Kirsty Duncan

Kirsty Ellen Duncan (October 31, 1966 – January 26, 2026) was a Canadian politician and medical geographer who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North from 2008 to 2025.

In her professional career, she published a book about her 1998 expedition to uncover the cause of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. A member of the Liberal Party, Duncan served in the Justin Trudeau government as the deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons from 2019 to 2021, as minister of science and sport from 2015 to 2019, and as minister of persons with disabilities in 2018. She did not seek re-election in the 2025 federal election.

Early life and education After graduating from Kipling Collegiate Institute in 1985 as an Ontario scholar, Duncan studied geography and anthropology at the University of Toronto. She then entered graduate school at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and completed a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in geography in 1992.

Duncan said that she was emotionally and psychologically abused during her time as a gymnast. According to Duncan, after starting gymnastics at age six, she was repeatedly called fat despite being a normal weight. She developed unhealthy eating habits to avoid gaining weight and by her second undergraduate year, had damaged her stomach lining.

Academic career Duncan was an associate professor of Health Studies at the University of Toronto, where she taught global environmental processes and medical geography. Duncan was the former research director for the AIC Institute of Corporate Citizenship at the Rotman School of Management. As well, Duncan served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization which won the Nobel Prize in 2007. In 1992, as she became aware of the increasing probability of a global flu crisis, she was led to investigate the cause of the similar 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, saying, "I was horrified we didn’t know what caused Spanish flu, and also knew that if we could find fragments of the virus, we might be able to find a better flu vaccine".

Though at the time she "knew nothing about influenza", she began what she called a "six-month crash course in virology".

In 2003, Duncan wrote a book about her unsuccessful expedition, titled Hunting the 1918 Flu: One Scientist's Search for a Killer Virus. Published by the University of Toronto Press, it details Duncan's process and the fruitless expedition itself.

In 2003, Duncan returned to the University of Toronto, teaching medical geography at University of Toronto Scarborough with additional duties teaching corporate social responsibility at the Rotman School of Management. In 2008, Duncan published a second book, Environment and Health: Protecting our Common Future.

, Duncan was an adjunct professor teaching both medical geography at the University of Toronto and global environmental processes at Royal Roads University.

In 2018, the University of Edinburgh awarded her an honorary degree. Duncan was also recognized as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily.

Her 2024 book, The Exclusion Effect: How the Sciences Discourage Girls & Women & What to Do About It was shortlisted for a 2024 Science Writers and Communicators of Canada book award.

Political career In February 2008, Roy Cullen announced that he would not be running in the next federal election and Duncan was appointed the next Liberal candidate. She was elected in the 2008 general election and re-elected in the 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021 general elections.

On November 4, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed her to the Cabinet as minister of science. Duncan was tasked with establishing the new position of chief science officer that would serve as a replacement to the national science adviser role eliminated by Stephen Harper in 2008.

As minister of science and sport, Duncan made ending abuse and harassment in sport her priority since taking over the portfolio in January 2018. In February 2019, Duncan convened provincial and territorial sports ministers to sign a joint declaration on combating misconduct such as abuse, harassment, and discrimination. The 2019 federal budget promised $30 million over the next five years to achieve those goals.

Duncan reported that the government in 2018 devoted $2.8 billion to renewing Canada's federal science laboratories because they said that they understand the critical role that government researchers play in Canada's science and research community.

She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election, following which she was appointed deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons. The sports portfolio folded into the Canadian Heritage portfolio.

Duncan issued a statement, on January 26, 2023, that she would be taking a medical leave, but would remain as an MP, because of a "physical health challenge".

On January 27, 2023, Duncan called for a public inquiry into abuse in Canadian sports and criticized the Trudeau government for not effectively following up on her initiatives as sports minister.

On March 21, 2025, Duncan announced that she was not going to run for re-election in the 2025 federal election. She was succeeded by Liberal John Zerucelli.

Personal life and death Duncan was married to former Liberal MP Sven Spengemann. Her tribute was paid by many, including former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who described her as "curious, generous, and deeply committed to helping others", as well as Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Electoral record