Michelle Rempel Garner

Michelle Rempel Garner (née Godin; born February 14, 1980) is a Canadian politician who sits in the House of Commons as the member of Parliament (MP) for the Alberta riding of Calgary Nose Hill.

She is credited with leading a redesign of the University's service delivery model which resulted in sponsored research funding revenues increasing from $7 million in 2007 to over $100 million in 2009.

She had also previously worked in the technology commercialization division of the University of Manitoba.

Rempel Garner became involved in federal politics by volunteering with the federal riding association of Diane Ablonczy, and she later served as president of the Conservative Party riding executive for her riding of Calgary—Nose Hill.

After the resignation of Jim Prentice, Rempel was encouraged to run for his old seat of Calgary Centre-North by members of the Calgary business community and the Conservative party, but only decided to do so after talking with Rona Ambrose.

Rempel was acclaimed as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in Calgary Centre-North on December 17, 2010, in anticipation of a by-election to replace Prentice.

A member of the Conservative Party, she was initially elected to represent Calgary Centre-North in the 2011 federal election and served as a minister during Stephen Harper's premiership.

On November 9, 2021, Rempel Garner was named the Conservative critic of natural resources by Opposition leader Erin O'Toole.

She sits on multiple Parliamentary Standing Committees including the Standing Committee on Natural Resources (December 9, 2021 – Present), Standing Committee on Health (October 9, 2020 to August 15, 2021), Industry, Science and Technology (February 18, 2020 – August 18, 2020), and Citizenship and Immigration (September 21, 2017 – September 11, 2019).

Rempel Garner was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

She is of partial Franco-Manitoban ancestry through her father.

She completed a degree in economics at the University of Manitoba, and helped to pay her way through school by playing as a classically-trained pianist.

Prior to being elected, Rempel Garner worked as the director of the University of Calgary's Institutional Programs Division.

The uncalled by-election was superseded by the 2011 federal election.

Following Rempel Garner's election to the House of Commons of Canada, she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment on May 25, 2011.

She received positive media coverage in late 2011 for her strong performance during Question Period, and was seen as a rising star within the Conservative caucus.

Rempel Garner played a role in the multi-partisan effort to create Sable Island National Park Reserve.

On November 21, 2012, Canadian newsmagazine Maclean's named her as one of their "Parliamentarians of the Year" in the "Rising Star" category, which Rempel repeated on November 24, 2014.

In the 2013 federal riding redistribution, Rempel Garner's riding was split into the two ridings of Calgary Confederation and Calgary Nose Hill.

Since this redistribution, Rempel Garner has run as a Conservative in Calgary Nose Hill.

Rempel was recognized as the MP with the 7th biggest social media influence in November 2013.

The 2013 Hill Times Annual Most Valuable Politician & All Politics Poll awarded Rempel 2nd place in the "Best Up-and-comer MP" category behind Justin Trudeau.

Along with three other Albertan politicians, Rempel Garner is a signatory of the Buffalo Declaration, which charges that "Alberta is not ... an equal participant in confederation" and likens the relationship between Alberta and the rest of Canada to "colony, rather than equal partner."

Signatories have proposed structural and policy solutions to address these issues.

Rempel Garner has also been a vocal advocate for legal firearms ownership in Canada.

Rempel Garner was one of the co-chairs of the 2013 Conservative Party of Canada's national convention held in Calgary.

On July 15, 2013, she was appointed Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.

She was then the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history.

In this role, Rempel Garner aimed to improve the delivery and efficiency of the department's services by focusing its attention on commercializing technology in emerging sectors such as green energy.

To this end, she oversaw a series of investments that aimed to "accelerate technology development and performance validation, as well as the commercialization of key instruments associated with the underground storage of carbon dioxide (CO2)."

Such projects aim to further Canada's international climate change efforts and help keep the Canadian energy sector competitive.

These investments have included WINN, a $100 million five-year initiative that offered repayable contributions for small and medium-sized enterprises with operations in Western Canada, especially in emerging sectors such as clean energy, as well as the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure program, which saw $150 million delivered to communities across Canada for critical and legacy infrastructure projects.

During her time as the Minister of State, Rempel Garner also highlighted the importance and growing international demand for British Columbia's wine industry with strategic investments for the industry in partnership with UBC Okanagan.

On November 20, 2015, Rempel Garner was appointed the Official Opposition Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

In this role, she was an advocate for human rights and advocated for the protection of ethnic minorities, including the Yazidis.

In 2016, a motion put forward by Rempel Garner, which acknowledged the genocide of the Yazidis and called on the government to expedite the processing of Yazidi refugees coming to Canada, passed unanimously.

Rempel Garner also sponsored Parliamentary Petition E-1310 during this time, which petitioned the government to explicitly condemn the practice of female genital mutilation in its guide for new citizens.

Rempel Garner tabled a bill amending Canada's bestiality laws in December 2017, which stalled at first reading.

In May 2020, Rempel Garner sponsored Parliamentary Petition E-2574, which aims to reverse the federal government's executive order that banned 1500 "assault style" weapons.

This became the most signed e-petition in Canada's history at the time with over 230,000 signatures.