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Robert Oliphant | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Oliphant in 2023 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office May 3, 2019 Serving with Mona Fortier (2025-present) | |
| Minister | Chrystia Freeland Francois-Philippe Champagne Marc Garneau Mélanie Joly Anita Anand |
| Preceded by | Andrew Leslie |
| Chairman of theStanding Committee on Citizenship and Immigration | |
| In office February 4, 2016 – May 9, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Daryl Kramp |
| Succeeded by | Salma Zahid |
| Member of Parliament forDon Valley West | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | John Carmichael |
| In office October 14, 2008 – May 2, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | John Godfrey |
| Succeeded by | John Carmichael |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1956-06-07)June 7, 1956 (age 69) Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Marco A. Fiola |
| Residence(s) | Sherwood Park,[1]Toronto,Ontario |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BCom) University of British Columbia (MDiv) Chicago Theological Seminary (DMin) |
| Profession | United Church minister and health charity executive |
Robert B. Oliphant[1]PC MP (born June 7, 1956) is a Canadian politician and aUnited Church minister. He serves in theHouse of Commons as aLiberal Member of Parliament for theToronto riding ofDon Valley West. First elected from2008 to 2011, he returned to the office from 2015 to present.[2]
Oliphant currently holds the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign AffairsAnita Anand, a role he also served under Anand's four predecessors.
Born and raised inSault Ste. Marie, Oliphant studied commerce and art at theUniversity of Toronto, graduating in 1978, with a Bachelor of Commerce. While at university he rowed on the men's varsity rowing crew, and was involved in music and student politics.
Oliphant lives in Sherwood Park, Toronto with his husband, Marco A. Fiola, the principal ofYork University - Glendon Campus.
Upon graduating from theUniversity of Toronto, Oliphant returned to Sault Ste. Marie and worked atAlgoma Steel as an accountant in computer systems development. He remained in Sault Ste. Marie for two years before entering theVancouver School of Theology at theUniversity of British Columbia. He was sponsored as a candidate for ministry by his home church, Central United Church in Sault Ste. Marie. After completing his Master of Divinity studies at UBC, Oliphant was ordained as a United Church minister in 1984. He has been stationed in diverse communities such asMontreal,Toronto,Quyon, Quebec,Newfoundland andWhitehorse.
Between 1999 and 2008, Oliphant was a member of the Team Ministry at Eglinton St. George's United Church in Toronto, one of the largest congregations in the United Church of Canada. In 2004, he was given an award for 18 years of continuous work ininterfaith dialogue.
On May 17, 2008, Oliphant obtained hisDoctorate of Ministry (D.Min.) from theChicago Theological Seminary.
Oliphant served as the president and CEO of theAsthma Society of Canada from 2011 to 2015, before being re-elected to the House of Commons as the representative for Don Valley West in the2015 federal election.
Oliphant worked as a senior advisor in the Ontario government. In 1989, he was asked by then-PremierDavid Peterson to work in a senior role in the Premier's office. He subsequently went on to serve as Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff to two ministers,Mavis Wilson, OntarioMinister Responsible for Women's Issues, andChristine Hart, Ontario Minister of Culture and Communications.
Oliphant has worked on many campaigns at both the federal and provincial levels and has held official positions in the party. He was an active young Liberal serving as President of the University of Toronto Liberal Club, Chair of "Youth for Peterson", and served on the Executive of the Ontario New (Young) Liberals. In anticipation of a federal election in 1978, Oliphant was part of a group of young Liberals who trained in tour operations forPrime MinisterPierre Trudeau. He has worked in campaigns in Sault Ste. Marie, for candidates including Alex Sinclair andRon Irwin, in Toronto, forMargaret Campbell,Roy MacLaren,Carolyn Bennett,Allan Rock and several others, and in Yukon, for former Council of Yukon First Nations Grand Chief Shirley Adamson. During the2006 federal leadership race, Oliphant was an advisor toMichael Ignatieff's campaign.
In December 2006, columnistMichael Valpy mentioned Oliphant's name as a possible contender for the federal Liberal nomination forToronto Centre shouldBill Graham decide not to seek re-election.[3] It was subsequently reported in January 2007 that Oliphant was hosting exploratory meetings in the riding.[4] However, Oliphant did not pursue this bid, deferring to formerNDPPremierBob Rae who became the Liberal candidate in this riding.
In January 2008, Oliphant sought thefederal Liberal nomination of Don Valley West afterJohn Godfrey announced his retirement.[5] Others interested in the nomination included former Liberal MPSarmite Bulte,[6][7] prominent constitutional expertDeborah Coyne, local imam Abdul Ingar, and Jonathan Mousley.[8] During the nomination process, Coyne accused Oliphant and Bulte supporters of signing up members who hadn't paid a membership fee, a violation of party rules. Members of the press contacted several people who had signed up as members who confirmed they had not paid a fee. Oliphant replied that he had instructed his campaign team to follow the rules.[9]
On February 25, 2008, Coyne withdrew from the nomination race and endorsed Oliphant.[10] On March 2, 2008, he won the nomination in the fourth round of voting to become the Liberal party candidate in the federal by-election.[10] The by-election had been called for September 22, 2008,[11] but this was cancelled in the wake of the general election called for October 14, 2008.[12]
Oliphant was elected to the House of Commons on October 14, 2008.[13]
He was named to theShadow Cabinet byStéphane Dion asCritic for Veterans Affairs in November 2008.[14] He was appointed to the same post byMichael Ignatieff in October 2009. On September 7, 2010, in announcing the team of Opposition Critics, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff named Oliphant to the Multiculturalism post.
