Biographical background

Lisa Merrithew Raitt, born May 7, 1968 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Education: BSc from St. Francis Xavier University; MSc in environmental biochemical toxicology from the University of Guelph; LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School (1998) (Wikipedia, 2026).

Federal political career — 2008 to 2019

Elected to the House of Commons in the 2008 federal election as Conservative MP for Halton, Ontario. Following the 2013 federal redistribution, the Halton seat was reconfigured: from 2015 she represented the newly-created riding of Milton. Defeated in the 2019 election (Wikipedia, 2026; openparliament.ca, n.d.).

Notable events & controversies

• 2009 Chalk River medical isotope crisis. As Natural Resources minister, presided over the shutdown of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited NRU reactor at Chalk River, which produced a significant fraction of the world supply of molybdenum-99 used in medical imaging. Public debate over whether the supply chain was adequately managed (Wikipedia, 2026).
• 2009-06 “Sexy” recording controversy. Audio recording surfaced of Raitt and a staffer characterising the medical isotope crisis as a politically “sexy” issue. Staffer resigned; Raitt apologised publicly (Wikipedia, 2026).
• 2011–2012 Back-to-work legislation as Labour Minister: Canada Post (2011), Air Canada (2012) — legislation forcing striking workers back under terms set by the government (Wikipedia, 2026).
• 2013-07 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster — 47 deaths when an MMA-operated crude-oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec. As incoming Transport Minister, Raitt led the federal regulatory response on rail safety (Wikipedia, 2026).
• 2019-06-19 Introduced Bill C-466, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (disclosure of information to victims) — her first private member’s bill after 11 years in Parliament (openparliament.ca, n.d.).
• 2019-10-21 Defeated in Milton by Liberal Adam van Koeverden, the former Olympic kayaker. Raitt received 36% of the vote (openparliament.ca, n.d.).

Final-session parliamentary record (June 2019)

openparliament.ca preserves Raitt’s closing-session interventions in the 42nd Parliament focused on these themes:

• Victim rights & parole reform — advocated mandatory written explanations to crime victims regarding offender parole eligibility (the substance of Bill C-466) (openparliament.ca, n.d.).
• Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) — questioned the Liberal government’s timeline for construction commencement in Burnaby, BC (openparliament.ca, n.d.).
• Ethics accountability — criticised Liberal ministers’ Conflict of Interest Act findings (openparliament.ca, n.d.).
• Admiral Mark Norman case — called for the Prime Minister to apologise regarding the military-justice handling of the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (openparliament.ca, n.d.).

Post-political activities — 2020 to present

Conflict-of-interest filings Former office-holder

Federal MPs file under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons; cabinet ministers additionally file under the Conflict of Interest Act. Both are administered by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (OCIEC).

Lobbyist registry communications Public registry

During her cabinet service Raitt was a Designated Public Office Holder (DPOH) under the Lobbying Act; oral and arranged communications received are logged in the OCL Registry. Her current role at CIBC may itself be subject to lobbyist reporting depending on the activity mix.

Campaign finance — Elections Canada Public registry

Federal candidate returns for each general election Raitt contested (2008, 2011, 2015, 2019) are filed with Elections Canada under the Canada Elections Act.