The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Member of Parliament for Calgary-Nose Hill, giving a keynote address to the conference titled "Are We There Yet? Economic Justice and the Common Good" on May 12, 2014 at the King's University College in Edmonton Alberta.
Diane Ablonczy has been a Member of Parliament for over two decades. When first elected in 1993, she became a key member of the shadow cabinet of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, serving as chief critic for citizenship and immigration, health and human resources development. Upon forming government in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Mrs. Ablonczy Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. In 2008 she became Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), a position she held until 2010, when she was appointed Minister of State (Seniors). From January 2011 to July 2013, she held the position of Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs), representing Canada in the Americas and overseeing consular affairs around the world. Mrs. Ablonczy is also a member of the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and an alternate member of the Treasury Board.
Prior to entering political life, Mrs. Ablonczy enjoyed a varied career, which ranged from teaching junior high school to managing a grain farm operation to building a successful law practice.