Elizabeth Witmer
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In 2012, she was appointed as chair of the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.
BackgroundEdit
Witmer was born in Schiedam, Netherlands. She moved with her family to Ontario at a young age. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario, and later attended the Althouse College of Education. She did postgraduate work at the University of Waterloo. Witmer worked as a secondary school teacher from 1968 to 1980, in West Lorne, London and Guelph. She was named the "Kitchener-Waterloo Woman of the Year" in 1968.
PoliticsEdit
Witmer began her political career as a school trustee, serving on the Waterloo County Board of Education from 1980 to 1990; she became its chair in 1984. She ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1987 election, but was defeated by Ontario Liberal Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Herb Epp in Waterloo North.<ref name="1987 results">Template:Cite news</ref>
Epp retired before the 1990 provincial election, and Witmer again won the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding. She was successful this time, defeating New Democrat Hugh Miller and Liberal Andrew Telegdi (later a federal Member of Parliament) <ref name="1990 results">Template:Cite news</ref> to become the first female MPP to be elected in the region of Waterloo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The NDP scored an upset victory in this election while the Progressive Conservatives won only 20 of 130 seats for third-party status.
Cabinet appointmentEdit
There was a significant swing to the Progressive Conservatives in the 1995 provincial election, and Witmer was re-elected by more than 17,000 votes over her nearest opponent.<ref name="1995 results">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> On June 26, 1995, she was appointed Minister of Labour in the government of Mike Harris.<ref name="1995HarrisCab">Template:Cite news</ref> In October 1997, she was promoted to the key portfolio of Minister of Health, replacing the more confrontational Jim Wilson.<ref name="1997HarrisCab">Template:Cite news</ref>
Harris's government was initially regarded by many as uniformly right-wing, although moderate Red Tory figures such as Witmer and Isabel Bassett eventually emerged in key portfolios. Witmer's appointment as Minister of Health was generally interpreted as signalling that the government desired a more moderate approach to negotiations with the health sector. Despite this, she presided over a controversial restructuring process which included a number of government cutbacks.
Witmer was re-elected in the 1999 election, defeating Liberal Sean Strickland by just under 10,000 votes.<ref name="1999 results">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On June 17, 1999 her portfolio was renamed the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.<ref name="1999HarrisCab">Template:Cite news</ref> Following a cabinet shuffle on February 8, 2001, she became Minister of the Environment.<ref name="2001HarrisCab">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ministerial AccomplishmentsEdit
Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1996Edit
During her term as Minister of Labour Ms. Witmer overhauled the Worker's Compensation Act, renaming it the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and introduced entitlement benefits for mental stress for the first time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Cabinet positionsEdit
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2002 PC leadership campaign and afterwardEdit
She ran in the 2002 PC leadership election to succeed Harris as Tory leader and Premier, but placed fourth on the first ballot and threw her support to the eventual winner, Ernie Eves. In April 2002, she was appointed Deputy Premier and Minister of Education.<ref name="2002EvesCabinet">Template:Cite news</ref>
The 2003 election saw a significant backlash against the Conservative government. Witmer was re-elected in Kitchener—Waterloo defeating Strickland by a reduced margin of 1,501 votes.<ref name="2003 results">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Moreover, she is considered to be one of the few moderates in a caucus dominated by the right-wing of the party. She was named as deputy leader of the opposition, and serves as her party's critic on long-term care and women's issues.
Witmer considered running to succeed Eves in the 2004 PC leadership election, but ultimately supported John Tory's successful candidacy instead. Tory re-appointed Witmer as deputy leader. Her appointment was considered a notable victory for the centrist wing of the party. In the 2007 provincial election, Witmer won re-election by 4,917 votes.<ref name="2007 results">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2007, Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization dedicated to improving the status of women in politics, conducted an "Ontario's Greatest Female Premier" contest to name the woman in politics whom respondents felt would make the best Premier of Ontario. Witmer won the contest, ahead of political activist Georgina Bencsik and federal Member of Parliament Olivia Chow.<ref>Ontario's Greatest Female Premier Template:Webarchive at Equal Voice.</ref>
Resignation and appointment to WSIBEdit
On April 27, 2012 Witmer announced that she was resigning as an MPP, just seven months after the last election, and had accepted an appointment to head the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She succeeded Steve Mahoney as chair. She revealed in September 2012 that she chose to accept the WSIB position because her husband Cam had recently been diagnosed with cancer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She stopped being chair on January 26, 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chair of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)Edit
As Chair of one of North America’s largest insurance companies, Mrs. Witmer is responsible for overseeing the WSIB’s transformation to a modern and sustainable workplace insurance system. One of Mrs. Witmer’s most notable accomplishments as Chair is the elimination of the unfunded liability (UFL) in 2018, almost a decade ahead of the legislated timeline of 2027. For the first time in recent history the WSIB is over 100% funded<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>