Dabrusin earned university degrees in law and Middle Eastern studies. She then spent 13 years as an attorney with Rogers Partners LLP, as well as a year as commission counsel to an inquiry into government procurement. She and her family moved to the Danforth area in 1998. In 2011 she left her legal career to focus on raising her two daughters and participating in various community organizing and charitable activities aimed at promoting and preserving Toronto's public parks. In 2013, she was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[3]
She was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in Toronto—Danforth for the 2015 federal election, running primarily on concerns about income inequality and government neglect of Canada's urban areas.[4] Dabrusin won the election, unseating NDP incumbent Craig Scott. Toronto—Danforth was previously held by NDP leader Jack Layton and was considered to be a safe seat; it has long been one of the more left-leaning ridings in Toronto.[5]
Since being elected, Dabrusin has held two Parliamentary Secretary positions. First for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, starting in December 2019, and then for the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change in December 2021.
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