Deb Matthews

Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th deputy premier of Ontario from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 to 2018, and was a cabinet minister from 2008 to 2018 in the governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.

Deb Matthews
Matthews speaking at the 2017 Creative Commons Global Summit
10th Deputy Premier of Ontario
In office February 11, 2013 – January 17, 2018
Premier	Kathleen Wynne
Preceded by	Dwight Duncan
Succeeded by	Christine Elliott
Member of Provincial Parliament for London North Centre
In office October 2, 2003 – June 6, 2018
Preceded by	Dianne Cunningham
Succeeded by	Terence Kernaghan
Personal details
Born	Deborah Drake Matthews London, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Ontario Liberal
Residence	London, Ontario

Early life and education

Her father is Donald Jeune Matthews, former president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and her sister is Shelley Peterson, the wife of former Ontario Premier David Peterson.^[1]

She graduated from St. George's Public School and A.B. Lucas Secondary School. She studied at the University of Western Ontario where she earned a PhD in social demography. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled the "Consequences of immigrant concentration in Canada, 2001–2051."^[2]

Political career

2003 election

In the 2003 election, Matthews defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Dianne Cunningham by almost 7,000 votes.^[3]

2007 election and in cabinet

Matthews was re-elected in the 2007 election.^[4] She was appointed as the minister of children and youth services and minister responsible for women's issues after the election.^[5] On December 4, 2008, Matthews introduced Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy as chair of the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction. The long-term reduction plan set a target to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over 5 years

2011 election

Matthews was re-elected in the 2011 election,^[6] and was re-appointed as health minister on October 20, 2011.^[7] In 2012, Matthews came under pressure because of revelations at Ornge, Ontario's air ambulance service. Members of the opposition Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties called for her to resign. In response to the revelations at Ornge, Matthews announced an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation.^[8][9]

2014 election

Following her re-election in 2014,^[10] Matthews was shuffled from health to a revamped role as president of the Treasury Board.^[11][12] On June 13, 2016, she retained her position as deputy premier and was also appointed as minister of advanced education and skills development. She was additionally responsible for digital government. Matthews left cabinet on January 17, 2018, having declined re-election in the 2018 election.^[13]

Cabinet positions

Ontario provincial government of Kathleen Wynne

Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty

Electoral record

2014 Ontario general election^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Deb Matthews	16,379	35.98%	-7.93%
	New Democratic	Judy Bryant	13,853	30.43%	+7.72%
	Progressive Conservative	Nancy Branscombe	12,016	26.40%	-2.53%
	Green	Kevin Labonte	2,445	5.37%	+2.05%
	Freedom	Salim Mansur	639	1.40%	+0.78%
	Communist	Dave McKee	115	0.25%	–
	Pauper	Michael Spottiswood	70	0.15%	+0.03%

2011 Ontario general election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Deb Matthews	19,167	43.91%	-3.26%
	Progressive Conservative	Nancy Branscombe	12,628	28.93%	+5.21%
	New Democratic	Steve Holmes	9,914	22.71%	+6.06%
	Green	Kevin Labonte	1,451	3.32%	-9.13%
	Freedom	Mary Lou Ambrogio	269	0.62%	–
	Libertarian	Jordan Vanklinken	169	0.39%	–
	Pauper	Michael Spottiswood	54	0.12%	–

2007 Ontario general election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Deb Matthews	21,669	47.17%	+3.74%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Alder	10,897	23.72%	-5.20%
	New Democratic	Steve Holmes	7,649	16.65%	-7.88%
	Green	Brett McKenzie	5,720	12.45%	+10.77%

2003 Ontario general election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Deb Matthews	20,212	43.43%	+22.54%
	Progressive Conservative	Dianne Cunningham	13,460	28.92%	-11.29%
	New Democratic	Rebecca Coulter	11,414	24.53%	-11.93%
	Green	Bronagh Joyce Morgan	780	1.68%	+0.88%
	Family Coalition	Craig Smith	432	0.93%	-0.09%
	Freedom	Lisa Turner	242	0.52%	+0.18%

References

Notes

1. Was known as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
2. From 2014 to 2016 she was President of the Treasury Board and also Minister Responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Citations

1. "Best-selling author, actress Shelley Peterson visits library Aug. 16" Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Orangeville Banner, August 9, 2010.
2. Deborah Drake Matthews (2006). "Can Immigration Compensate for Below-Replacement Fertility?: The Consequences of the Unbalanced Settlement of Immigrants in Canadian Cities, 2001–2051" (PDF). London, Ontario: Faculty of Graduate Studies, The University of Western Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 6, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
3. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014.
4. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 8 (xvii). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009.
5. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
6. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013.
7. "Ontario's new cabinet". Toronto Star. October 21, 2011. p. A18.
8. Donovan, Kevin (February 12, 2012). "ORNGE will be probed by OPP detectives". Toronto Star.
9. Talaga, Tanya; Donovan, Kevin (February 21, 2012). "Deb Matthews won't resign over ORNGE scandal". Toronto Star.
10. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. p. 6.
11. Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
12. Adrian Morrows (June 23, 2014). "Job of finance minister split as Wynne gets set for cabinet shuffle". The Globe and Mail.
13. "Kathleen Wynne's shuffled cabinet features 40% women". CBC News. June 13, 2016.
14. "Graphics & Charts". results.elections.on.ca. Retrieved 2025-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
15. https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=1867&toYear=2019&edIds=1_44&levelOfDetail=candidate
16. https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=2003&toYear=2003&edIds=-20_42&levelOfDetail=candidate

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history