Dr. Hedy Fry was first elected to Parliament from Vancouver-Centre in 1993, becoming the first rookie to defeat an incumbent prime minister – Canada’s last Conservative Prime Minister, Kim Campbell. From 1996 to 2002, she served Canadians as the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and the Status of Women; her service in these portfolios is respected by members of cultural communities across Canada and internationally. In 2006, Dr. Fry was a candidate for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, traveling across the country meeting with grassroots organizations on her “True Grit” campaign. She currently serves Stéphane Dion’s Liberal team as the Official Opposition Critic for Sport and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Prior to being elected to Parliament, Dr. Fry was well-known to Canadian audiences as a panelist on the long-running national CBC television program Doctor, Doctor. She practiced family medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital in the West End of Vancouver for two decades and was a local, provincial and national leader in medical politics. Dr. Fry served as president of the Vancouver and British Columbia Medical Associations, during which time she was hailed as a powerful and successful negotiator, hammering out a deal with then-premier Bill Vander Zalm that ended two years of negotiations with a groundbreaking agreement that included Canada’s first retirement plan for doctors. As a leader in the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Fry was instrumental in initiating a range of innovations. Under her guidance, the B.C. and Canadian Medical Associations officially recognized self-government and self-determination as crucial determinants of Aboriginal health. Dr. Fry was repeatedly selected by her peers to take on challenging and unprecedented issues including environmental health, mandatory seat belt and helmet laws and employment as a health determinant. She was a spokesperson for the CMA on health care financing and delivery, making presentations to governmental and professional bodies in the United States. Dr. Fry’s undergraduate studies were in French, English and Spanish literature. Receiving top marks in English literature, she was awarded the Island Scholarship, which included full tuition, room and board at Oxford, where she was set to begin her Master’s work. But her literary studies had exposed her to psychoanalytic theories, sparking a sharp turn in her academic interests from the humanities to medicine. With the support and sacrifice of her parents, who took their life savings for a home and invested it into her dream of becoming a doctor, she was accepted into an innovative program at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Dublin. The college dedicated 10 percent of its seats to students of humanities, on the hypothesis that good doctors are more than just good scientists. Accepted into the program, she had one year to fulfill the academic requirements, which meant an intensive immersion in science from the high school level to the equivalent of a bachelor of science in a single academic year. She completed her medical studies with honours. Dr. Fry has three sons, and is proud to live in Vancouver Centre.
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