‘It was truly the privilege of my life’: Deb Schulte reflects on time as MP for King-Vaughan

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 4, 2021

Deb Schulte is happy with what she accomplished as Liberal MP for King-Vaughan and as Minister of Seniors.

“Keeping aside just working on the individual files and helping individuals, working with the municipalities and, in some cases, the provincial level of government, as an MP, to bring really significant infrastructure investments,” she said.

Schulte was defeated by Conservative candidate Anna Roberts in the Sept. 20 federal election.

Schulte was first elected to represent King-Vaughan in 2015 after serving as York regional councillor for Vaughan from 2010 to 2014.

“It was truly the privilege of my life,” Schulte said. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done. I will miss working with the community, working to solve some of the challenging problems.”

Schulte said it was rewarding for her to work on an issue and to be able to help the individual.

Although she won’t be returning to Ottawa this term, Schulte doesn’t blame her campaign in the lead up to the election.

“Obviously, the results are not what I was hoping for, but I’m very, very proud of the campaign that we ran,” she said.

There was low voter turnout in King-Vaughan compared to the rest of the country, Schulte said.

“That really is something striking,” she added.

Although she wasn’t re-elected, Schulte said she was pleased to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau elected again.

“We can continue with the important work that needed to be done and that was on the election mandate,” she said.

Schulte said she feels lucky to have had the opportunity to deliver programs, services and funds through her work as MP and as minister.

“I feel proud of being able to have the opportunity to do that,” she said.

Schulte’s time in the near future will be spent receiving treatment for cancer, which she’s hoping she’ll be through in mid-November. After that, she said, she’ll start to focus on what’s next.

When Schulte lost the councillor election in 2014, it opened doors for her to explore other avenues.

“I don’t know exactly what the next chapter looks like right now. What I do know is that I’m focused on treatments, I’m focused on completing this chapter in a good way,” she said. “Honestly, I think the slate is wide open. Obviously, running again is not out of the picture. There are different levels of government that are also coming up in the next year.”