Anne Swarbrick (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 who represented the Toronto riding of Scarborough West. She served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae. Background Swarbrick was born in Richvale, a small village north of Toronto, now part of Richmond Hill, Ontario. She went to school at Northview Heights Secondary School and later attended York University but dropped out after a year. She started working for the federal immigration department eventually becoming a special investigator and adjudicator. She became an executive assistant with the Public Service Alliance of Canada and eventually became president. She was active as a volunteer director for such organizations as the Yellow Brick House (a shelter for battered women), Oxfam-Ontario, and Amnesty International. Politics In the 1987 provincial election, she ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Markham, finishing third against Progressive Conservative Don Cousens and Liberal Gail Newall. In the 1990 provincial election, she ran to succeed veteran NDP member Richard Johnston in the riding of Scarborough West. The NDP won a majority government and Swarbrick won over half the votes by a margin of 7,626 over her closest opponent. On 1 October 1990, she was named a minister without portfolio responsible for Women's Issues. In 1991, Swarbrick, who was a pro-choice abortion advocate, spoke out against a new federal law that would have criminalized abortion. In January she helped lead a delegation to the Canadian Senate where the bill was being debated. Eventually the bill failed in the Senate on a tie vote. Swarbrick underwent surgery for breast cancer in March 1991. She returned to the legislature in June but became involved in a controversy when she and fellow cabinet minister Shelley Martel wrote letters to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons asking for suspension of the license of a physician who had been convicted on sexually assaulting four teenage female patients. Since the letters violated conflict of interest guidelines she and Martel offered their resignations from cabinet. However Premier Bob Rae refused to accept their resignation. He said, "Not every mistake in these circumstances should lead to a resignation." Liberal leader Robert Nixon, who expressed his view to the Ontario Legislature that, while it may not have been an appropriate action for members of Cabinet, it