The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, MP

Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

Represents the riding of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe in 2015. She has previously served as Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, as Minister of Health, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

Minister Petitpas Taylor has worked with all orders of government, and focused on local infrastructure development, senior services, and investments in jobs and the local economy. As Canada’s Minister of Health, she also worked on behalf of all Canadians in many challenging areas of public health, including combatting the opioid crisis, creating a science-based Canada’s Food Guide, and overseeing the legalization of cannabis.

Before entering politics, Minister Petitpas Taylor worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association in Saint John, and had a 23-year career as a social worker and Victims Services Coordinator for the Codiac Regional Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During that time, she provided crisis counselling, domestic violence intervention, and domestic violence risk assessment to victims of crime. She also served on the City of Moncton’s Public Safety Advisory Committee, which was commissioned by Moncton City Council in 1996 to proactively influence the community through crime prevention promotion and to help Council respond to problematic issues as they arise.

Minister Petitpas Taylor has spent her entire life advocating for a fair and just society for all. She has been the Chair of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women and a member of the Coalition for Pay Equity. She has volunteered with several community organizations, both provincially and locally, including the Coalition Against Abuse in Relationships and the Canadian Mental Health Association’s local Suicide Prevention Committee in Moncton.

Minister Petitpas Taylor grew up in Dieppe, New Brunswick, as the youngest of nine children, and graduated from the Université de Moncton with a Bachelor’s degree in social work.