| Deb Matthews | |
| Order: | 10th |
| Office: | Deputy Premier of Ontario |
| Term Start: | February 11, 2013 |
| Term End: | January 17, 2018 |
| Premier: | Kathleen Wynne |
| Predecessor: | Dwight Duncan |
| Successor: | Christine Elliott |
| Office1: | Member of Provincial Parliament for London North Centre |
| Term Start1: | October 2, 2003 |
| Term End1: | June 6, 2018 |
| Predecessor1: | Dianne Cunningham |
| Successor1: | Terence Kernaghan |
| Party: | Ontario Liberal |
| Birth Name: | Deborah Drake Matthews |
| Birth Place: | London, Ontario, Canada |
| Residence: | London, Ontario |
Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th deputy premier of Ontario from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 to 2018, and was a cabinet minister from 2008 to 2018 in the governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.
Her father is Donald Jeune Matthews, former president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and her sister is Shelley Peterson, the wife of former Ontario Premier David Peterson.[1]
She graduated from St. George's Public School and A.B. Lucas Secondary School. She studied at the University of Western Ontario where she earned a PhD in social demography. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled the "Consequences of immigrant concentration in Canada, 2001–2051."[2]
In the 2003 election, Matthews defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Dianne Cunningham by almost 7,000 votes.[3]
Matthews was re-elected in the 2007 election.[4] She was appointed as the minister of children and youth services and minister responsible for women's issues after the election.[5] On December 4, 2008, Matthews introduced Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy as chair of the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction. The long-term reduction plan set a target to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over 5 years
Matthews was re-elected in the 2011 election,[6] and was re-appointed as health minister on October 20, 2011.[7] In 2012, Matthews came under pressure because of revelations at Ornge, Ontario's air ambulance service. Members of the opposition Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties called for her to resign. In response to the revelations at Ornge, Matthews announced an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigation.[8] [9]
Following her re-election in 2014,[10] Matthews was shuffled from health to a revamped role as president of the Treasury Board.[11] [12] On June 13, 2016, she retained her position as deputy premier and was also appointed as minister of advanced education and skills development. She was additionally responsible for digital government. Matthews left cabinet on January 17, 2018, having declined re-election in the 2018 election.[13]