View source for Carol Mitchell

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name          = Carol Mitchell
| honorific-suffix = [[Executive Council of Ontario|ECO]]
| image         = CarolMitchell-Szmurlo.jpg
| imagesize     = 150px
| caption       =
| office        = [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]]
| premier       = [[Dalton McGuinty]]
| term_start    = January 18, 2010
| term_end      = October 6, 2011
| predecessor   = [[Leona Dombrowsky]]
| successor     = [[Ted McMeekin]]
| office1       = [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]
| term_start1   = October 23, 2003
| term_end1     = October 6, 2011
| predecessor1  = [[Helen Johns]]
| successor1    = [[Lisa Thompson (politician)|Lisa Thompson]]
| constituency1 = [[Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district)|Huron—Bruce]]
| party         = [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| birth_date    = {{birth year and age|1957}}
| birth_place   = [[Clinton, Ontario]]
| residence     = [[Clinton, Ontario]]
| spouse        = Larry
| children      = 2
| occupation    = Businesswomen
}}
'''Carol Mitchell''' (born {{circa|1957}}) is a former [[politician]] in [[Ontario]], Canada. She was a [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] from 2003 to 2011 representing the [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district)|Huron—Bruce]]. She was a cabinet minister in the government of [[Dalton McGuinty]].

==Background==
Mitchell was born in [[Clinton, Ontario]] in [[Huron County, Ontario|Huron County]] and was educated at [[Fanshawe College]] in [[London, Ontario]]. She is a past member of [[Girl Guides of Canada]]. She worked in retailing after her graduation, and ran stores selling children's clothes in Clinton and [[Bayfield, Ontario|Bayfield]].

==Politics==
She was elected to Clinton's town council in 1993, and became its [[Reeve (Canada)|reeve]] later in the decade. She also served on the Huron County council, and was elected as the first reeve of the amalgamated municipality of [[Central Huron]]. She was elected as warden of Huron County in 1999 and 2000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Huron-Bruce riding; Area has had its share of controversy with E. coli, George shooting and struggling beef industry |last=Ash |first=Stacey |newspaper=The Record |location=Kitchener, Ont |date=September 19, 2003 |page=B2}}</ref>

In the [[2003 Ontario general election|2003 provincial election]] she ran as the [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] candidate in the riding of [[Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district)|Huron—Bruce]] and defeated [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] incumbent [[Helen Johns]], a [[cabinet minister]], by about 3,000 votes.<ref name="2003 results">{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=Huron-Bruce&flag=E&layout=G |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140605160227/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=Huron-Bruce&flag=E&layout=G |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 5, 2014 |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 2, 2003 |accessdate=2014-03-02 }}</ref> On October 23, 2003, she was named [[parliamentary assistant]] to [[Steve Peters (Ontario politician)|Steve Peters]], the [[Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Cabinet devoid of local faces |last=Ash |first=Stacey |newspaper=The Record |location=Kitchener, Ont |date=October 24, 2003 |page=A1}}</ref> In March 2006, Mitchell was named parliamentary assistant to [[David Caplan]], the [[Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal]].<ref name="2006LiberalPAs">{{cite news |title=Premier McGuinty appoints new parliamentary assistants |publisher=Canada NewsWire |location=Ottawa |date=March 6, 2006 |page=1}}</ref> Upon re-election in the fall of 2007,<ref name="2007 results">{{cite web |url=http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf |format=PDF |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 10, 2007 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |page=6 (xv) |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007160233/http://www.elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf |archivedate=October 7, 2009 }}</ref> Mitchell was named Government [[Caucus Chair]] and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, with a concentration on Municipal Affairs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_detail.do?locale=en&ID=2118 |title=Carol Mitchell, MPP |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |accessdate=2015-05-06}}</ref>

On January 18, 2010, Mitchell was named [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]] as part of a [[cabinet shuffle]] by Premier [[Dalton McGuinty]].<ref name="McGuinty2010Cab">{{cite news |title=Sweeping changes hit Queen's Park; Liberal Cabinet |last=Kenyon |first=Wallace |newspaper=National Post |date=January 19, 2010 |page=A8}}</ref>

She was defeated by [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] candidate [[Lisa Thompson (politician)|Lisa Thompson]] in the [[2011 Ontario general election|2011 election]].<ref name="2011 results">{{cite web|url=http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330163815/http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 30, 2013 |format=PDF |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 6, 2011 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |page=7 }}</ref>

===Cabinet positions===
{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Dalton_McGuinty}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post1preceded = [[Helen Johns]]
| post1         = [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Agriculture and Food]]
| post1years    = 2010–2011
| post1note     = 
| post1followed = [[Ted McMeekin]]
}}
{{s-end}}

==Electoral record==
{{2011 Ontario general election/Huron—Bruce}}
{{2007 Ontario general election/Huron—Bruce}}
{{2003 Ontario general election/Huron—Bruce}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Ontario MPP biography|id=carol-mitchell}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Carol}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Women government ministers of Canada]]
[[Category:Fanshawe College alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Ontario]]
[[Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs]]
[[Category:People from Goderich, Ontario]]
[[Category:Women mayors of places in Ontario]]
[[Category:Women MPPs in Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Ontario]]