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The Honourable Mark Holland PC
Holland in 2011
Minister of Health
In office July 26, 2023 – March 14, 2025
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean-Yves Duclos
Succeeded by	Kamal Khera
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
In office October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Pablo Rodríguez
Succeeded by	Karina Gould
Chief Government Whip
In office August 31, 2018 – October 26, 2021
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Pablo Rodríguez
Succeeded by	Steven MacKinnon
Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
In office January 30, 2017 – August 31, 2018
Minister	Ralph Goodale
Preceded by	Michel Picard
Succeeded by	Karen McCrimmon
Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Democratic Institutions
In office October 19, 2015 – January 30, 2017
Minister	Maryam Monsef
Preceded by	Tom Lukiwski
Succeeded by	Andy Fillmore
Member of Parliament forAjax
In office October 19, 2015 – April 28, 2025
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Jennifer McKelvie
Member of Parliament forAjax—Pickering
In office June 28, 2004 – May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Chris Alexander
Personal details
Born	(1974-10-16)October 16, 1974 (age 51) Pickering,Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Cindy Fournier ​ (m. 2009)​ [1]
Residence	Ajax, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Toronto (BA)
Profession	Health Executive, investment advisor, politician

Mark HollandPC (born October 16, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served asMinister of Health from July 26, 2023 to March 14, 2025. A member of theLiberal Party, Holland representedAjax in theHouse of Commons. He was first elected to parliament in 2004 and served until 2025 with the exception of four years after losing his seat in the 2011 election. He was returned to parliament in 2015. He served asGovernment House Leader from 2021 to 2023, and asChief Government Whip from 2018 to 2021. Holland decided not to seek reelection in the2025 Canadian federal election. He was succeeded as the MP for Ajax byJennifer McKelvie and as health minister byKamal Khera.

He was elected to theHouse of Commons of Canada in the2004 federal election in the riding ofAjax—Pickering. Holland was re-elected in the2006 and2008 elections, but was defeated in2011. He worked for theHeart and Stroke Foundation, before returning to politics to run in the 2015 election, where he was elected to represent Ajax.

Holland was born on October 16, 1974, inPickering, Ontario.^[2] Holland majored inpolitical science andhistory at theUniversity of Toronto and graduated in 1996. He worked as an assistant to Member of ParliamentDan McTeague and at the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. He also worked for theRoyal Bank of Canada and theCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

A lifelong resident of west Durham, Holland lives inAjax.

Holland served as a city councillor for the city of Pickering from 1997 to 2004, and as a councillor for theRegional Municipality of Durham from 2000 to 2004.^[3]

Holland created the Millennium Waterfront Committee in Pickering in 1998 and led the redevelopment of Pickering's waterfront. He also founded the Region of Durham's Youth Partnership Initiative, the City of Pickering's Winterfest and was a member of the board of directors for Veridian Corporation. Holland was also a member of the Durham Region Police Services Board, past vice-chair of both the Ajax-Pickering Social Development Council and the Ajax-Pickering Block Parent program and a past member of Durham Region's finance and administration committee. He continues to be a member of the Durham West Arts Centre and was one of their founding members.

Holland is a member of theLiberal Party of Canada in theHouse of Commons of Canada, representing the riding ofAjax-Pickering from 2004 to 2011, and representingAjax since 2015. He has served as vice-chair of the Public Accounts Committee, vice-chair of the Public Safety and National Security Committee, critic for Natural Resources, critic for Public Works and Procurement, critic for the Canada Border Services Agency, associate critic for Treasury Board, as a member of the Finance Committee, Industry Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Government Operations Committee and on the Cities and Communities Caucus.

In Parliament, Holland brought up aprivate member's bill to advocate for the cause of lowering the voting age. The bill stipulated that 16- to 18-year-olds be allowed to vote in federal elections encouraged provincial and municipal jurisdictions to allow the same. He asked that an elections unit be taught in high schools before elections take place, to inform students on current events and issues at debate. By raising this interest in youth first, at the election they will make more informed choices. Furthermore, voting would take place in schools, raising voter turnout.^[4][5][6] In October 2006, Holland re-introduced as a private members bill a former Liberal government bill to reform the animal cruelty sections of the Criminal Code of Canada, which have changed little since 1892.

