Melissa Lantsman
- Born
- April 8, 1984 — Toronto
- Family
- Married to Lauren in 2017
- Education
- Honours Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto; graduate studies at the University of Ottawa and Rotman School of Management
- Career
- Public relations executive
- Political Experience
- Communications advisor to cabinet members in the 28th Canadian Ministry of Prime Minister Stephen Harper; senior advisor to the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party of Ontario; chief spokesperson during the 2018 Ontario provincial election; MP for Thornhill since 2021; co-deputy leader of the Conservative Party; co-deputy leader of the Official Opposition
- Property
- Director of a Toronto-based Venture Fund focused on investing in early-stage companies that prioritizes women founders
- Notable
- First openly lesbian and first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP; speaks English, French and Russian; lives with a severe form of Crohn's disease
Based on publicly available information — may contain inaccuracies
Business & Financial Interests
Before entering politics, Melissa Lantsman had a career in public relations and communications. She was the Vice President of Public Affairs at Enterprise Canada, a strategic communications firm. She also worked as a senior advisor and director of communications for several high-profile politicians at both the provincial and federal levels. Lantsman was also a regular political commentator on television news programs, providing analysis on current events.
Key Relationships & Connections
Melissa Lantsman has well-documented ties to several prominent figures within the Conservative movement. She served as a key spokesperson and advisor for Stephen Harper's Conservative government and worked on campaigns for figures like former Finance Minister Joe Oliver and Ontario's Caroline Mulroney. She was also reportedly the head of communications for Doug Ford's successful 2018 Ontario PC Party campaign. More recently, she served as a co-chair for Pierre Poilievre's successful campaign to become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Public Controversies
In February 2022, during the "Freedom Convoy" protests, Lantsman, who is Jewish, criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons for his use of the Emergencies Act and his rhetoric towards the protestors. In response, Trudeau accused the Conservative Party, including Lantsman, of standing with "people who wave swastikas." The comment was widely condemned by members of the opposition and some Jewish community groups as inappropriate and divisive, leading to calls for an apology, which the Prime Minister did not offer directly.
Where Melissa falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Melissa Lantsman won with 44,419 votes (66.4%)
Total votes cast: 66,918
How does Melissa Lantsman's voting record line up with your values?
Mr. Speaker, if any of those programs worked, then food bank use in Toronto would not be up 333% since 2019. On Monday, I asked if the government would cut taxes on gas. There was no answer. On Tuesday, I asked whether Canadian tax dollars would stay here instead of going to Europe. There was no answer. The government has an affordability problem and it looks like it does not care. Once more,
Mr. Speaker, the evidence is impossible to ignore. Yesterday, The Salvation Army reported that one-third of Canadians are skipping meals or cutting their portions, up almost 30% from just last year. Food bank visits have hit 2.35 million in a month, and that is double from 2019. This is not just some rough patch caused by something somewhere else far away. It is a slow and consistent leak in
Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, will theconfirm that no Canadian tax dollars will ever go to the European Union and that no EU laws and regulations will ever apply here in Canada?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals really know nothing. It was a very simple question. I am going to ask her again. Will she confirm that no Canadian tax dollars will ever go to the European Union and that no laws and regulations from the European Union will ever apply in Canada? It is a simple yes or no.
Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, thestood in the House and said affordability is the best it has been in decades, and we know that is not true. The government said that the debt-to-GDP would go down, and we know that is not true. After a decade of runaway Liberal spending, Canadians cannot keep up. Food banks saw a record 2.35 million visits in a single month, and inflation is above the bank's target
Mr. Speaker, I think he read the wrong piece of paper. That was not at all my question. Pausing one tax until January is not relief for Canadians. Canadians need to work and eat all year round. Relief for a portion of the tax for a portion of the year, as the Liberals pad their coffers with windfall profits from the high price of oil, is not actually relief for families. The only thing standing
Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, as Kol Nidrei began at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, a gunman arrived with a shotgun, explosives and a plan. Inside, about two dozen people had gathered to ask for forgiveness on the holiest night of the year. When the shots rang out, they pushed the tables together and lay on the floor, not knowing if the doors would hold. They held because of two
Mr. Speaker, I am going to split my time. The Kids Are Alright The Kids Aren't Alright In 1965, The Who sang. In 1998, The Offspring answered that with. That was before Instagram and Snapchat and before strangers across the world could come into a child's bedroom. Today, that answer is truer than ever, and I think most would agree in the House the kids are not all right. They are being hooked
Mr. Speaker, Amanda Todd held up flashcards because she believed that the people who would know her story would then act. In the case of Carson Cleland, also from B.C., his parents spoke out during the hardest days of their lives because he had hoped that people would act. They did their part. I think it is incumbent on this House to truly look at this legislation very carefully and make sure
Mr. Speaker, there is very much agreement with the member who just asked the question. It is hard to vote on something that you know halfway. We do not know anything about this commission. We do have a very live example in one of our country's closest allies, where pieces of this did not work. We know that putting 20 different social media companies into a piece of legislation just drives people
Mr. Speaker, the legislation is really unclear about the commission, and that is the answer we are trying to seek in the House. It could be three to five and it could be one, and that one is left up to regulation after the legislation. minister The question that we have in the House is to make it clear. I know the member opposite has read the legislation so I am not suggesting that he has not,
Mr. Speaker, the member just listed a grand list of failures. Everything the government has put forward in a program has failed Canadians because there are more Canadians eating food from a food bank than there were before the government started its food program. Everything is getting worse under the government, and all of those programs are a drop in the bucket compared to what those families