Karina Gould is a trade and investment specialist and community activist with deep roots in her hometown of Burlington, Ontario. Between December 2015 and January 2017, she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, before her appointment in January 2017 as Canada’s Minister of Democratic Institutions.
A graduate of McGill University and the University of Oxford, Karina is passionate about public service and international development. Before her election as the Member of Parliament for Burlington, Karina worked as a trade and investment specialist for the Mexican Trade Commission, a consultant for the Migration and Development Program at the Organization of American States, and spent a year volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico.
Karina is an active member of her community and an advocate for women’s issues and affordable housing. She has volunteered with and actively supports the Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club, the Burlington chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Mississauga Furniture Bank, Halton Women’s Place, and other local causes. She lives in Burlington with her husband and son.
The Honourable Maryam Monsef is a dedicated community organizer, former Peterborough mayoral candidate, and co-recipient of the YMCA’s Peace Medallion. She has served as a minister since 2015.
Minister Monsef is widely recognized as one of Peterborough’s most influential people and represented her city in 2013 at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. A passionate volunteer, she has sat on the boards and committees of several high-profile organizations. She was the Vice-President of the YWCA of Peterborough Haliburton Board of Directors, and a former director of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group and of the New Canadians Centre—a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers in the Peterborough and Northumberland regions. Minister Monsef is the co-founder of the Red Pashmina Campaign, a grassroots initiative she started while at Trent University, which to date has successfully raised over $150,000 to help support women in Afghanistan.
Minister Monsef has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Trent University and speaks English, Farsi, and Dari.
