Garnett Genuis

Garnett Genuis was first elected in 2015 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan. He is a member of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, the Conservative Party of Canada caucus, and he serves as Deputy Critic for Human Rights and Religious Freedom. Genuis has developed a reputation as one of the most outspoken Parliamentarians. According to rankings developed by Maclean’s Magazine, he spoke over 100,000 words in the Chamber in his first year as an MP. To put that in context, that is more than all three major party leaders combined, and almost double the total of the next most vocal Conservative MP.

Many of Genuis’ speeches focus on international human rights and foreign affairs. He has been extremely active on these issues, drawing attention to various international human rights challenges and calling for a return to Canada’s historic principle-based foreign policy. He is also a frequent contributor to the deliberations of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

What Maclean’s Magazine does not track is the number of words spoken outside the House of Commons. Speaking about foreign affairs and international human rights in university classrooms in India, at rallies on Parliament Hill, and everywhere in between, Genuis has been just as vocal outside the Chamber as inside, if not more.

Genuis grew up in his Edmonton-area constituency, where his interest in international human rights was shaped by the influence of his maternal grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. He studied Public Affairs and Policy Management at Carleton University in Ottawa, and then earned a Masters in Public Policy and Philosophy at the London School of Economics in London, England. Before entering politics as an elected representative, Genuis worked as a ‘staffer’ in the Prime Minister’s Office, a writer and editor at a small online news company, a debate coach at an inner-city school in London, and, most recently, as the vice president of a public opinion research company.

In 2011, Garnett married Rebecca Lobo, a family doctor and daughter of Pakistani Goan immigrants to Canada. Garnett and Rebecca have two young children. In their spare time, they all play highly competitive games of ‘Go Fish’ and ‘Snakes and Ladders.’

Genuis got involved in politics in order to try to make a difference. He contends that the world is rarely changed by those who choose to keep their opinions to themselves.