Laurie Scott (politician)

Laurie Scott (born c. 1963) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represents the riding of Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock. She was a member from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2011 to the present.

Scott was born and raised in the village of Kinmount, Ontario, now part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Her father, the late William C. Scott, was a federal Progressive Conservative MP from 1965 to 1993. She attended Loyalist College in Belleville where she obtained a degree in nursing. She worked as a registered nurse in several places in the U.S. and Canada including Toronto General Hospital.

In the Canadian general election of 2000, she ran in Haliburton—Victoria—Brock for the federal Progressive Conservative party, but finished behind Liberal John O'Reilly and Canadian Alliance candidate Pat Dunn in a close, three-way race. From 2000 to 2003, she worked as an assistant to Progressive Conservative Senator Consiglio Di Nino.

Scott was elected to the Ontario parliament in the 2003 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate Jason Ward in the riding of Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by over 7000 votes. Earl Manners of the NDP finished third. The Conservatives won only 24 seats out of 103 in this election, and Scott was appointed opposition critic for training, colleges and universities.

In the 2007 provincial election, Scott ran against Rick Johnson of the Ontario Liberal Party, and Joan Corrigan of the Ontario NDP. She defeated the Liberal candidate by almost 10,000 votes with 49.9% of the total vote. She was subsequently appointed as the official opposition critic for research and innovation and health promotion.

On January 8, 2009, it was announced that Scott would resign as MPP to allow PC leader John Tory to seek a seat in the legislature. In exchange for agreeing to resign, Scott would serve as chair of the party's election preparedness committee until the 2011 election. However, Tory was defeated by Johnson in the by-election.

In the 2011 election, in a rematch with Johnson, she regained her seat defeating Johnson by about 6,000 votes. She was reelected in the 2014 election defeating Johnson again by about 3,000 votes.