Background
Longfield was born in Timmins, Ontario.
Longfield was born in Timmins, Ontario.
She graduated from North Bay Teacher"s College, and worked as a community college teacher before taking time off to raise a family.
She has also campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. She was a governor of the Trafalgar Castle School for Girls. She was a field organizer in Jean Chrétien"s 1990 leadership campaign, and co-managed Dalton McGuinty"s bid to become provincial leader in 1996.
Longfield was elected to the Whitby municipal council in 1991, winning a close victory in the city"s second ward.
She was re-elected in 1994. Longfield was involved with the local government division of the National Democratic Institute in this period, and represented Canada on delegations to Romania and Guyana.
Longfield served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Labour from 1999 to 2001 under Chrétien, and was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Labour and Housing in Paul Martin"s government from 2004 to 2006. Longfield was a supporter of pay equity policies, and criticized her own government for appealing a Supreme Court decision on the issue in 1998.
She was also a vocal proponent of affordable housing.
Longfield was defeated in the 2006 federal election by Conservative candidate Jim Flaherty, a former cabinet minister from the provincial government of Mike Harris. Shortly thereafter, she was chosen as the Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Flaherty"s vacated provincial seat in a provincial by-election held on March 30, 2006. She finished a close second against Progressive Conservative candidate Christine Elliott, Flaherty"s wife.
All federal electoral information is taken from Elections Canada.
Italicized expenditures from elections after 1997 refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available. Expenditures from 1997 refer to submitted totals.
She also remained active with the Ontario Liberal Party, co-chairing that party"s campaign in the 1999 provincial election.
She was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1997 to 2006, representing the riding of Whitby—Oshawa as a member of the Liberal Party. Longfield began working for the Liberal Party in 1965 as an organizer, and was an executive assistant to Ontario Liberal Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) Allan Furlong and Steve Mahoney. Longfield was designated as the Liberal candidate for Whitby—Ajax in the 1997 federal election, as part of an effort by Prime Minister Chrétien to increase the number of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Liberal caucus.