Politician, lawyer, Member of Canadian Parliament
1949-
Parliamentarian from 1993-present
Background information
Diane Ablonczy is the Member of Parliament for
Calgary-Nosehill, Alberta. She is a member of the
Conservative Party of Canada and currently serves as the party's official critic for citizenship and
immigration.
Ablonczy was born in Peoria, Illinois, on May 6, 1949. She moved to Canada with her family during her youth, and received degrees in law and education from the University of Calgary. Before entering politics, she taught at elementary and junior high schools and was a practicing lawyer. She is married, has one daughter, four step-children and two grandchildren.
Political beginnings
Ablonczy was originally a member of the
Reform Party of Canada, and was first elected as a
Member of Parliament in 1993. She represented the riding of Calgary-North before the boundaries were redrawn, creating her current riding of Calgary-Nosehill. During her time as a Reform MP, she served as the Official Opposition's
human resources development critic, and was a member of the House of Common's standing committees on human resources development, the status of
persons with disabilities, and citizenship and immigration.
She remained with the party after it became the Canadian Alliance in 2000. She had attempted to run for its leadership after the resignation of Stockwell Day (and had to run against him since he still wanted the job) but lost to Stephen Harper. During this period she was the Official Opposition's health critic, and was a member of the legislative and standing committees on health. She also vice-chaired the standing committee on citizenship and immigration during this period. She was appointed as the opposition's official critic for citizenship and immigration in 2002, and holds that position to this day.
Diane Ablonczy in today's parliament
After the Canadian Alliance merged with the
Progessive Conservative Party of Canada in December, 2003, Ablonczy retained her position as critic for citizenship and immigration. She was elected for the fourth time in the
2004 Canadian federal election, and sits in the first row of the Conservative caucus in the House of Commons. She is seated next to
Carol Skelton, an MP from
Saskatchewan. She also sits directly across the aisle from
Joseph Volpe, the government's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. (Members of the official opposition's
shadow cabinet are always seated across from the Minister they're supposed to be criticizing.)
Ablonczy's views lean towards fiscal and social conservatism, though she has not been as controversial as other members of her party when it comes to expressing her social views. Ablonczy's personal message on her website indicates that she is interested in promoting honesty in Canadian parliament, and she specifically points to the Liberal government as being corrupt. As of late, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration is under scrutiny after it was revealed that a volunteer who worked on Sgro's campaign had her citizenship "fast-tracked." Things really got interesting when it was also revealed that the volunteer in question was a stripper from Romania, and the Ministry was allegedly attempting to "fulfill a market need for exotic dancers in Canada." As the official opposition's citizenship and immigration critic, Ablonczy has been in the news quite frequently lately.
Ablonczy's website is more user friendly than those of some other MPs, but it also includes the standard photo gallery, a link to the Conservative Party website, lists and transcriptions of speeches made by Ablonczy in the House of Commons and at other events, a brief biography, a personal message, and even sound clips of her asking questions on the floor of the House.
Resource:
Diane Ablonczy MP* http://www.dianeablonczy.com/ 15 December 2004
Federal Political Experience - ABLONCZY, DIANE http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=4&s=F 15 December 2004