Michelle Rempel

Michelle Rempel PC MP (née Godin; born February 14, 1980) is a Canadian politician, who is the federal Member of Parliament (MP) for the electoral riding of Calgary Nose Hill since the 2015 federal election. Prior to this, she served as the MP for Calgary Centre-North after the 2011 federal election, holding the seat for the Conservative Party following the retirement of Jim Prentice from federal politics. Rempel is a member of the Conservative Party and served as the Minister of State responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada. She formerly served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment. On November 20, 2015 she was appointed as Official Opposition Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, within the shadow cabinet of Rona Ambrose.

Rempel was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is of partial Franco-Manitoban ancestry. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Manitoba. Rempel helped to pay her way through school by playing as a classically trained pianist. She worked as Director of the University of Calgary’s Institutional Programs Division prior to her election. Under her leadership the sponsored research funding grew from $7 million in 2007 to over $100 million in 2009.

Rempel became involved in politics with the 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 the Calgary business community and the Conservative party, but only decided to do so after a meeting 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. The uncalled by-election was superseded by the 2011 federal election.

Following her election to the House of Commons, Rempel was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment on May 25, 2011. She made headlines towards the end of 2011 for her strong performance during Question Period, and is seen as a rising star within the Conservative caucus. Michelle's leadership was noted by many as instrumental 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. 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.

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

Minister of State

On July 15, 2013 she was appointed Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. She is the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history. In October 2013 Rempel launched WINN, a $100 million five-year initiative that offers repayable contributions for small- and medium-sized enterprises with operations in Western Canada. At Western Economic Diversification Rempel has directed about $100 million to small- and medium-sized companies in emerging sectors, such as clean energy.

In Opposition

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

On November 15, 2016, Green Party leader Elizabeth May accused Rempel of using unparliamentary language for stating on the floor of the House of Commons that the Liberal government had been treating residents of the province of Alberta "like a fart in the room."

In 2010 Rempel was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the "Future Leaders" category by the Women's Executive Network. In November 2014 Rempel was named one of Calgary's Top 40 Under 40 by Avenue Magazine. In 2016 Rempel was selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for that year. The World Economic Forum calls the Forum of Young Global Leaders a “unique and diverse community of the world’s most outstanding, next generation leaders. Bold, brave, action-oriented and entrepreneurial, these individuals commit a portion of their time to jointly shape a better future and thereby improve the state of the world.“ Rempel was named one of "Alberta's 50 Most Influential People of 2016" by Alberta Venture Magazine referencing her "strong debate performances in the House of Commons and for her fierce support of women in politics."

As of 2016, Rempel is reported to be dating Member of Parliament Blake Richards.