Meet Danielle Martin, The Family Doctor Headed To Parliament

Family doctor (and former Chatelaine columnist) Dr. Danielle Martin won the riding of University–Rosedale in one of Toronto’s two pivotal federal byelections last night—wins that helped the Liberal Party achieve a majority government.

“This is not a mandate to be quiet. It’s not a mandate to take our time. It is a mandate to get to work: on housing, on affordability, on healthcare, and climate change and infrastructure,” the Toronto-based physician and former executive vice-president of Women’s College Hospital said in her victory speech on Monday night.

Who is Danielle Martin?

Martin, a professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto stepped away from her role as chair of the department in February to run in the byelection. She had been in the role since 2021.

Martin has been a public advocate for Canada’s healthcare system for over a decade. In 2017, she supported Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign for Medicare for All. Previously, she had appeared before a U.S. Senate committee investigating health care systems.  

During that appearance, she discussed the wait time crisis in Canada and defended the system from U.S. attacks and misinformation.

“The solution does not lie in moving away from a single-payer sytem to a multi-payer system," she said in the 2014 hearing.

Majority for the Liberals

Former Liberal MP and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland previously held the University–Rosedale seat for a decade. Freeland stepped down in January to become an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Martin’s win, in addition to two other by-election victories on Monday night, secures Mark Carney’s Liberal government a majority in Parliament. The Liberals now have 174 seats of 343 in the House of Commons.