Joanne ThompsonPC MP is a Canadian politician who serves as theMinister of Fisheries and theMember of Parliament for the riding ofSt. John's East since2021. A member of theLiberal Party, she has served as theMinister of Seniors andMinister of Fisheries in the cabinets ofJustin Trudeau andMark Carney.

Joanne Thompson was born inSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. She married and is the mother of three children.^[1] In the 1970s she was trained as a nurse. She graduated fromAthabasca University with abachelor's degree in nursing and from theUniversity of Fredericton with aMaster of Business Administration degree.^[2]

Jack Harris, who representedSt. John's East multiple times starting 1987, declined to seek reelection in the2021 election.^[3] In the 2021 and2025 elections Thompson was a successfulLiberal candidate in St. John's East.^[4] She was the first Liberal to win reelection in the riding since the 1960s.^[5]

From 2021 to 2023, Thompson was a member of the Government Operations and Estimates, and Environment and Sustainable Development committees. From 2023 to 2025, she was a member of the Finance committee.^[4][6] She was the co-chair of the Women’s Caucus.^[1] Thompson supported Carney during the2025 Liberal leadership election.^[7]

Thompson was theMinister of Seniors in thecabinet ofJustin Trudeau from 20 December 2024 to 13 March 2025, and has been theMinister of Fisheries in thecabinet ofMark Carney since 14 March 2025.^[4][6] In 2025, she doubled the allowable catch of cod off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador from 18,000 tonnes to 38,000 tonnes.^[8] She deniedMarineland of Canada's request to export its 30beluga whales to a theme park in China, stating that it was not in line with theFisheries Act's regulations to protect marine mammals from exploitation.^[9] However, on January 26, 2026, she gave "conditional approval" to Marineland to export its remaining 30 belugas and 4 dolphins to several institutions in the United States. Before final approval is given, Marineland will need to provide a complete travel plan and confirm precisely which animals are going to which facilities, as well as receive confirmation from accredited veterinarians that each animal is safe to be transported.^[10] Marineland had stated that if the government had denied the request for export permits it would proceed with a secondary plan to euthanize the animals.^[11]

• Joanne Thompson – Parliament of Canada biography

• Living people
• Liberal Party of Canada MPs
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador
• Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
• 21st-century Canadian women politicians
• Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
• Canadian jewellers
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry
• Members of the 30th Canadian Ministry
• Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
• University of Fredericton alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use Canadian English from January 2023
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• Use mdy dates from December 2024
• Year of birth missing (living people)