ABOUT THE MINISTRY: Minister of Health Promotion: Margarett Best

Lawyer, advocate, mentor and dedicated community volunteer, Margarett Best was elected MPP in the riding of Scarborough-Guildwood on October 10, 2007, and appointed to Cabinet, as Minister of Health Promotion, on October 30, 2007. 

In her capacity as Minister of Health Promotion, Minister Best will champion health and wellness for all Ontarians through a wide range of programs and services that include chronic disease prevention, physical activity, sport participation, injury prevention and mental wellness.  

Minister Best was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica. She is an alumnus of the University of Toronto at Scarborough and Osgoode Hall Law School, and she holds a Mutual Funds Certificate from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. 

Minister Best advocated for public safety and diversity awareness in law enforcement as a member of the OPP Advisory Committee. She presented seminars and facilitated entrepreneurial workshops for under-serviced youths at Shouters Baptist Ministries. She was a First Vice-President of the Black Business and Professional Association and a member of the board of Urban Financial Services Coalition. She mentored young people on possible career choices in law, as a panelist with the Applause Institute and as a participant in the Annual Scarborough Youth Career Fair.

She sat on the Law Society of Upper Canada Solicitors’ Examination Blueprint Committee, and on the board of the Women’s Multicultural Resource and Counselling Centre of Durham (WMRCC) and Sheena’s Place Breakfast Committee. In 2004, she was appointed to the College Compensations and Appointments Council where she sat on the Human Resources and the Premier’s Award Committees.

In 2007, Minister Best was nominated for the Lincoln Alexander Medal and she was awarded an African Canadian Achievement Award in 2006. Recognized by the Women’s Multicultural Resource and Counselling Centre of Durham (WMRCC) for her commitment to social and gender-equality issues, she also received a “Reaching Out and Giving Back Award” from the Prospect Primary School Alumni Association, and a Professional Award of Excellence from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Minister Best is an avid gardener, who loves the arts.  She has a passion for writing which led her to writing for her local community magazine, “Pride” and for national magazine, “Amöi”. She is the mother of three adult children.