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Kinga Surma

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The Honourable
Kinga Surma
MPP
Minister of Infrastructure
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 18, 2021
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byLaurie Scott
Associate Minister of Transportation for the Greater Toronto Area
In office
June 20, 2019 – June 18, 2021
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byStan Cho
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Etobicoke Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 7, 2018
Preceded byYvan Baker
Personal details
BornPoland[1]
NationalityCanadian
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Residence(s)Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Guelph
Ryerson University

Kinga Surma (born c. 1987/1988 in Poland[2]) is a Canadian politician and the Ontario Minister of Infrastructure since June 18, 2021. She represents the riding of Etobicoke Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.[3] She previously served as Ontario's first Associate Minister of Transportation. In the cabinet shuffle announced on June 18, 2021,[4] she was promoted to the position of Minister of Infrastructure.

Early life and education

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Surma was born in Poland and moved with her family to Canada when she was four years old. She was raised in Ottawa.[2]

Surma attended the University of Guelph where she studied Public Policy, Business and Commerce.[4] She spent a year in France studying Economics. After graduation, Surma relocated to Toronto.[2]

Political career

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Surma worked for former Toronto City Councillor Peter Milczyn, and at the same time was the President for the Etobicoke-Lakeshore Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC) riding association. Surma worked on the Etobicoke—Lakeshore 2013 by-election for PC candidate. Following the election she was fired from her job at Toronto City Hall.[5]

2014 Toronto Municipal Election

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Surma ran for City Councillor in Ward 5 in the 2014 Toronto municipal election and placed second with 13.9% of the vote.[6]

2018 Ontario General Election

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Surma won the contested PC nomination in the riding of Etobicoke Centre in November 2016. It was alleged that then former City Councillor Doug Ford intimidated her opponent in favour of Surma.[7][5] Further controversies regarding the election followed as Ford was accused of breaking party rules by purchasing party memberships to secure voters for the election of Surma.[5] This came after the release of an audio recording of Ford recruiting members with Surma, claiming memberships are free despite voting being only open to party members who pay a membership fee.[8] PC party chair Walied Soliman cleared Ford of wrongdoing in 2018.[8]

Surma ran in the 2018 Ontario general election and won her riding of Etobicoke Centre with 42.67% of the vote.[citation needed]

Member of Provincial Parliament

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Surma presented her first[9] successful motion in her first year in government in support of the Toronto Catholic School Board's International Languages Program (ILP).[10] In 2019 a nepotism scandal drew criticism from within the Conservative Party when it came to light her father, Miroslaw Surma, was working a policy adviser to Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.[3]

Surma sought funding for a new Toronto Catholic District School Board school in her riding.[11] On August 27, 2020 she announced provincial funding to replace the Buttonwood hill school.[12] On October 30, 2020 she announced a $26.4 million investment to build a new Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke Centre and $35 of funding for the refurbishment of Bishop Allen Academy.[13]

In the summer of 2022, Surma worked with Polish-Canadian residents in Toronto to successfully preserve the Polish Festival on Roncesvalles Ave after the local Business Improvement Association proposed to change the naming of the festival excluding "Polish" into the festival. Surma and residents gained support from the Polish Government demanding the BIA to preserve the Polish name, and Polish heritage of the festival on Roncesvalles Ave.[14]

Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA)

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On June 27, 2019, Surma was appointed as the Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA). She is the youngest female member of Executive Council of Ontario.[15] The same year, she spoke in favour of expanding subways in the Greater Toronto Area.[16] She also spoke in favour of expanding the provincial GO Transit rail network to provide two-way, all-day service on key segments of the network.[17] In 2020, during COVID-19 pandemic, Surma introduced legislation to fast track construction on the province's new subway projects.[18] On April 26, 2021 Surma introduced the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act regulating road safety, street racing, stunt driving.[19][20]

Minister of Infrastructure

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On June 18, 2021, Surma was appointed as the Minister of Infrastructure during a cabinet shuffle, replacing Laurie Scott.

