What we know about Melissa Lantsman wife Lauren Rakowski
Steve Russell/Getty Images Melissa Lantsman will not rest until Canada’s Premier Justin Trudeau apologizes for making inflammatory remarks in parliament. Lantsman confronted Justin for using the Emergencies Act to end protests against vaccine mandates. Trudeau’s response sparked uproar in the house: he accused Conservative Party members of standing ‘with people who wave swastikas.’
The speaker reprimanded Trudeau, but he left the session without apologizing. Lantsman, a Jewish MP, viewed it as a personal attack and demanded an apology. “What a disgraceful statement unbecoming of anyone in public office – he owes me an apology,” she tweeted.
Melissa Lantsman is the first LGBTQ and Jewish woman elected as a Conservative MP.
Melissa and her wife, Lauren Rakowski, incorporated Jewish traditions into their wedding
Assaf Friedman/Toronto Life Melissa Lantsman and Lauren Rakowski met via an online dating site in 2013. After one date, Melissa was hooked: “She kind of stalked me, but in a non-creepy way,” Lauren told Toronto Life.
The pair moved to Ontario for a while before settling in Toronto. In August 2017, Melissa proposed via a customized pizza box. She had no idea that Lauren had been planning a proposal. “She beat me to it,” Rakowski said.
The pair married at the Four Seasons in a ceremony incorporating Jewish traditions. It was the first time that two women married at the venue. The couple married while wrapped in a tallit that belonged to Lauren’s great grandfather.
The rest of the ceremony featured a lot of dancing, including a dance around the couple’s parents, signifying that all their children had gotten hitched. “It was a killer dance party,” Lantsman said. “At the end of the night, we had vendors coming up to us and joking that they’re only doing gay weddings now,” Lauren added.
