Diane Finley

The Honourable Diane Finley PC, MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Haldimand—Norfolk
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	Bob Speller
Personal details
Born	October 3, 1957 (1957-10-03) (age 54) Hamilton, Ontario
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Doug Finley
Residence	Simcoe
Profession	Businesswoman, executive, management consultant, school administrator
Portfolio	Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Diane Finley, PC, MP (born October 3, 1957) is a Canadian politician. She serves as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Of the 12 MPs in the Priorities and Planning Committee of cabinet ("P & P Committee"), known as the inner cabinet, she is the only woman. She is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Conservative Party.

Diane Finley was raised in Port Dover and Charlotteville in Norfolk County, Ontario, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. After graduation, she became the administrator of Western's French Immersion School. She then worked in a series of private and public sector jobs, in a variety of fields. She was named "one of Canada's future leaders" by the Governor-General’s Study Conference 2000.

Part of political couple

Her husband Doug Finley was campaign manager and director of political operations for the Conservative Party of Canada and is a Canadian Senator.^[1]

Political positions and affiliations

Finley has promoted increased private-sector involvement in health services. She was the founder of Canada's largest private-sector ambulance service, Canadian Medical Response, and has chaired the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Long active in conservative politics, Finley first ran for public office herself in the 2004 federal election. She defeated Bob Speller, a Liberal cabinet minister, by 1,645 votes. After being re-elected in the 2006 election, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. An order in council transferred authority for Social Development Canada to her as well, and accordingly she served under the style Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.

In 2006, she announced that she has Graves' disease, a non-life-threatening thyroid condition which causes increased sensitivity to bright lights and forces her to wear tinted glasses.^[2]

She was shuffled from the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada portfolio on January 4, 2007.

In her role as Immigration Minister, Diane Finley announced in 2008 that the government would not intervene if the courts denied the deserter Jeremy Hinzman's final request to remain in Canada.^[3] Her statement came four months after a June 3, 2008 Parliament motion that passed 137 to 110 urging the government to allow U.S. military deserters of wars not sanctioned by United Nations to remain in Canada as permanent residents instead of deporting them to face possible jail time.^[4][5] Another deserter, Robin Long, was sentenced to fifteen months in jail on Aug 22, 2008, a month before Diane Finley’s statement.^[6]

Finley introduced Bill C-17 in the fall of 2007 as a means of preventing foreign adult entertainment performers from entering the country.^[7]

On October 14, 2008, Finley won as the Conservative Party candidate for Haldimand—Norfolk in the 2008 election. She was again elected May 2, 2011 as the Conservative Party candidate for Haldimand—Norfolk in the 2011 election with 50.9% of the vote.

References

1. ^ Linda Diebel (2008-09-06). "Harper's 'political pit bull'". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/article/491926. Retrieved 2008-09-09. 
2. ^ Immigration file a revolving door Toronto Star 2007-01-05, Phinjo Gombu
3. ^ Dalrymple, Tobin (2008-09-21). "War resister expects to be deported this week". Canwest News Service. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=6f16e1b6-ce9c-4045-a5ec-95469eb16c2f. 
4. ^ Report - Iraq War Resisters / Rapport - Opposants à la guerre en Irak
5. ^ Smith, Joanna (2008-06-04). "MPs vote to give asylum to U.S. military deserters". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/436575. 
6. ^ Kyonka, Nick (2008-08-23). "Iraq war resister sentenced to 15 months". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/article/484115. 
7. ^ "Finley threatened over proposed stripper law". The Canadian Press. 2008-04-23. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080423/finley_threatened_080423/20080423?hub=Politics. 

External links

• Official site
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Parliamentarian profile at ParlInfo
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
• Voting history at How'd They Vote?
• Hansard: Diane Finley's announcement of her Graves' disease diagnosis

28th Ministry – Cabinet of Stephen Harper
Cabinet Posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Monte Solberg	Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development 2008–	incumbent
Monte Solberg	Minister of Citizenship and Immigration 2007–2008	Jason Kenney
Belinda Stronach	Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development 2006–2007 styled as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development	Monte Solberg

Persondata
Name	Finley, Diane
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1957-10-03
Place of birth	Hamilton, Ontario
Date of death
Place of death