He served as the co-chair of the Canada-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, treasurer-secretary of the Canada-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group and vice-chair of the All-Party Arts Caucus, the Liberal Caucus' Intergovernmental Affairs Liaison withQueen's Park on Ontario Issues, and the Federal Caucus Liaison of theOntario Young Liberals.
In the2011 election, Oliphant was defeated by the Conservative candidateJohn Carmichael.[15] Four years later, he reclaimed the riding, defeating Carmichael in a rematch.[16]
Oliphant was elected to the House of Commons on October 19, 2015, representing the federal riding of Don Valley West.
In May 2016, Rob rose in the House of Commons to co-sponsor Bill C-233, an Act respecting a national strategy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, at second reading.[17] The bill legislated the creation of a National Alzheimer's and other Dementias Strategy. The Liberal government put $50 million over 10 years towards the strategy to fund awareness, research, and care and support for patients, families and caregivers all living with the challenges of dementia.[18]
In March 2017, Oliphant successfully sponsored and revived a previous Senate Private Member's Bill (PMB) initiated by former Senator Jim Cowan known as (S-201) which sought to implement national penalties against genetic discrimination. This novel PMB was not supported by the government but passed successfully during its third reading due to Liberal backbenchers voting against Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould's suggested amendments, which would have limited the scope of the bill.[19]
On May 3, 2019, Oliphant was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs by Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau.[20] He had previously served as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. Oliphant then worked closely with the HonourableMarc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rob is also Co-Chair of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association and the Canada-Pakistan Friendship Group.[21] He served as Co-Chair of the House of Commons and Senate Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying and as Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security from 2015 to 2017.[22]
He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election and has been serving as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs since May 3, 2019. Oliphant was sworn in as a member of thePrivy Council on December 3, 2021.[23][24]
| 2025 Canadian federal election:Don Valley West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ** Preliminary results — Not yet official ** | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 36,744 | 62.63 | +5.40 | ||||
| Conservative | Robert Pierce | 19,480 | 33.21 | +3.30 | ||||
| New Democratic | Linnea Löfström-Abary | 1,382 | 2.36 | –6.80 | ||||
| Green | Sheena Sharp | 616 | 1.05 | –0.01 | ||||
| Independent | Bahira Abdulsalam | 442 | 0.75 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 58,664 | 68.27 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,928 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | +1.05 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[25][26] | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Don Valley West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 24,798 | 52.7 | -3.1 | $98,666.75 | |||
| Conservative | Yvonne Robertson | 16,695 | 35.5 | +4.3 | $93,591.10 | |||
| New Democratic | Syeda Riaz | 3,814 | 8.1 | +0.8 | $26.24 | |||
| People's | Michael Minas | 881 | 1.9 | +1.0 | $1,582.23 | |||
| Green | Elvira Caputolan | 761 | 1.6 | -2.7 | $0.00 | |||
| Centrist | Adil Khan | 65 | 0.1 | N/A | $5,233.16 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 47,014 | 99.2 | – | $107,129.06 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 363 | 0.8 | ||||||
| Turnout | 47,377 | 66.3 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 71,465 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -3.7 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[27] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Don Valley West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 29,148 | 55.8 | +2.02 | $97,454.94 | |||
| Conservative | Yvonne Robertson | 16,304 | 31.2 | -6.40 | $98,556.64 | |||
| New Democratic | Laurel MacDowell | 3,804 | 7.3 | +1.28 | $0.00 | |||
| Green | Amanda Kistindey | 2,257 | 4.3 | +2.64 | $0.98 | |||
| People's | Ian Prittie | 444 | 0.9 | - | $3,650.11 | |||
| Libertarian | John Kittredge | 277 | 0.5 | -0.14 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 52,234 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 422 | |||||||
| Turnout | 52,656 | 71.5 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 73,652 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +4.21 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[28][29] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 27,472 | 53.78 | +12.29 | – | |||
| Conservative | John Carmichael | 19,206 | 37.6 | -5.33 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Syeda Riaz | 3,076 | 6.02 | -4.73 | – | |||
| Green | Natalie Hunt | 848 | 1.66 | -1.91 | – | |||
| Libertarian | John Kittredge | 325 | 0.64 | – | – | |||
| Communist | Elizabeth Hill | 84 | 0.16 | -0.19 | – | |||
| Independent | Sharon Cromwell | 75 | 0.15 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 51,086 | 100.0 | -4.48 | $202,821.40 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 217 | 0.4 | +0.07 | |||||
| Turnout | 51,303 | 72.75 | +5.91 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 70,524 | – | -12.15 | |||||
| Liberalgain fromConservative | Swing | +8.81 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[30][31] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | John Carmichael | 22,962 | 42.93 | +4.11 | – | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 22,351 | 41.79 | -2.57 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Nicole Yovanoff | 6,280 | 11.74 | +1.55 | – | |||
| Green | Georgina Wilcock | 1,703 | 3.18 | -3.12 | – | |||
| Communist | Dimitris Kabitsis | 186 | 0.35 | +0.02 | – | |||
| Total valid votes | 53,482 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 176 | 0.33 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 53,658 | 66.84 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 80,276 | – | – | |||||
| Conservativegain fromLiberal | Swing | +3.34 | ||||||
| 2008 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Rob Oliphant | 22,212 | 44.36 | -9.2 | $60,129 | |||
| Conservative | John Carmichael | 19,441 | 38.83 | +5.6 | $82,633 | |||
| New Democratic | David Sparrow | 5,102 | 10.19 | +1.1 | $67,984 | |||
| Green | Georgina Wilcock | 3,155 | 6.30 | +2.8 | $10,725 | |||
| Communist | Catherine Holliday | 162 | 0.32 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 50,072 | 100.00 | $85,470 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | – | 62.8 | ||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -7.4 | ||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
