Diane Finley

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Hon. Diane Finley

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Incumbent
Riding	Haldimand—Norfolk
In office since	2004 Federal Election
Preceded by	New district
Born	October 03, 1957 (age 49) Hamilton, Ontario
Political party	Conservative
Profession(s)	Businesswoman, executive, management consultant, school administrator
Spouse	Doug Finley

Diane Finley PC, MP (born October 3, 1957 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. She serves as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Conservative Party.

Finley was raised in Port Dover and Charlotteville, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. After graduation, she became the administrator of Western's French Immersion School. She then worked in a series of private and public sector jobs, in a variety of fields. She was named "one of Canada's future leaders" by the Governor-General’s Study Conference 2000.

Finley has promoted increased private-sector involvement in health services. She was the founder of Canada's largest private-sector ambulance service, Canadian Medical Response, and has chaired the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Long active in conservative politics, Finley first ran for public office herself in the federal election of 2004. She defeated Bob Speller, a Liberal cabinet minister, by 1,645 votes. After being re-elected in the federal election of 2006, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. An order in council transferred authority for Social Development Canada to her as well, and accordingly she served under the style Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.

Shortly after the 39th Parliament convened, Finley announced to the House that she had been diagnosed with Graves' Disease, a non-life-threatening condition which causes an increase in metabolism and sensitivity to heat, cold and bright lights. Because of the bright lighting in the House of Commons, Finley must wear tinted glasses to protect her eyes.

She was shuffled from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to Citizenship and Immigration Canada on January 4th, 2007 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

[edit] External links

• Official site
• How'd They Vote?: Diane Finley's voting history and quotes
• Hansard: Diane Finley's announcement of her Graves' disease diagnosis

28th Ministry - Government of Stephen Harper
Cabinet Posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Monte Solberg	Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2007-)	incumbent
Belinda Stronach	Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (2006-2007) styled as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development	Monte Solberg

Preceded by Electoral district created in 2003. See Erie—Lincoln and Haldimand—Norfolk—Brant

Member of Parliament for Haldimand—Norfolk 2004-present

Succeeded by Incumbent

Members of the current Canadian Cabinet
Ambrose | Baird | Bernier | Blackburn | Cannon | Clement | Day | Emerson | Finley | Flaherty | Fortier | Harper | Hearn | LeBreton | Lunn | MacKay | Nicholson | O'Connor | Oda | Prentice | Skelton | Solberg | Strahl | Thompson | Toews | Van Loan | Verner Secretaries of State Guergis | Hill | Kenney | Paradis | Ritz