Merrilee Fullerton

Merrilee Fullerton is a Canadian politician and physician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 general election. She represents the riding of Kanata-Carleton as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.[1][2][3][4] From June 29, 2018 until June 20, 2019 Fullerton was named as Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities.[5] Since June 20, 2019 Fullerton has served as the Minister of Long-Term Care.

The Honourable Merrilee Fullerton MPP
Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care
Incumbent
Assumed office June 20, 2019
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Christine Elliott as Minister of Health
Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities
In office June 29, 2018 – June 20, 2019
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Mitzie Hunter
Succeeded by	Ross Romano
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Kanata—Carleton
Incumbent
Assumed office June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Riding established
Personal details
Born	Whitehorse, Yukon
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s)	Steve
Education	University of Ottawa
Occupation	Physician

Early life and education

Fullerton was born in Whitehorse, Yukon[6] and grew up in the Beaverbrook neighbourhood of Kanata, Ontario.[7] She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa's medical school.[8]

Career

Medical career

Fullerton initially practiced from the Carleton Place and District Hospital before going into private practice as a family physician in the Ottawa area.[8] She practiced medicine in Ontario for more than 30 years, and also spent time in Alberta during her medical training.[6] She first practiced out of the Carleton Place Hospital, before opening a practice as a family physician at Med-Team Clinic in Kanata.[7]

Fullerton is a former President of the Academy of Medicine Ottawa and served as a member of the Health Professionals Advisory Committee of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network.[6] She was selected as a City of Ottawa Board of Health member for a four-year term which ended in 2014. She was also a member of The Ottawa Hospital’s Community Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2010.[6]

Fullerton was a representative on the Ontario Medical Association Council as well as a delegate to the Canadian Medical Association Council. In those roles, she brought forward concepts regarding the sustainability of Canada’s healthcare system, health human-resource planning, social determinants of health, and virtual care, including mHealth, also known as "mobile health".[6] Most recently, Fullerton assisted in creating and delivering a leadership program for women physicians.[6] She has advocated for a hybrid public healthcare system in Canada.[6]

Columnist

Fullerton wrote a number of columns in the Ottawa Citizen from 2004 to 2007.[6] Her columns were on a variety of information related to general health and the healthcare system. She also ran a medical blog on her website.

Political career

Fullerton entered provincial politics in 2016, declaring her intention to run against then-Progressive Conservative MPP Jack MacLaren in Kanata-Carleton. MacLaren caused and encountered a number of issues around this time. On May 28, 2017, MacLaren was kicked out of the Ontario PC caucus and barred from being a candidate in the 2018 election,[9] leading to a two-way race between Fullerton and Police Sergeant Rick Keindel.[10] Fullerton won the nomination.

Fullerton came under fire during the 2018 campaign for her tweets, which were labelled Islamophobic by the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Committee, as well as for blocking Muslim leaders in her community on Twitter.[11] She was also accused of being in favour of a two-tier healthcare system,[12] a claim which she disputes.

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Kanata—Carleton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Merrilee Fullerton	23,089	43.19%	-2.40
	New Democratic	John Hansen	15,592	29.17%	+15.21
	Liberal	Stephanie Maghnam	9,090	17.01%	-16.35
	Green	Andrew West	2,827	5.29%	-1.81
	Trillium	Jack MacLaren	1,947	3.64%
	Libertarian	Peter D'Entremont	524	0.98%
	None of the Above	Robert LeBrun	384	0.72%
Total valid votes			53,453	100.0
	Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source: Elections Ontario[13]

Cabinet posts

Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Christine Elliott as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care	Minister of Long-Term Care June 20, 2019-present	Incumbent
Mitzie Hunter	Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities June 29, 2018–June 20, 2019	Ross Romano

References

1. "Progressive Conservative Merrilee Fullerton wins Kanata–Carleton". CBC News. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
2. "Fullerton takes Kanata-Carleton, as voters turf MacLaren". Ottawa Citizen. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
3. "Election results for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario". CTV News. June 8, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
4. "Provincial election: Naqvi and Chiarelli defeated, PCs and NDP pick up seats in Ottawa (updated)". Ottawa Business Journal. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
5. "Doug Ford names his first cabinet - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
6. http://www.merrileefullerton.com/profile/
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2016-11-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Election primer: Kanata-Carleton". Ottawa Citizen. May 29, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
9. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/controversial-ont-mpp-jack-maclaren-kicked-out-of-caucus-1.3432760
10. https://www.toronto.com/news-story/7401047-merrilee-fullerton-wins-pc-nomination-in-kanata-carleton/
11. "Elfeitori: Why Merrilee Fullerton should apologize for tweets about Muslims". Ottawa Citizen. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
12. "Kanata Tory called for privatized health care, Liberals charge". Ottawa Citizen. 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
13. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 16 January 2019.