On Thursday, June 24th, Michael Ras was acclaimed as the nominated candidate to carry the banner for the Conservative Party of Canada in Mississauga Lakeshore. 

Mike brings decades of experience and activism on behalf of his community.  Highlights from his resume include:

• Meridian Credit Union - Director of Government & Stakeholder Relations (current)
  
  • Meridian is Ontario's largest credit union, with 89 branches across Ontario, including two in Mississauga. At Meridian Mike is responsible for the credit unions' relationship with all three levels of government, promotes public policy solutions in affordable housing and financial literacy, public policy initiatives to help small-business and programs to build the financial resilience of its 370,000 Members across Ontario.  

• Justices of the Peace Appointments Advisory Committee (JPAAC) - Chair 
  • JPAAC advises the provincial Attorney General on the recruitment and selection of Justices of the Peace and in the most recent recruitment, evaluated almost 1,800 applicants and saw the appointment of 41 new Justices of the Peace.

• Radius Child & Youth Services - Volunteer Board of Directors (current)
  • Radius operates in Peel, Halton, Toronto and beyond and provides clinical assessment and counselling services to children, youth and families affected by interpersonal abuse: physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, neglect, or who have witnessed domestic violence

• CareerEdge - Volunteer Board of Directors (current)
  • A social enterprise that is Canada's largest provider of paid internships to help launch the careers of new graduates, new Canadians and Canadian Armed Forces veterans. Since its founding, over 13,000 people have launched their careers with CareerEdge.  

• Seneca College - Lecturer/Faculty with the Government Relations Certificate Program
  • A post-graduate certificate program for aspiring professionals in the government relations, public affairs and advocacy sector.  Mike teaches in the course and mentors students, many of which have launched successful careers in the field. 

• Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) - Executive Director (2013-2018)
  • FOLA is the professional association for Ontario's 12,000 solo and small law firm. In his five years as ED, Mike travelled to every corner of the province working on issues of concern to lawyers, including business, access to justice and justice system modernization.  

• KINSA - the Kids' Internet Safety Alliance - Volunteer Board of Directors (2006-2017)
  • KINSA was a charity focused on ending the sexual exploitation of children on the internet. While on the Board, Mike contributed to projects that included the training of over 400 police officers from around the world in child exploitation investigation, and the delivery of education materials to 500,000 kids across Ontario on safe internet practices.
• Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance - Volunteer Board of Directors (2007 - 2016)
  • A public-private partnership of business and the five GTA municipal regions with the mission of attracting foreign direct investment to the GTA. Hundreds of companies and thousands of jobs were secured in the GTA through the efforts of the GTMA. In 2017, the GTMA was restructured to become TorontoGlobal.  

Mike and his wife, Karen Ras - the City of Mississauga and Peel Region Ward 2 Councillor - live in Lorne Park with their two daughters, Delaney and Danica who are students at Holy Name of Mary College School and Lorne Park Secondary School.  

In the coming campaign, Mike looks forward to bringing the Conservative message to the voters of Mississauga Lakeshore.