Father, we pray for MPP Cheri DiNovo as she
works to enhance the government of Ontario
with her role as Chair of Caucus, and her role as critic of numerous areas of
the ruling party. Give her understanding
and a generous spirit so that she can help enhance the Province in all she
does. Bless her family, may nothing that would bring destruction of
relationships come into home. Encourage
her as she does what has become her place of appointment. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.
BIOGRAPHY
Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo is the Member of Provincial Parliament of Parkdale
– High Park. First elected into the Ontario Legislature in a
by-election in 2006, she was re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2014. She is
currently the Caucus Chair of the Ontario NDP and the critic to LGBTQ
Issues, GTA Issues and Urban Transportation. Cheri is best known for her
$10 minimum wage campaign, through which over a million Ontarians saw
their income increase by 28% over three years, and as the “Queen of
tri-party bills” for tabling the most bills in the Legislature that have
all three party’s support. She was voted Best MPP and Runner-Up Best
MPP by NOW Magazine. In 2012, she succeeded in getting Toby’s Act
passed, an amendment to the Ontario Humans Rights Code to include gender
identity and gender expression; the first of its kind in North America.
She has also been honoured to be the Grand Marshal in Toronto’s
celebrated World Pride Festival. In addition, she has proposed a bill
to fast-track benefits for workers suffering from PTSD that has been
included on the front page of the Toronto Star. Cheri is an ordained
United Church Minister who performed the first legalized same sex
marriage. Cheri also founded Girls’ Government, a non-partisan
initiative aimed at getting young girls engaged in the political
process. As a critic for Citizenship and Immigration, Cheri fought for
the rights of internationally trained professionals to have their
degrees and experiences recognized when immigrating to Ontario. Cheri
has also been a staunch advocate for Tibetans, Roma, Ukrainian and other
immigrant communities in Parkdale-High Park and Ontario. She is the
winner of 2 major awards – the Lambda in Washington, D.C. for
spirituality and religion for her book Queerying Evangelism,
and the Award of Merit by the government of Ukraine for her work on
Canada’s first tri-party bill recognizing the Holodomor as genocide.
Cheri has also received the Community Hero award from Jer’s Vision and
the Rainbow Health Advocate Award.
http://cheridinovo.ca/bio/
