Marcus Powlowski

Marcus Powlowski
MP
Marcus Powlowski MP
Member of Parliament; for Thunder Bay—Rainy River
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Don Rusnak
Personal details
Born	January 20, 1960 (age 64); Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada
Spouse	Mirasol Añora-Powlowski

Marcus Powlowski (born January 20, 1960) is a Canadian Member of Parliament who was elected to represent the riding of Thunder Bay—Rainy River in the 2019 Canadian federal election.^[2]^[3] Powlowski was also named a chief in Ambae, Vanuatu with the title of Vera Liu.^{[citation needed]} He is married to Mirasol Añora Powlowski and has six children.

Education

Powlowski received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Bachelor of Law, and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Toronto. He also holds a Master's degree in Public Health (Health Law and Policy) from Harvard University and a Master's degree in Global Health Law from Georgetown University.

Professional experience

Before his election in 2019, Powlowski served in a number of roles, most recently as an emergency room doctor at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and as an associate professor of medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Powlowski also practiced medicine for two years in First Nations communities in Northern Canada, and for seven years in Swaziland, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu. He has also worked for the World Health Organization as a health legislation consultant and taught Global Health at Lakehead University and University of San Francisco, and Global Health Law at Lakehead University Faculty of Law.^[4]

Political roles

After assuming office as the Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Rainy River in 2019, Powlowski was named to the Standing Committee on Health and the Standing Committee on National Defence.^[5] Powlowski was an outspoken advocate for the use of human challenge trials for vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was critical of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding to the shortage of masks and ventilators.^[6] He supported and participated in 2020 in the Bombardier Inc. production line.^[7] to finish and assemble components for portable ventilators, working with 0-Two Medical Technologies ^[8] for the Ontario government. The Hill Times named Powlowski as one of the 25 MP's to watch during the Fall 2020 session of Parliament, mainly due to his advocacy work in public healthcare during COVID-19.^[9] He had a significant role since 2021 in supporting public transit and protecting jobs in Thunder Bay through the Alstom streetcars project.^[10] In 2021, he advocated for the rescue of Afghan interpreters^[11] during Canada's involvement in the War in Afghanistan. In 2022 Thunder Bay-Rainy River Powlowski made recommendations to the federal government aimed at easing the physician shortage in rural northwestern Ontario and other parts of Canada. One of those recommendations was in regards to foreign medical licensing.^[12] Powlowski's work in the health sector includes his advocacy for more safeguards regarding Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for mental illness.^[13] Having a Ukrainian background, Thunder Bay-Rainy River MPs Marcus Powlowski stands and advocates firmly for Ukraine regarding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[14] Member of the standing committee of indigenous and Northern affairs, MP Marcus Powlowski is a strong defender of Indigenous peoples in Canada and their rights such as safe water access, opioid addiction and mental health resources among others.^[15]

Electoral record

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Thunder Bay—Rainy River
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Marcus Powlowski	14,498	35.32	-8.70	$55,609.36
	Conservative	Linda Rydholm	12,039	29.33	+8.24	$50,919.61
	New Democratic	Yuk-Sem Won	11,944	29.10	-0.57	none listed
	Green	Amanda Moddejonge	1,829	4.46	-0.77	none listed
	People's	Andrew Hartnell	741	1.81	–	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			41,051	99.20
Total rejected ballots			333	0.80	+0.39
Turnout			41,384	62.41	-3.92
Eligible voters			66,306
	Liberal hold		Swing		-8.47
Source: Elections Canada^[16]^[17]