Holland has been named byThe Globe and Mail as a member of the new 'Rat Pack' and was voted by the Hill Times as the most effective Opposition MP in Question Period and the 'Best Up-And-Comer' four times from 2006–2008. Conservative MinisterStockwell Day has referred to Holland as 'Perry Mason on Steroids' and 'the Caped Crusader' during their sometimes heated exchanges in the Public Safety and National Security meetings. CTV called Holland "a one-man rat pack on a mission to change the hill". Macleans has labelled Holland – 'Part Attack Dog – Part King Maker' for his going after Conservatives and for his role in the 2006 leadership campaign.

Aaron Wherry ofMaclean's Magazine spoke of Holland saying "If you saw Kennedy in Montreal, Holland was inevitably not far behind. Already a favourite of some on Parliament Hill for his oratory skills and his impressive head of hair, Holland is a mere 32 years old – making him a potential leadership candidate for the next 30 years."

Holland supportedGerard Kennedy'sleadership bid for the federal Liberal Party and was Kennedy's Ontario campaign chair. When Kennedy dropped off after the second ballot to support formerEnvironment MinisterStéphane Dion, Holland went with him and was seen as key in building a bridge between the two camps. Holland was the Ontario co-chair of Michael Ignatieff's 2008 leadership campaign.

On January 18, 2007, Holland was named the critic for Natural Resources in Dion's shadow cabinet.^[7] He was subsequently named critic for Public Safety and National Security, a post he held until his defeat in 2011. In that capacity, he led the opposition criticism over handling of the G8 Summit, efforts to save the gun registry and opposition to the Conservative Party's crime agenda. As a sharp and vocal critic of the government, the Conservatives dubbed him "Public Enemy Number 1" prior to the 2011 election, a fact Holland wore as "a badge of honour" citing other prominent Canadians the government targeted for disagreeing with their agenda.^[8] Holland was unseated byChris Alexander, a former diplomat who ran as a Conservative. Holland has recently admitted that he attempted suicide after that defeat, saying ""I was told that I was toxic. The Conservatives hated me. No organization would hire me. My marriage failed. My space with my children was not in a good place and most particularly my passion — the thing I believed so ardently in ... the purpose of my life — was in ashes at my feet."^[9][10]

He became the director of health promotion and public affairs with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada following his 2011 defeat. He also served as the Heart and Stroke Foundation's executive director for the Ontario Mission and national director of children and youth, before returning to federal politics in 2015.

In 2015, Holland was nominated the Liberal candidate for the new riding ofAjax, essentially the southern portion of his old riding, thus positioning him for a rematch against sitting MP Chris Alexander. As part of the Liberal surge in southern Ontario, he won back his seat with 56 percent of the vote, defeating Alexander by almost 12,000 votes.^[11]

In December 2015, Holland was announced as the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Democratic Institutions.^[12] In January 2017, he was shifted to Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. In August 2018, he was promoted to the position ofChief Government Whip,^[13] succeeding the previous whip, Member of Parliament for Honoré-MercierPablo Rodriguez. He served until October 2021, when he becameGovernment House Leader, which he held until his July 2023 appointment asMinister of Health. In March 2025, Holland decided not to seek reelection in the2025 Canadian federal election.^[14]

Holland was named CEO of theCanadian National Exhibition on July 29, 2025^[15]

• How'd They Vote?: Mark Holland's voting history and quotes
• Mark Holland – Parliament of Canada biography

• 1974 births
• Living people
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
• Liberal Party of Canada MPs
• University of Toronto alumni
• People from Ajax, Ontario
• People from Pickering, Ontario
• Ontario municipal councillors
• Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry

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