Filomena Tassi

Filomena Tassi PC MP is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[2] She is now a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and currently serves as the Minister of Labour.[3] In the past, she held the position of Minister of Seniors and Deputy Government Whip.[4]

The Honourable Filomena Tassi PC MP
Minister of Labour
Incumbent
Assumed office November 20, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Patty Hajdu
Minister of Seniors
In office July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Office re-established
Succeeded by	Deb Schulte
Deputy Government Whip
In office January 30, 2017 – August 31, 2018
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Succeeded by	Linda Lapointe
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	David Sweet
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 58–59) Hamilton, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Dundas, Ontario[1]
Alma mater	University of Waterloo University of Western Ontario
Profession	Attorney Chaplain

Education and early career

She is of Italian descent, from the regions of Marche and Abruzzo, and raised Catholic.[5] Tassi studied law at the University of Western Ontario, and then practised corporate law for six years. She subsequently left the legal profession and studied philosophy and religious education at the University of Waterloo, and began working as the chaplain at Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School, a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.[6]

Political career

Tassi's first run for elective office was as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in the 1995 provincial election, where she finished a narrow second to NDP incumbent David Christopherson. Two decades later, she became the federal Liberal candidate in Hamilton during the 2015 federal election. Her candidacy attracted some media controversy, as she had made statements in the past suggesting that her Roman Catholic faith made her personally opposed to abortion, which seemingly put her in conflict with Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's requirement that all candidates agree to vote in favour of abortion rights. Trudeau clarified that Tassi had agreed to support the legal right to abortion.[7]

Prior to entering federal politics, Tassi was a Catholic school board trustee.

Electoral record

Federal

2019 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	30,214	46.6	-1.08
	Conservative	Bert Laranjo	17,340	26.7	-5.13
	New Democratic	Yousaf Malik	11,527	17.8	+1.53
	Green	Victoria Galea	4,770	7.3	+3.07
	People's	Daniel Ricottone	894	1.4	–
	Rhinoceros	Spencer Rocchi	156	0.2	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			64,901	100.00
Total rejected ballots			415	0.64
Turnout			65,316	74.57	+0.41
Eligible voters			87,587
	Liberal hold		Swing
Source: Elections Canada[8]

2015 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	29,694	47.68	+22.76	–
	Conservative	Vincent Samuel	19,821	31.83	-10.57	–
	New Democratic	Alex Johnstone	10,131	16.27	-11.92	–
	Green	Peter Ormond	2,633	4.23	+0.5	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			62,279	100.0		$221,675.78
Total rejected ballots			272	–	–
Turnout			62,551	74.1%	–
Eligible voters			84,350
	Liberal notional gain from Conservative		Swing		+16.66%
Source: Elections Canada[9][10]

Provincial

1995 Ontario general election: Hamilton Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	David Christopherson	8,012	36.81	-18.49	$40,543.33
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	7,322	33.64	+2.84	$34,483.85
	Progressive Conservative	Angie Tomasic	5,723	26.29	+17.99	$18,222.88
	Family Coalition	Tom Wigglesworth	376	1.72	+0.32	$1,548.28
	Natural Law	Monique Poudrette	331	1.53	–	$0.00
Total valid votes			21,764	100.0		–
Total rejected ballots			372	1.68	-0.04
Turnout			22,136	54.71	-5.07
Eligible voters			40,459
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-10.66

References

1. "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
2. "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated". CBC Hamilton, October 19, 2015.
3. Bharti, Bianca (2019-11-20). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: Some new faces, some old faces, and some faces in new places | National Post". National Post. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
4. Wright Allen, Samantha (July 25, 2018). "Rodriguez, Tassi staying as government whips for now, changes expected soon". The Hill Times. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
5. https://openparliament.ca/debates/2017/5/15/filomena-tassi-2/
6. Meet Filomena Tassi, Liberal.ca.
7. Susana Mas, Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015, CBC News, November 28, 2014.
8. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
9. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015
10. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official Website
• Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
• Filomena Tassi – Parliament of Canada biography