Marci Ien PC MP (born July 29, 1969[citation needed]) is a Canadian politician serving as the minister for women and gender equality and youth since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Ien represents Toronto Centre in the House of Commons. Previously, she was a broadcast journalist for CTV.[1] She co-hosted the CTV daytime talk show The Social from 2017 until 2020.[2] Previously, she was a reporter for CTV News and a co-anchor on the CTV morning program Canada AM. As a child she appeared regularly on the Christian children's show Circle Square.
Marci Ien | |
|---|---|
 Ien in 2022 | |
| Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth | |
| Assumed office October 26, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Maryam Monsef (Women and Gender Equality) Bardish Chagger (Youth) |
| Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre | |
| Assumed office October 26, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Morneau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 29, 1969[citation needed] Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Alma mater | Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (BA) |
| Occupation | Journalist, television host |
| Known for | Former co-host of The Social, former news anchor for Canada AM |
Background
editMarci Ien is a Black Canadian[3] of Trinidadian descent. Her father, Joel Ien, had come to Canada in the late 1960s to attend university and went on to a career in education as a teacher, principal, and school superintendent in Toronto.[1] Ien was born in Toronto's St. James Town neighbourhood and grew up in Scarborough, going on to attend Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute and Agincourt Collegiate Institute.[4][5] Ien appeared regularly on the Crossroads Christian Communications program Circle Square.[3]
Ien lives in Toronto with her two children, Blaize and Dash.[1] Her 2020 book Off Script: Living Out Loud chronicles her life growing up in Toronto, working as a journalist, and deciding to enter politics.[6]
Journalism
editIen graduated with a degree in radio and television arts from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1991.[7] She began her career at CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario in 1991 as a news writer and general assignment reporter.[3] In 1995 she began reporting from Queen's Park in Toronto, with her reports appearing both on CHCH's local news and on WIC's national newscast Canada Tonight.[3]
In 1997 Ien moved to CTV as a reporter for CTV Atlantic, covering major stories including the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, before returning to Toronto in 1998 to anchor CTV Newsnet, as CTV's all-news channel was then called,.[3] From 2003, Ien also anchored the nationwide Canada AM morning broadcast show, which she co-hosted from 2011 until the show's cancellation in 2016. Ien returned to Atlantic Canada to participate in the Halifax leg of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.
Following Canada AM, Ien was a guest and then permanent host of The Social (2016-2020) until her move to politics.
Awards
editIn 1995, Ien won a Radio Television Digital News Association Award for her news serial Journey to Freedom, a look at the Underground Railroad.[3] In 2008, she was the recipient of a Black Business and Professional Association Harry Jerome Award in the media category.[3] In 2014, she was granted the Planet Africa Award for excellence in media. In 2015, Ien garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination in the Best Host category for her work on Canada AM. In 2016, she was honoured with an African Canadian Achievement Award for her journalistic achievements.
Politics
editOn September 17, 2020, Ien was announced as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in Toronto Centre for a by-election to fill the seat vacated by former Finance minister Bill Morneau's resignation.[8] She won the by-election on October 26, 2020, defeating Green Party of Canada leader Annamie Paul.[9]
Ien was re-elected on September 20, 2021 with increased support,[10][11] and appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth on October 26, 2021.
Electoral record
edit| 2021 Canadian federal election: Toronto Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Marci Ien | 23,071 | 50.35 | +8.35 | $108,727.70 | |||
| New Democratic | Brian Chang | 11,909 | 25.99 | +8.99 | $58,981.25 | |||
| Conservative | Ryan Lester | 5,571 | 12.16 | +6.46 | $10,494.07 | |||
| Green | Annamie Paul | 3,921 | 8.56 | –24.14 | $93,340.55 | |||
| People's | Syed Jaffrey | 1,047 | 2.29 | –1.19 | $0.00 | |||
| Communist | Ivan Byard | 181 | 0.40 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Animal Protection | Peter Stubbins | 117 | 0.25 | – | $4,744.99 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,817 | 100.00 | – | $110,776.83 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 366 | 0.79 | +0.29 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,183 | 57.42 | +26.52 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 80,430 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | –0.32 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[12] | ||||||||
| Canadian federal by-election, October 26, 2020: Toronto Centre Resignation of Bill Morneau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Marci Ien | 10,581 | 42.0 | -15.4 | $116,839[citation needed] | |||
| Green | Annamie Paul | 8,250 | 32.7 | +25.6 | $100,008[citation needed] | |||
| New Democratic | Brian Chang | 4,280 | 17.0 | -5.3 | $71,222[citation needed] | |||
| Conservative | Benjamin Gauri Sharma | 1,435 | 5.7 | -6.4 | $0[citation needed] | |||
| People's | Baljit Bawa | 269 | 1.1 | – | $22,752[citation needed] | |||
| Libertarian | Keith Komar | 135 | 0.5 | – | ||||
| Independent | Kevin Clarke | 123 | 0.5 | – | ||||
| Free | Dwayne Cappelletti | 76 | 0.3 | – | $1,570[citation needed] | |||
| No affiliation | Above Znoneofthe | 56 | 0.2 | – | $0[citation needed] | |||
| Total valid votes | 25,205 | 100.0 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 118 | 0.5 | -0.2 | |||||
| Turnout | 25,323 | 30.9 | -35.2 | |||||
| Electors on lists | 81,861 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -20.5 | ||||||
| Elections Canada[13][14] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c Rushowy, Kristin (November 23, 2012). "Canada AM host Marci Ien inspired to call son Dash thanks to her own father's motivational story". thestar.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
- ^ "Former 'Canada AM' host Marci Ien new co-host of 'The Social' | Toronto Sun". March 29, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Marci Ien Archived 2014-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. Who's Who in Black Canada, January 4, 2011.
- ^ Joseph, Michelle (April 13, 2017). "Marci Ien: Trailblazing Woman In Media". Words with Michelle. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
- ^ Ien, Marci (May 1, 2016). "Tweet: "@RosemaryLives <Agincourt Collegiate and Stephen Leacock Collegiate. Both in Scarborough."". Twitter. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
- ^ Ien, Marci (2020). Off script: living out loud. Toronto: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-1443460088.
- ^ "Marci Ien". Ryerson University. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ Gilmore, Rachel (September 17, 2020). "Broadcast journalist Marci Ien to run as Liberal candidate in Morneau's former riding". CTV News. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
- ^ "Federal Liberals projected to hold onto Toronto Centre in byelection". CBC News. October 26, 2020. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ "Liberal Marci Ien wins Toronto Centre". thestar.com. September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ "Federal election fallout: Green Party leader loses Toronto-Centre riding, coming in fourth". Nationalpost.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ^ "Election night results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ "Toronto Centre: October 26, 2020, by-elections — Poll-by-poll results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ "October 26, 2020, By-elections: Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 16, 2021.