Colleen Beaumier - Political Career

Political Career

Beaumier was first elected in 1993 in the riding of Brampton. In 1997, she was re-elected, this time in the newly created riding of Brampton West—Mississauga, where she won again on November 27, 2000. During the federal election of 2004, she defeated former provincial Minister of Health Tony Clement in the newly created riding of Brampton West. In 2006, she was again re-elected, her fifth such mandate.

As a Member of Parliament, she has remained a frequent spokesperson for human rights. At the 1995 global conference on the Inter-Parliamentary Union at the United Nations, she spoke on the dangers of global income disparities. In response to human rights violations uncovered during the Somali Inquiry, she authored a private member’s bill, Bill C-208, which increased transparency in the bureaucracy and established tougher penalties for the destruction of documents.

Beaumier has served on numerous parliamentary committees, most notably serving as chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Development and the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs. She also served as vice-chair of Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

In 2003, she served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, and later as the associate critic for the Canadian Border Services Agency.

She announced on September 5, 2008 that she would not be running in the 2008 election. She was succeeded by Andrew Kania.