As Infrastructure Minister, Surma became responsible for Ontario's infrastructure funding for municipal and provincial capital project such as hospitals, roads, and highways. In November 2024, Surma announced a $100 million deal with Elon Musk's Starlink to provide internet to 15,000 homes in Northern Ontario.[21] Surma has overseen the expansion of Ontario's broadband internet expansion to all Rural and Northern Ontario communities, which is slated to be completed by 2025.[22]

Surma has since been at the center of the controversy involving the sudden shuttering of the Ontario Science Center.[7]

Election results

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2022 Ontario general election: Etobicoke Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Kinga Surma 22,035 48.59 +5.59 $108,722
Liberal Noel Semple 15,443 34.05 −0.63 $75,529
New Democratic Heather Vickers-Wong 3,906 8.61 −9.53 $8,484
Green Brian MacLean 2,036 4.49 +2.15 $1,932
New Blue Cathy Habus 1,117 2.46   $3,160
Ontario Party Mitchell Gilboy 530 1.17   $0
None of the Above Richard M. Kiernicki 198 0.44   $0
Moderate Genadij Zaitsev 86 0.19   $0
Total valid votes/expense limit 45,351 99.36 +0.36 $131,634
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 294 0.64 -0.36
Turnout 45,645 48.55 -13.36
Eligible voters 93,012
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +3.11
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.
2018 Ontario general election: Etobicoke Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Kinga Surma 24,432 43.00 +10.58
Liberal Yvan Baker 19,708 34.68 -14.02
New Democratic Erica Kelly 10,311 18.15 +6.63
Green Shawn Rizvi 1,329 2.34 -0.29
Canadians' Choice Paul Fromm 631 1.11
Libertarian Basil Mummery 252 0.44
Independent Wallace Richards 162 0.29
Total valid votes 56,825 99.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 573 1.00
Turnout 57,398 61.91
Eligible voters 92,715
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +12.30
Source: Elections Ontario[23]
2014 Toronto election, Ward 5[6]
Candidate Votes %
Justin Di Ciano 15,362 54.2
Kinga Surma 3,936 13.9
Guy Bowie 2,744 9.7
Walter Melnyk 1,399 4.9
Raymond Desilets 1,365 4.8
Tony D'aversa 1,307 4.6
Nikola Samac 1,019 3.6
Magda Chelminska 645 2.3
George Lehto 565 1.9
Total 28,342 100

References

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  1. ^ "Meet Kinga Surma". Archived from the original on 2021-05-13.
  2. ^ a b c "Kinga Surma Christmas PCParty". YouTube video uploaded by GoniecTV Toronto, Surma reveals she was born in Poland, moved to Canada when she was 4, which was 25 years from Feb. 2017
  3. ^ a b Shephard, Tamara (June 7, 2018). "Kinga Surma wins Etobicoke Centre for PCs". Toronto Star.
  4. ^ a b "Rod Phillips replaces Merrilee Fullerton as Ontario's LTC minister as part of large cabinet shuffle | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  5. ^ a b c Blackwell, Tom (25 May 2018). "Young candidate embroiled in controversy with Doug Ford has long history with PC leader and Tory politics". National Post. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  6. ^ a b "City of Toronto Official Results" (PDF).
  7. ^ a b "Campaign Notebook: Liberal candidate asks Wynne to stay away, then invites her back". 23 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b Kennedy, Brandon (May 25, 2018). "PCs say Ford cleared of membership-buying allegations in 2016". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "Private members' motions | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  10. ^ "Votes and Proceedings 2018-Nov-22 | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  11. ^ Shephard, Tamara (2019-04-29). "Etobicoke is getting a new Catholic elementary school to reduce crowding". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  12. ^ Shephard, Tamara (2020-08-25). "Ontario invests $16M in new Catholic elementary school in central Etobicoke". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  13. ^ "Ontario Newsroom | Salle de presse de l'Ontario". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  14. ^ "Polish Government steps into Toronto Roncesvalles Festival Naming Debacle". BlogTO. July 14, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  15. ^ "Ontario cabinet shuffle: All the promotions, demotions and other moves you need to know about". CBC. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  16. ^ "$28.5 billion plan for Toronto transit unveiled".
  17. ^ "Province says two-way, all-day service in the works for GO Train line that runs through Halton Hills". 6 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Ford government to fast-track construction of transit systems, as Ontario reports 154 new COVID-19 cases | CBC News".
  19. ^ "Ontario Newsroom". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  20. ^ "Ford government toughens penalties for stunt drivers". BlackburnNews.com. 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  21. ^ "Province inks $100M deal with Starlink to provide internet to 15K homes and businesses in northern Ontario". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Law, Sarah (Apr 27, 2023). "Provincial ministers talk parks, internet infrastructure during appearances in Thunder Bay". www.cbc.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  23. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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