Matt Strauss
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1985 or 1986 (age 39–40)[1]
Matt Strauss | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Kitchener South—Hespeler | |
| Assumed office April 28, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Valerie Bradford |
| Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit Medical Officer of Health | |
| Acting September 14, 2021 – April 1, 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Matthew Steven Strauss 1985 or 1986 (age 39–40)[1] Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (MD, 2008) |
Matthew Steven Strauss[2] (born 1986) is a Canadian physician and politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Kitchener South—Hespeler since 2025. He is the riding's first Conservative MP. Strauss was acting medical officer of health for the public health unit (PHU) serving Haldimand and Norfolk from 2021 to 2023. He previously practiced internal medicine and was an assistant professor at Queen's University.
COVID-19 pandemic
Strauss was born in Kitchener and raised in the community of Hespeler. He is descended from Romanian refugees from the Banat region in the former Yugoslavia.[3]
In 2008, Strauss received an MD from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. He received certification to practice internal medicine in 2012 and critical care medicine in 2013. Strauss joined the faculty of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in 2013, teaching medicine at the regional campus in Waterloo.[4] From 2019 to 2021, Strauss was also employed as an assistant professor of medicine at Queen's University.[5] Strauss served as chief of the ICU at Guelph General Hospital, and held privileges at Grand River Hospital and Kingston General Hospital.[4][5]
From 2021 to 2023, he was the acting medical officer of health for Haldimand and Norfolk counties in southwestern Ontario.[6][7][8]
Strauss has been a vocal opponent of lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine mandates from the onset of the pandemic. Strauss tweeted that he would "sooner give [his] children COVID-19 than a McDonald's happy meal," which was criticized when he was appointed the acting medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk PHU.[9] The Ontario Liberal Party called for his appointment to be vetoed by the Minister of Health. In his 16 months on the job, Haldimand-Norfolk went from being second last in the province for vaccination rates to the middle of the list.[10] Strauss ultimately resigned from his position for reasons unrelated to the controversy surrounding his appointment.[7]
