Meet the Team

Laurel Broten was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. She was appointed Minister of Children and Youth Services in October, 2009.

Broten has served as Minister of Environment, and also served as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and the Premier.

Broten has a track record of strong advocacy in the fight for a vibrant and healthy community. She is past chair of the board of the Gatehouse, a community-funded centre for survivors of child abuse.

She worked with the LAMP Community Health Centre’s community relations committee and was a spokesperson for GASP (Good Air Safe Power) and she also took a leadership role in the Lakeshore Community Safety Audit, an initiative designed to evaluate quality of life in the Lakeshore area.

As Minister of the Environment, Broten took action to toughen Ontario’s air standards and developed policies and aggressive targets to support Ontario’s Climate Change Plan. Broten introduced legislation to safeguard our water from source to tap with the Clean Water Act, and led the ban on bulk diversion of water from the Great Lakes with the passing of the Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Act.

Prior to her election to the Ontario legislature, Broten maintained a successful practice as a trial lawyer in the areas of equity, commercial and human rights law. Broten has a BA and BSc from McMaster University and a law degree from the University of Western Ontario. Broten is fluently bilingual and articled at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Broten and her husband, Paul, live in south Etobicoke with their twin sons, Zachary and Ryan, born in October 2005.