Teresa Piruzza

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Teresa Piruzza

| caption =

| image =

| office1 = Ontario MPP

| term_start1 = 2011

| term_end1 = 2014

| predecessor1 = Sandra Pupatello

| successor1 = Lisa Gretzky

| constituency1 = Windsor West

| party = Liberal

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}

| birth_place =

| residence = Windsor, Ontario

| spouse = John

| children = 2

| occupation = Manager

}}

Teresa Piruzza (born {{circa|1968}}) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2014 who represented the southwestern riding of Windsor West. She was a cabinet minister in the government of Kathleen Wynne.

Background

Piruzza grew up in Windsor, Ontario. She attended the University of Windsor where she obtained a BA in international relations and an MBA. She worked for the municipality as an executive director. She lives in Windsor with her husband John and their two sons.{{Cite news | last1=Schmidt | first1=Doug |last2=Lajoie |first2=Don |last3=Kristy |first3=Dylan | title=Piruzza takes Windsor West; Liberal holds Pupatello's seat easily | publisher=The Windsor Star | date=October 7, 2011 | page=A3}}{{cite web |url=http://windsorite.ca/2011/09/election-2011-windsor-west-teresa-piruzza/ |title=Election 2011: Teresa Piruzza |publisher=Windsorite.ca News |date=September 26, 2011}}

Politics

Piruzza has a long association with the Ontario Liberal Party. She worked on campaigns for Herb Gray, former Windsor-Sandwich MPP Bill Wrye, and was the campaign manager for Sandra Pupatello in both 1995 and 1999. She also worked as Pupatello's constituency assistant before starting a successful career in the public sector.{{cite news |title=Piruzza the Grits' big hope |last=Jarvis |first=Anne |publisher=The Windsor Star |date=September 23, 2011 |page=A3}}

In the 2011 provincial election, Piruzza ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Windsor West after Pupatello announced her retirement. She won the riding by 3,583 votes over NDP rival Helmi Charif.{{Cite news | url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/liberals-win-two-out-of-three-ridings-in-windsor-essex-1.1101313 | title=Liberals win two out of three ridings in Windsor-Essex | publisher=CBC News | date=October 6, 2011 |access-date=May 25, 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 6, 2011 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330163815/http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2013 |df=mdy-all }} Shortly after being elected she was appointed parliamentary assistant to both the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.{{cite news |title=Piruzza named parliamentary aide |publisher=The Windsor Star |date=November 11, 2011 |page=A2}} Following the 2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership convention, Piruzza was appointed Minister of Children and Youth Services by new Premier Kathleen Wynne.{{cite news |url=https://windsorstar.com/news/windsor-west-mpp-piruzza-named-minister-of-children-and-youth-services |title=Windsor West MPP Piruzza named Minister of Children and Youth Services |newspaper=Windsor Star |date=February 11, 2013 |access-date=February 25, 2023}}

She was defeated in the 2014 election by New Democrat Lisa Gretzky.{{cite web |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 12, 2014 |url=http://www.elections.on.ca/content/dam/NGW/sitecontent/2014/historical-results/2014/Valid%20Votes%20Cast%20for%20Each%20Candidate.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20151206211300/http://www.elections.on.ca/content/dam/NGW/sitecontent/2014/historical-results/2014/Valid%20Votes%20Cast%20for%20Each%20Candidate.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 6, 2015 |page=14 |df=mdy-all }} Following her defeat, there was some speculation that she would announce her candidacy for Mayor of Windsor, Ontario in the city's 2014 municipal election, but she announced on August 8 that she was joining Chrysler Canada in an executive role.{{cite web|url=https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/piruzza-not-entering-windsor-mayoral-race|title=Piruzza not entering Windsor mayoral race, joins Chrysler Canada|work=Windsor Star|date=August 8, 2014|access-date=February 25, 2023}}