Raquel Dancho is your voice in Ottawa.
Raquel Dancho is an experienced Member of Parliament with exceptional communications skills and a passion for building consensus on issues that unite Canadians. Raquel is honoured to be the voice for Kildonan—St. Paul in the House of Commons and is committed to representing residents with dignity, compassion, and respect.
Raquel was raised in rural Manitoba, to a fourth-generation farming family. Her western, rural upbringing instilled the values of hard work, personal responsibility, and resilience, and a strong belief in Canadian freedom, opportunity, and prosperity.
After graduating with an official Manitoba bilingual high-school diploma in French and English, she attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where she earned a Baccalaureate of Arts in Political Science. Studying Canadian and American politics, world religions, political theory, and Indigenous studies, and being immersed in Quebec history and culture, Raquel was exposed to diverse political beliefs and ideas. She came to define her worldview as a conservative, while deeply valuing the different perspectives that make up Canada’s pluralist society.
Raquel returned to Manitoba and worked as a researcher for a free market think tank based in Winnipeg. She then joined the Manitoba Progressive Conservative government in various capacities, becoming the senior aide to the Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage. After years of provincial public service, she worked as a public policy consultant prior to being elected as the Member of Parliament for Kildonan—St. Paul in the 2019 General Election.
With an authentic and articulate communication style, Raquel has made an impact on the federal political scene since she was first elected in 2019. Notably, Raquel has fought for safer communities by calling for stricter bail laws for repeat violent offenders and advocated for victims of intimate partner violence by sponsoring Bill S-205. She also stood up for law-abiding firearms owners and led the charge in Parliament against the Liberal hunting-rifle ban proposed under Bill C-21.
Raquel has represented her community of Kildonan—St. Paul in a variety of national roles in Canada’s Official Opposition, including most recently as the Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee for Public Safety and National Security.
Raquel has also served as Shadow Minister for Immigration, Shadow Minister for Employment, and Shadow Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Youth, and Vice-Chair on the Standing Committees of Citizenship and Immigration, and Human Resources and Social Development, as well as a member of the Committee for Canada-People’s Republic of China Relationship and the Standing Committee of Status of Women.
Raquel was honoured as a 2021 finalist for the Maclean’s magazine Rising Star Award. She was voted by her political peers as Ottawa’s Favourite Up-and-Comer for the annual Hill Times All Politics Poll in 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. Raquel was also voted as the Best Opposition MP in Scrums (news media communication) for the Hill Times Politically Savvy Survey in 2023.
In her free time, Raquel enjoys cooking French cuisine for her loved ones, and being in great outdoors with her husband Scott, their daughter Elizabeth, and their Alaskan Malamute Odin.
Contact Raquel’s Office
Reach out to Raquel’s office for any assistance or to discuss the issues that matter most to you. Together, we can work towards a safer, stronger community.