Melissa Lantsman | |
---|---|
![]() Lantsman in the House of Commons, 2024 | |
Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
Assumed office September 13, 2022 Serving with Tim Uppal | |
Leader | Pierre Poilievre |
Preceded by | Luc Berthold |
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party | |
Assumed office September 13, 2022 Serving with Tim Uppal | |
President | Robert Batherson |
Leader | Pierre Poilievre |
Preceded by | Luc Berthold |
Shadow Minister of Transport | |
In office November 9, 2021 – October 12, 2022 | |
Leader | Erin O'Toole Candice Bergen Pierre Poilievre |
Preceded by | Stephanie Kusie |
Succeeded by | Mark Strahl |
Member of Parliament for Thornhill | |
Assumed office September 20, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Peter Kent |
Personal details | |
Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | April 8, 1984
Political party | Conservative (federal) Progressive Conservative (provincial) |
Alma mater | University of Toronto (BA) University of Ottawa |
Occupation | Politician, public relations executive, political strategist |
Melissa Lantsman MP (born April 8, 1984) is a Canadian politician and public relations executive. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thornhill since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she is co-deputy leader of the party and the Official Opposition, alongside Tim Uppal.[1] Lantsman is the first openly gay and first Jewish woman elected as a Conservative MP.[2] When Pierre Poilievre became Conservative leader, he appointed Lantsman as one of two deputy leaders.[3]
Lantsman worked as a communications advisor to several cabinet members in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. She was also a senior advisor to the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and served as its chief spokesperson during the 2018 Ontario provincial election.[4] Before becoming an MP, she was the national vice president of Public Affairs at Enterprise Canada, a strategic communications firm.[5]
In 2020, when Peter Kent retired from Parliament, Lantsman announced she would run for the federal Conservative nomination in Thornhill.[6] She won the nomination on March 17, 2021, defeating Gila Martow, the sitting Progressive Conservative MPP for the area. Lantsman was elected to Parliament on September 20, 2021, and officially took office on October 28. In November, she was named the Opposition critic for transport in Erin O'Toole's Shadow Cabinet. She was also elected vice-chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and currently serves on the Special Committee on Canada–China Relations.[7]