Politician, public relations executive, political strategist
Melissa LantsmanMP (born April 8, 1984) is a Canadian politician and public relations executive who serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Thornhill since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she is the party's co-deputy leader and the co-deputy leader of the Official Opposition, serving with Tim Uppal.[1] Lantsman is the first openly gay and first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP.[2] Upon Pierre Poilievre's election as Conservative Leader, he named Lantsman one of two deputy leaders along with Uppal.[3]
In 2020, upon Peter Kent's retirement from Parliament, Lantsman announced her intention to seek the federal Conservative nomination in Thornhill.[6] She defeated the incumbent PC member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Gila Martow, to become the riding's CPC candidate on March 17, 2021. Lantsman was elected to Parliament on September 20, 2021, and sworn into office on October 28. Since November of that year, she has served as the Opposition critic for transport in the Opposition Shadow Cabinet of Erin O'Toole. Lantsman was elected the vice-chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport and Infrastructure. Currently, Lantsman sits on the Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship.[7]
Early life and education
Lantsman was born in Toronto in 1984 to a RussianJewish family and raised in Thornhill. Her mother was an accountant and her father was an engineer who worked in the taxi business and ran several pawn shops. She attended a French immersion program at Langstaff Secondary School in York Region and speaks fluent French in addition to English and Russian. Lantsman has one brother.[8]
As an adolescent, Lantsman volunteered for Conservative Party candidates in local elections. During the 2008 Canadian federal election, she was appointed a senior communications advisor, with the party forming a minority government. Thereafter, she was appointed director of communications for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Ministers Lawrence Cannon and John Baird, serving from 2008 to 2011. From 2011 to 2012, she was the director of communications of the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada and accompanied Prime Minister Stephen Harper on domestic and foreign visits.[10]
In 2018, Lantsman served as director of communications for Ontario MPP Caroline Mulroney's candidacy for leadership of the Ontario PC Party. After Mulroney's loss, Lantsman joined the PC's campaign for the 2018 Ontario general election as its chief spokesperson and war room director.[11] In this role, she oversaw all press communications and social media releases by the campaign. The election resulted in a PC majority government, the first since 2002 after 16 years of Liberal government in Ontario.[12] After the election, Lantsman joined Hill+Knowlton Strategies, an international public relations strategy firm, at its Toronto office.[11] In 2020, she joined Enterprise Canada, a strategic public relations consultancy, as its vice president for National Public Affairs.[13] She relinquished her partnership in Enterprise in 2021 to focus on her political candidacy. According to public disclosure records, Lantsman is a director of a Toronto-based Venture Fund focused on investing in early-stage companies that prioritizes women founders.[citation needed]
After the 2019 election, Lantsman and fellow Conservative strategist Jamie Ellerton published an opinion piece in The Globe and Mail, criticizing then-leader Andrew Scheer handing over LGBT rights and advocated that if the party wants to win, they needed to be more inclusive towards the LGBT community.[15][16][17]
In 2020, Thornhill Conservative MP Peter Kent announced that he would not seek re-election at the next year's federal election.[4] Kent had represented the electoral district since 2008. The riding has Canada's highest proportion of Jewish residents, at 37 per cent.[4]
Lantsman faced the incumbent MPP for Thornhill, Gila Martow, in the nomination contest.[18] She participated in a series of nomination debates with Martow between December 2020 and March 2021.[18] On April 3, 2021, Lantsman defeated Martow in the nomination election and was certified as the Conservative candidate for Thornhill.[19] She faced Liberal candidate Gary Gladstone in the 2021 Canadian federal election on September 20 and, per preliminary results, won the seat with 51.3 per cent of the vote.[20]
On February 16, 2022, in response to a question raised by Lantsman regarding the usage of the Emergencies Act, Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau replied, "Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas."[24] Lantsman responded, "I am a strong Jewish woman and a member of this House and the descendant of Holocaust survivors. I have never been made to feel less except for today when the Prime Minister accused me of standing with swastikas. I think he owes me an apology. I'd like an apology."[25] Trudeau did not respond to Lantsman's request.[26]
On February 27, Candice Bergen appointed Lantsman to serve in the Conservative Party leadership team as Chair of Outreach in addition to her role as ShadowMinister of Transport.[27]
In January 2023, Lantsman called for an emergency debate in Parliament on the rise in violence in the Toronto area, on the transit system, and across Canada.[8]
In May 2023, Lantsman advocated that Canada should isolate Uganda after they passed anti-LGBTQ laws.[29] She also attended the raising of the pride flag on Parliament Hill.[30] During the Conservative Party policy convention, Lantsman defended the delegates' ability to bring anti-transgender resolution up for debate by arguing that it is a grassroot party and it was not the main priorities of the party.[31]
In January 2024, Melissa was named as one of the 100 most influential people in federal politics and government to watch in 2024 by The Hill Times.[32]
Melissa has supported the approach to tackling the housing crisis articulated by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, advocating for "more approvals and less government gatekeepers."[33]
After Poilievre made comments that transgender women should not be permitted access to women’s bathrooms in 2024, Lantsman defended his comments to The Hill Times by stating they were "common sense" and were supported by the caucus.[34][35]
