Cheryl Gallant
Cheryl Gallant, MP (born May 23, 1960 in Sarnia, Ontario) is a conservative Canadian politician.
Gallant attended the University of Western Ontario, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. She worked for a major Canadian life insurance company and as an office manager prior to becoming a politician.
She is currently a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons. She has represented the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke since 2000, and was a member of the Canadian Alliance party from 2000 to 2003.
She is a former Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition, and the Canadian Alliance Deputy House Leader. She has also served as opposition critic of Canadian Heritage, Amateur Sport, the National Capital Commission, Science, Research and Development, the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, and Small Business. Gallant was stripped of all her critic positions in 2004 following remarks made during the election campaign. In 2004, she was voted the ideal Conservative leader by staffers of the Liberal and New Democratic parties.
Gallant has occasionally made controversial remarks that have drawn the ire of opponents. In 2002, she was accused of making anti-gay remarks to then Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham, when during a heated exchange, she kept interrupting "Ask your boyfriend" or "How's your boyfriend?" (Graham's sexual orientation has been occasionally the subject of rumours, though he is married to a woman, with children.) Gallant later apologized for her remarks. [1]
During the 2004 election, a controversy erupted when Gallant compared abortion to the beheading of Iraq war hostage Nick Berg. The Conservative Party then announced that she was suffering from laryngitis, and after this, she did not appear at some scheduled debates. Her opponents criticized this as a move to avoid criticism of her comments. Due to the socially conservative nature of the riding, it may have actually increased her support, as she won easily with more than twice as many votes as her nearest competitor.
Gallant resurfaced in the spotlight on March 17, 2005, when she suggested that Christians were being persecuted by the Liberal Party in a flyer she sent to her constituents. Tory leader Stephen Harper, confronted with the news, said "I'll let Cheryl Gallant explain those remarks herself; I haven't seen them."
Cheryl Gallant is again representing the Conservative Party in the 2006 election in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.
| Preceded by: Hec Clouthier, Liberal |
Members of Parliament from Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke | Succeeded by: (incumbent) |