Laura Mae Monique Lindo (born 1976) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.[1] She represented the electoral district of Kitchener Centre as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party. In January 2023, Lindo announced that she would step down as MPP in July to take a position with the philosophy department of the University of Waterloo. She officially resigned on July 13, 2023.[2]
Laura Mae Lindo | |
|---|---|
 Lindo at an event during the 2018 Ontario provincial election | |
| Critic, Citizenship and Immigration Services | |
| In office August 23, 2018 – July 13, 2023 | |
| Leader | Andrea Horwath (2018-2022) Peter Tabuns (interim) (2022-2023) Marit Stiles (2023-) |
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre | |
| In office June 7, 2018 – July 13, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Daiene Vernile |
| Succeeded by | Aislinn Clancy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Laura Mae Monique Lindo 1976 (age 47–48) Scarborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Alvin Curling (uncle) |
| Residence(s) | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | lauramaelindompp |
Early life and education
editBorn in Canada, Lindo's parents immigrated to the country from Jamaica.[3] Her mother Osra Lindo graduated from York University with a bachelor's degree in gender and women's studies at the age of 79.[4][5] She is the niece of former Ontario MPP and Speaker Alvin Curling.[5] Raised in Scarborough, Lindo has lived in Kitchener since 2014.[6]
Lindo graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in philosophy in 1998 followed by a second BA degree in African studies and philosophy from York University.[7] Her Master of Education degree, completed at York, examined Ontario's high school philosophy program.[7] Lindo also holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in education.[6] She completed her studies at York University in 2011 with a thesis titled "I'm Writing for Freedom!" Mapping Public Discourse on Race in Comedy.[8]
Career
editLindo is Kitchener's first Black MPP.[3] She served as a Member of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills, and as Critic for Citizenship and Immigration Services and Critic for anti-racism.[9] In 2018, Lindo was named a member of the Ontario NDP's first ever Black Caucus, alongside NDP caucus colleagues Rima Berns-McGown, Faisal Hassan, Jill Andrew and Kevin Yarde.[10] Prior to her election, she worked as Director of Diversity and Equity at Wilfrid Laurier University.[6][3] In December 2021, she introduced Bill 67, The Racial Equity in Education Systems Act which "embeds anti-racist language into pieces of legislation from kindergarten to grade 12, and all throughout post secondary", saying "when you define it, then it is real".[11][12]
After the resignation of Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath in June 2022 after the party's defeat in the Ontario general election, Lindo was seen as a potential candidate in the subsequent leadership election, but she decided not to run in November.[13]
In January 2023, Lindo announced that she would be stepping down that July to join the University of Waterloo's philosophy department.[13] She cited child care costs as a cause for her resigning her seat.[14] Lindo endorsed Debbie Chapman as the next NDP candidate in the by-election. However, the seat flipped to the Green Party candidate Aislinn Clancy.
Select publications
edit- Carr, Paul R.; Lund, Darren E., eds. (2007). "Whiteness and Philosophy: Imagining Non-White Philosophy in Schools". The Great White North? Exploring Whiteness, Privilege, and Identity in Education. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers. ISBN 9789087901448.
- Laura Mae Lindo (2012). "A Comic Routine: The Place of Slavery in Identify Formation for the Twenty-First Century". In Allen, Marlene D.; Williams, Seretha D. (eds.). Afterimages of Slavery: Essays on Appearances in Recent American Films, Literature, Television and Other Media. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786490165.
- Lindo, Laura Mae (November 2015). "A Man and His Mic: Taking Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle to Teacher's College". European Journal of Humour Research. 3 (4): 54–74. doi:10.7592/EJHR2015.3.4.lindo.
Election results
edit| 2022 Ontario general election: Kitchener Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Laura Mae Lindo | 15,789 | 40.59 | −2.80 | $69,851 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Jim Schmidt | 10,376 | 26.67 | −0.99 | $73,765 | |||
| Liberal | Kelly Steiss | 5,728 | 14.72 | −5.37 | $53,771 | |||
| Green | Wayne Mak | 4,980 | 12.80 | +5.96 | $16,108 | |||
| New Blue | Peter Beimers | 2,029 | 5.22 | $3,767 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 38,902 | 99.33 | +0.91 | $118,646 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 262 | 0.67 | -0.91 | |||||
| Turnout | 39,164 | 46.21 | -12.06 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 84,304 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | −0.90 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018 Ontario general election: Kitchener Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Laura Mae Lindo | 20,512 | 43.38 | +20.57 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Mary Henein Thorn | 13,080 | 27.66 | +0.68 | ||||
| Liberal | Daiene Vernile | 9,499 | 20.09 | -23.05 | ||||
| Green | Stacey Danckert | 3,234 | 6.84 | +1.07 | ||||
| Libertarian | Jason Erb | 439 | 0.93 | -0.37 | ||||
| None of the Above | Chris Carr | 429 | 0.91 | |||||
| Communist | Marty Suter | 87 | 0.18 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 47,280 | 98.42 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 757 | 1.58 | ||||||
| Turnout | 48,037 | 58.27 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 80,514 | |||||||
| New Democratic gain | Swing | |||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[15] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "NDP's Laura Mae Lindo wins in Kitchener Centre". CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, June 8, 2018.
- ^ The Canadian Press (13 July 2023). "Ontario NDP member resigns Kitchener Centre seat, cites child-care challenges". CP24. Bell Media.
- ^ a b c "Laura Mae Lindo joins Catherine Fife on the NDP benches". therecord.com. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ Otis, Daniel (11 October 2018). "79-year-old Toronto grandmother earns first university degree". CTVNews. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ a b Rubinoff, Joel (11 March 2019). "Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo: "I know what it's like to not be heard, so I think I listen more to people whose experiences are different than me"". Toronto.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "Laura Mae Lindo takes Kitchener Centre". TheRecord.com. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ^ a b Allen, Marlene D.; Williams, Seretha D., eds. (2012). "About the Contributors". Afterimages of slavery : essays on appearances in recent American films, literature, television and other media. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. pp. 233–234. ISBN 978-0786490165.
- ^ Lindo, Laura Mae Monique (2011). I'm Writing for Freedom!" Mapping Public Discourse on Race in Comedy (PhD thesis). York University. OCLC 794163436.
- ^ "Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre)". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ^ "NDP establishes first official Black Caucus in Ontario History". Ontario New Democratic Party, April 15, 2019.
- ^ "Kitchener Centre MPP introduces bill to fight racism in schools". cbc.ca. December 3, 2021.
- ^ "Kitchener Centre MPP receives support on racial equity bill". citynews.ca. March 3, 2022.
- ^ a b "Kitchener Centre MPP Laura Mae Lindo stepping down to take Ontario university job". CBC News. January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ The Canadian Press (July 14, 2023). "Ontario NDP member resigns seat, cites child-care challenges". Global News.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.