Kirsty Ellen Duncan PC MP (born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian politician and medical geographer from Ontario, Canada.
Duncan has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North since 2008, and she served as deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons from 2019 to 2021.
After graduating from Kipling Collegiate Institute in 1985 as an Ontario scholar, Duncan studied geography and anthropology at the University of Toronto.
[6] Duncan was an associate professor of Health Studies at the University of Toronto, where she taught global environmental processes and medical geography.
Her initial thoughts led her to think of Alaska,[11] as it contains large areas of permafrost, which would leave the viruses intact, but the search proved fruitless.
Eventually, after several years of searching, Duncan learned of seven miners who had died from the Spanish flu and were buried in the small town of Longyearbyen, Norway, an area that would contain permafrost.
After the book's publication, Duncan began speaking about pandemics, which led her to begin teaching corporate social responsibility at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
[19] In February 2019, Duncan convened provincial and territorial sports ministers to sign a joint declaration on combating misconduct such as abuse, harassment, and discrimination.
Duncan's action items included creating a code of conduct with sanctions and finding a way to prevent coaches or officials from freely moving to another province or club after allegations of abuse.
[25] On January 26, 2023, Duncan issued a statement that she would be taking medical leave, but remain as an MP, because of a "physical health challenge".