Mishall RehmanMaureen Harquail, the Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Don Valley East, brings a background in environmental prosecution and experience as a reservist to the political arena.
Harquail started her career off by serving two years as a Naval reservist, training at HMSCS York and HMSCS Carleton as she completed her studies. She served in communications and harbour control.
In 2013, Maureen was the recipient of a Bravo Zulu award from the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.
After leaving the military, Harquail went on to complete her undergraduate degree with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 1990. She then attended the University of Wales, Cardiff Law School in the United Kingdom and graduated in 1993 with an Honours Bachelor of Laws.
After returning to Canada, Harquail practiced environmental law in Alberta. Later in her career she moved back to Toronto and served as the Chief Legal Officer and Deputy Instructor for the Ontario Racing Commission.
Harquail recalls that she was drawn to politics from an early age.
“I’ve always been interested in politics. I was 12 years old, and I was knocking on doors for the provincial PC party,” recalled Harquail.
She attributes her recent inspiration to enter politics to Dr. Bette Stevenson and cousin Jim Flaherty, former Minister of Finance.
“He [Jim Flaherty] was a great mentor and role model for me. I hope I can even do half of what he accomplished,” said Harquail.
Harquail believes the Conservative Party has shown their strength during economic struggles.
“The proven leadership of Harper certainly shows on the economic side. We’ve lowered taxes for Canadians, and we’ve been very disciplined in getting back to a balanced budget. Prime Minister Harper and Minister Flaherty got us through the recession. We were the first to get out of the recession out of the G7 countries,” noted Harquail.
She also believes the party is strong in the issues of safety and security.
“The government reacted to the tragedies of last year well. We took a strong stand and introduced Bill C-51, which will give further support to agencies, and I think Canadians expect just that from their government,” said Harquail.
Harquail believes she can use her background to better serve Canadians.
“Given my background as former environmental prosecutor and member of the Canadian Forces, going forward those are the issues I would be interested in pursuing in whatever role the Prime Minister assigns to me. Our government has made significant improvements for
