Aileen Carroll

Margaret Aileen Carroll, PC, (née O'Leary; June 1, 1944 – April 19, 2020) was a Canadian politician. She served as a member of the House of Commons from 1997 to 2006 who represented the ridings of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford and Barrie. She served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin as Minister for International Cooperation. From 2007 to 2011 she was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. She served in the cabinet of Premier Dalton McGuinty as Minister of Culture.

The Honourable Aileen Carroll PC
Ontario MPP
In office 2007–2011
Preceded by	Joe Tascona
Succeeded by	Rod Jackson
Constituency	Barrie
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Barrie Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford (1997-2004)
In office 1997–2006
Preceded by	Ed Harper
Succeeded by	Patrick Brown
Personal details
Born	Margaret Aileen O'Leary June 1, 1944 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died	April 19, 2020 (aged 75) Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	D. Kevin Carroll (m. 1968)
Children	2
Residence	Barrie, Ontario
Occupation	Businesswoman

Education

Carroll had a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary's University (1965) and a Bachelor of Education from York University (1989). She was a partner in a small manufacturing and retail business.

Politics

Municipal

Carroll began her career in politics as a Barrie City councillor, representing the downtown Barrie ward.[1][2]

Federal

In 1997, Carroll won the Liberal nomination for the newly created riding of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford. She went on to win the 1997 election by 7,507 votes, and was re-elected again in 2000.[3][4] She was elected in 2004 in the newly created riding of Barrie.[5]

Carroll served as Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2003.[2] Carroll was appointed as Minister for International Cooperation, responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency, when Paul Martin became Prime Minister on December 12, 2003.[1] She was the first, and to date only, federal cabinet minister from Barrie. She retained that portfolio until the Liberals were defeated in 2006, when she lost her seat to her 2004 challenger Patrick Brown.[6]

Carroll was a supporter of Paul Martin's leadership bid leading up to the 2003 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. Carroll supported Michael Ignatieff during the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, serving as his Ontario campaign co-chair with former DFAIT cabinet colleague Jim Peterson

Cabinet positions

Provincial

In 2007 she ran as the Liberal candidate in the provincial riding of Barrie for the 2007 provincial election and defeated incumbent MPP Joe Tascona.[7] She was appointed to provincial cabinet of Premier Dalton McGuinty as Minister of Culture and as Minister Responsible for Seniors shortly after that election.[8] She was relieved of her cabinet posts in January 2010.[9] In 2011, she announced she would not run for re-election in the riding of Barrie.[10]

After her term as an MPP, she continued her association with the Liberal party, serving as vice president to the Barrie riding association.[11] In 2012, she supported Kathleen Wynne in the 2013 leadership election.[12]

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

1997 Canadian federal election: Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Aileen Carroll	23,549	43.28
	Reform	Bonnie Ainsworth	16,042	29.62
	Progressive Conservative	John Trotter	10,735	19.82
	New Democratic	Peggy McComb	2,580	4.76
	Green	Marie Sternberg	506	0.93
	Christian Heritage	Dan Vander Kooi	421	0.78
	Canadian Action	Ian Woods	327	0.60

2000 Canadian federal election: Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Aileen Carroll	26,309	48.27
	Alliance	Rob Hamilton	17,600	32.29
	Progressive Conservative	Jane MacLaren	7,588	13.92
	New Democratic	Keith Lindsay	2,385	4.38
	Canadian Action	Ian Woods	387	0.71
	Christian Heritage	Brian K. White	234	0.43

2004 Canadian federal election: Barrie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Aileen Carroll	21,233	42.7%
	Conservative	Patrick Brown	19,938	40.1%
	New Democratic	Peter Bursztyn	5,312	10.7%
	Green	Erich Jacoby-Hawkins	3,288	6.6%

2006 Canadian federal election: Barrie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Patrick Brown	23,999	41.9%	+1.8%	$81,530
	Liberal	Aileen Carroll	22,476	39.2%	-3.5%	$69,313
	New Democratic	Peter Bursztyn	6,984	12.2%	+1.5%	$14,496
	Green	Erich Jacoby-Hawkins	3,874	6.8%	+0.2%	$19,036

2007 Ontario general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Aileen Carroll	19,548	42.20%	+6.07%
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Tascona	18,167	39.22%	-12.56%
	Green	Erich Jacoby-Hawkins	4,385	9.47%	+7.37%
	New Democratic	Larry Taylor	3,700	7.99%	-1.27%
	Family Coalition	Roberto Sales	173	0.27%	-0.45%
	Libertarian	Paolo Fabrizio	168	0.32%	*
	Independent	Darren Roskam	102	0.22%	*
	Independent	Daniel Gary Predie	77	0.17%	*

Personal life

Carroll's husband, D. Kevin Carroll, was the President of the Canadian Bar Association from 2009 to 2010. They had two grown children, Daniel and Joanna.[1] She died on April 19, 2020 at the age of 75.[13][14]

References

1. Sulker, Tatjana (December 14, 2003). "MP lands cabinet job". The Advance. Barrie, Ont. p. 1.
2. Trueman, Anne; Smith, Kirsten (December 12, 2003). "Thumbnail sketches of new and returning cabinet ministers". Don Mills, Ont: CanWest News. p. 1.
3. "Final Results Riding by Riding". Calgary Herald. June 4, 1997. p. A5.
4. "Election Results". Star - Phoenix. Saskatoon, SK. November 28, 2000. p. A8.
5. "Election results...riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 29, 2004. p. A14.
6. "Election results...riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. January 24, 2006. p. A16.
7. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 1 (x). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
8. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
9. Kenyon, Wallace (January 19, 2010). "Sweeping changes hit Queen's Park; Liberal Cabinet". National Post. p. A8.
10. "Former cabinet minister Aileen Carroll won't run in Ontario's fall election: Aileen Carroll takes a pass on fall election". Toronto, Ont: The Canadian Press. January 21, 2011.
11. "Barrie NDP, Greens pick candidates tonight". Barrie - Advance. May 28, 2014. p. 1.
12. Watt, Laurie (December 22, 2012). "Former MPP Carroll supports Wynne". Barrie - Advance. p. 1.
13. We’ve lost one of our most prominent citizens’: Aileen Carroll, longtime Barrie politician, dies
14. CARROLL, Margaret Aileen P.C. (nee O’Leary)

External links

• Aileen Carroll – Parliament of Canada biography
• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)