Marcus Powlowski
- Born
- January 20, 1960 — Kaministiquia, Ontario
- Education
- Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, University of Toronto, 1982; Doctor of Medicine, University of Toronto, 1986; Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Toronto, 1997; Master's degree in Public Health, Harvard University, 2004; Master of Laws (LLM), Georgetown University, 2008
- Career
- Practiced medicine for seven years in Swaziland, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu; Practiced medicine for two years in Norway House Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba; Emergency Room physician at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre; Health legislation consultant for the World Health Organization; Taught Global Health and Global Health Law at Lakehead University and the University of San Francisco.
- Political Experience
- Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Thunder Bay—Rainy River since 2019
- Notable
- Son of Peter and Liz Powlowski, owners of the Strawberry Hill pottery workshop in Thunder Bay. Of Ukrainian ancestry. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Ukraine to Thunder Bay, where Powlowski's grandmother ran Annie’s Confectionary on East Brock Street in Fort William for over 60 years.
Based on publicly available information — may contain inaccuracies
Business & Financial Interests
Before entering politics, Marcus Powlowski worked as an emergency room physician in Thunder Bay. He also reportedly worked as a doctor for international organizations, including the World Health Organization in various countries. Powlowski holds degrees in both medicine and law, as well as a master's degree in public health from Harvard University.
Public Controversies
In May 2021, Powlowski faced criticism for comments he made during a House of Commons committee meeting that was studying sexual misconduct in the Canadian military. While questioning a witness who was a survivor of military sexual assault, he reportedly asked if her experience was as bad as that of another survivor, which drew condemnation from opposition MPs and others. Powlowski later issued a public apology, stating that his comments were insensitive and that he regretted them.
Where Marcus falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Marcus Powlowski won with 21,125 votes (48.5%)
Total votes cast: 43,531
How does Marcus Powlowski's voting record line up with your values?
I'm going around in circles trying to figure out NSIRA's role in this whole thing. I believe this inquiry was instigated by the Conservatives in response to the concern with respect to the Zhang case that there was insufficient security. Whom did they blame? Surprise, surprise—“It's the minister; we'll throw him under the bus.” We then started looking at who is actually responsible for the
On this particular...well, on any issue, given the polygraph thing that you've made recommendations on nine times and the government has ignored nine times, I take it the legislation gives you the role of auditor, but there's no obligation for the government to listen to you. That's number one. Number two, when you do make recommendations, is there an obligation for the government to respond to
C-39 Madam Speaker, the member talked about Bill's effect on labour negotiations, but it seems to me that section 107 of the Labour Code protects the greater economy as a whole as well. The act would create new conditions the minister must consider. Before using section 107, the minister must consider a mediator's report but also must consider what is in the national interest. It goes on to
Mr. Speaker, I would like to exhibit the member as a great representative of our party, because here he is, the former Ontario minister of finance, sitting on our backbench. I know that, over the years, he has been involved in a lot of different government programs and a lot of different projects. He has probably seen the best and worst of governments. C-39 What does the member like best from an
As much as I'd like to take the high road here, I've had enough. The opposition had eight and a half hours yesterday to debate amendments. They chose to amend or vote on three of them in eight and a half hours. For them to come back to us today and accuse us of somehow violating their democratic rights is frankly absurd. I would like to thank the other people, the people who are in the
Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I was at the port of Thunder Bay and saw these giant windmill blades that were on their way to Alberta through the port of Thunder Bay. However, the port of Thunder Bay is underutilized and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway is functioning at only 50% capacity. Alberta grain has long gone through Thunder Bay, but there is basically no container traffic on the Great
This is an interesting area of inquiry for me. I have not spent a lot of my life thinking about how I would do security screening. It would seem to me, just in thinking about it, that this would be pretty difficult—potentially impossible. You talked about biometrics and law enforcement records. I assume the Chinese or Russians aren't going to employ some petty criminal from Thunder Bay who's
Does that just include using Google, or do you have the ability to screen social media like Facebook posts and things like that?
How useful is that information anyhow? Say someone like this woman who's been accused of spying for NATO is applying for a job, but five years ago she said something on a Facebook page like, “The Chinese are our friends. We ought to have a closer economic association between our countries.” Is that really going to be something that bars you from hiring her for this kind of position, and should it
Similarly, with friends and associates, in the old days it probably used to be easy. You worked for the CIA, you came from Des Moines and when you started hanging out with a bunch of Russians, people started to ask questions. Nowadays, we know people from every country in the world. I have a thousand names on my phone, and some of them may have criminal records, for all I know. Some of them may
What do you do if I say, “No, I don't want you searching my Facebook”?
You said something about whether that person has an allegiance to Canada or might have an allegiance to some other entity that exceeds it. How would you know that? In my circle of friends, if I happen to hang around with a lot of Chinese people, does that make it questionable whether my allegiance is to Canada or to China?
That means you don't hire them if they don't like it.