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The Honourable Hedy Fry, PC, MP (born August 6 1941) is a Canadian politician and physician. Fry was born in Trinidad and received her medical training at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. She immigrated to Canada and established a practice in Vancouver and served as president of the British Columbia Federation of Medical Women in 1977. She was president of the Vancouver Medical Association in 1988-89,, and the BC Medical Association in 1990-91, and chaired the Canadian Medical Association's Multiculturalism Committee in 1992-9.
Fry sought and won the Liberal Party nomination over lawyer David Varty and college lecturer John Lang in March 1993. She then ran and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1993 Canadian election as a Liberal, defeating Prime Minister Kim Campbell in her seat, and has been re-elected in every subsequent election (1997, 2000, and 2004). She served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Health and Welfare from 1993 until 1996 when she was elevated to the Cabinet as Secreatary of State for Multiculturalism and Status of Women.
She became a favourite target of conservatives for her perceived political correctness, feminism and support for gay rights.
Fry has a reputation for making controversial statements and ignited a political backlash when, on March 21 2001, in reply to a question in the House of Commons, she claimed that crosses were being burned on lawns in Prince George, British Columbia. When asked to justify her claim she stated that the Mayor of Prince George informed her of this. When asked the mayor denied having said such a thing.
Her credibility damaged, Fry was dropped from the Cabinet when it was shuffled in 2002. When Paul Martin became Prime Minister of Canada at the end of 2003 he made her Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration with special emphasis on Foreign Credentials. After the 2004 Canadian election she was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
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