Albina Guarnieri

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Albina Guarnieri is a Canadian Liberal politician who served as a member of Parliament from 1988 to 2011, representing Mississauga East and later Mississauga East–Cooksville in the Greater Toronto Area. Born on June 23, 1953, in Faeto, Italy, she moved to Canada and earned a master's degree in English from McGill University, where her thesis became a book called The cheese on the moon.

Before entering Parliament, she worked in public life as a spokesperson for Bob Kaplan, a press liaison for Ontario Liberal leader Stuart Smith, and an assistant to Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton. In 1984 she worked for Lowther Consulting, a company led by Jim Coutts, a former aide to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Guarnieri was elected MP in 1988 in a closely contested race and held her seat through several elections. A loyal Liberal to Prime Minister Paul Martin, she served as Associate Minister of National Defence (December 2003–July 2004) and then as Minister of Veterans Affairs (July 20, 2004–February 5, 2006). She also chaired multiple standing committees during her time in Parliament.

In September 2010, Guarnieri announced she would not seek re-election after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she left Parliament in 2011. She is married to John Campbell and lives in Mississauga, with a professional background in management consulting.