Donna Cansfield

Parliamentary Assistant (Innovation)

Donna Cansfield was first elected as MPP for Etobicoke Centre in 2003.

Cansfield has served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing). She also served and as Parliamentary Assistant and then Minister of Energy where she was instrumental in implementing the government’s energy plan to build cleaner generation capacity, maximize Ontario’s existing generation and transmission assets and create a culture of conservation. Cansfield also introduced Bill 21, the Energy Conservation Responsibility Act, which was passed by the legislature in February 2006.

Cansfield was appointed Minister of Transportation in 2006. She brought forward the “one person, one seatbelt” legislation and the Safer Roads for a Safer Ontario Act, which set new standards for road safety, with some of the toughest sanctions in Canada to target drinking and driving, stunt driving and street racing. In May 2007, Cansfield held the first sustainable transportation conference, TransForum, to help create a transportation system that supports the needs of today while protecting our environment for future generations.

She also served as Minister of Natural Resources, where she led work on the Far North Act and better protections for endangered species.

Cansfield is a tireless advocate for community services, families and in particular, children. Cansfield was a school trustee for 15 years. She was a member of the Etobicoke School Board and chair of the Toronto District School Board, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and vice-chair of the Toronto Foundation for Student Success. She also has national experience through her work as a board member for Learning for a Sustainable Future, director of Prime Mentors of Canada and as a past president of the Canadian School Board Association.

Representing a riding with Canada’s largest proportion of senior citizens, Cansfield has served as a director of a hospice and has been active in other health-care efforts.

Cansfield lives in Etobicoke with her husband Bill. They have two children, Jennie and D’Arcy, who live and work in Ontario.