Margarett Best

Hon. Margarett Best
MPP
Incumbent
Assumed office October 10, 2007
Preceded by	riding established
Constituency	Scarborough—Guildwood
Ministry of Consumer Services
Incumbent
Assumed office October 20, 2011
Preceded by	John Gerretsen
Minister of Health Promotion and Sport
In office October 30, 2007 – October 20, 2011
Preceded by	Jim Watson
Succeeded by	Deb Matthews
Personal details
Born	1958 (age 52–53) May Pen, [Clarendon] Jamaica
Political party	Liberal
Children	3
Residence	Toronto
Occupation	Lawyer

Margarett Best (born 1958) is a Canadian politician. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2007 provincial election, representing the riding of Scarborough—Guildwood. She is a member of the Liberal Party.

Background

Best, an African Canadian lawyer and community activist, was born in Jamaica. She was educated at the University of Toronto at Scarborough and Osgoode Hall Law School. She holds a Mutual Fund Certificate from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

She is a mother, an avid gardener who loves the arts and has a passion for writing. In 2006 she was awarded the African Canadian Achievement Award for excellence in parenting and another African Canadian Award in 2011 for Excellence in Politics.

In 2008, she was conferred with a Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree by the Northern Caribbean University. Best has also received the BBPA Women of Distinction Award and, in October 2009, was bestowed with a 2009 National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada Award in the Distinguished Services category of Equality/Social Justice. She was named one of Canada's most influential women in Sports and Physical Activity in 2010 and received a City of Toronto Diversity Award in 2011.

Politics

A member of the Ontario Legislature, she was appointed Minister of Health Promotion after the 2007 election. Her ministry supports a wide range of programs and services that include chronic disease prevention, physical activity, sport participation, injury prevention and mental wellness.

In 2008, she introduced a bill that would ban smoking in cars when children were present. The bill called the Smoke-Free Ontario Amendment Act would impose a fine of $250 for transgressors.

In August 2010, the name of the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport was changed to include sports as part of the Ministry's name to reflect the fact that sport was a key component of her Ministerial responsibilities. She was a key part of the team led by Premier Dalton McGuinty in the successful bid for the Pan/Parapan American Games.

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Best was re-elected in 2011, beating Conservative candidate by 6,649 votes. Best bettered the Conservatives by an even wider margin than in 2007. Best made history by becoming the first African-Canadian woman to be re-elected to the Provincial Legislature in the Province of Ontario.

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margarett Best	15,606		-
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Ellis	9,137		-
	New Democrat	Lorri Urban	6,193		-
	Green	Naoshad Pochkhanawala	413		-
	Libertarian	Sam Apelbaum	407		-
	Freedom	Matthew Oliver	134		-
Total valid votes				100.0

Ontario general election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Margarett Best	14,413	42.5	-
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Grant	9,484	28.0	-
	New Democrat	Neethan Shan	7,442	21.9	-
	Green	Glenn Kitchen	1,812	5.3	-
	Libertarian	Sam Apelbaum	487	1.4	-
	Family Coalition	Daniel Carvalho	290	0.9	-
Total valid votes			33,928	100.0

External links

• Margarett Best's official MPP Site
• Margarett Best's Ontario Liberal Party biography
• Legislative Assembly of Ontario biography