26.44	$5,420.41
	Libertarian	Stephen C. Burry	678	1.02	*	$3,387.73
Total valid votes/Expense limit			66,686	100.00		$228,934.10
Total rejected ballots			180	0.27	–
Turnout			66,866	75.24	–
Eligible voters			88,876
	Conservative hold		Swing		+0.27
Source: Elections Canada[17][18]

2012 Alberta general election: Sherwood Park
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Cathy Olesen	8,747	45.62	-17.52
	Wildrose	Garnett Genuis	5,948	31.02
	Liberal	Dave Anderson	1,837	9.58	-16.48
	New Democratic	Sarah Michelin	1,210	6.31	+0.18
	Independent	James Ford	1,064	5.55
	Alberta Party	Chris Kuchmak	230	1.20
	Social Credit	Gordon Barrett	137	0.71
Total valid votes			19,173
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			184
Registered electors / Turnout			30,851	62.74	+15.06
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-24.27
Source(s) Elections Alberta. "Electoral Division Results: Sherwood Park". Retrieved July 9, 2012.

References

1. Garnett Genuis on Twitter: "#OTD in 2006, the @CPC_HQ defeated the incumbent Liberals winning a total of 124 seats in the House of Commons. It was also my 19th birthday - and I was definitely more excited about the election than I was about that event. #cdnpoli" Twitter.com
2. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/riding-profile-sherwood-park-fort-saskatchewan
3. "PARLINFO - Parliamentarian File - Contact Information - GENUIS, Garnett". Retrieved 2016-03-15.
4. "Our Candidate". Garnett Genuis. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
5. "Wildrose candidate Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Par..." Sherwood Park News. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
6. nurun.com. "Conservative Garnett Genuis wins local riding". Fort Saskatchewan Record. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
7. nurun.com. "Local MP Genuis named deputy critic". Fort Saskatchewan Record. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
8. "Figures of Speech". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
9. Wells, Paul (November 7, 2017). "Garnett Genuis: The 2017 Parliamentarian of the Year - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
10. "Political Blind Date series hopes opposites attract, or at least get along". Toronto Star, November 4, 2017.
11. Genuis, Garett. "A new vision for Canada's foreign policy". Kenora Daily Miner. All rights reserved. A member of Sun Media Community Newspapers part of Postmedia Network.
12. "Canada is at a crossroads when it comes to China". The Post Millenial. 13 August 2019.
13. Tumilty, Ryan (6 February 2020). "Canada's ambassador to China tells House committee there is a 'real chill' between the two countries". Regina Leader Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
14. Genuis, Garret (25 February 2020). "China's reach on campus". Postmedia Network Inc. Toronto Sun.
15. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
16. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
17. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
18. Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits

External links