Filomena Tassi

Filomena Tassi PC MP is a Canadian politician who has served as the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario since August 31, 2022. A member of the Liberal Party, Tassi represents the riding of Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas in the House of Commons, taking office following the 2015 federal election. She served as the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiver General for Canada from 2021 to 2022, as the Minister of Labour from 2019 to 2021, and as the Minister of Seniors from 2018 to 2019.

The Honourable Filomena Tassi PC MP
Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
In office August 31, 2022 – December 20, 2024
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Helena Jaczek
Succeeded by	Ruby Sahota
Minister of Public Services and Procurement Receiver General for Canada
In office October 26, 2021 – August 31, 2022
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Anita Anand
Succeeded by	Helena Jaczek
Minister of Labour
In office November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Patty Hajdu
Succeeded by	Seamus O'Regan
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 Parliament for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	David Sweet
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 62–63)[citation needed] 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

Tassi is of Italian descent, from the regions of Marche and Abruzzo, and was raised Catholic.^[2] She 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 St. Mary Catholic Secondary School and Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School, a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.^[3]

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.^[4]

Prior to entering federal politics, Tassi was a Catholic school board trustee.^[5]

After previously serving as Deputy Government Whip, Tassi was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Seniors on July 18, 2018, becoming the first minister responsible for the portfolio since 2015.^[6] After being re-elected in 2019, Tassi was named Minister of Labour, a job she held for just under two years until she was named Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiver General for Canada in the cabinet shuffle held following the 2021 federal election.^[7] Tassi served in that job until August 31, 2022, when she was named Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, having requested to be moved to a portfolio with a lighter workload in order to deal with a family health matter.^[8]

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	27,845	44.3	-2.3	$96,671.26
	Conservative	Bert Laranjo	18,162	28.9	+2.2	$48,851.38
	New Democratic	Roberto Henriquez	12,432	19.8	+2.0	$17,974.69
	People's	Dean Woods	2,584	4.1	+2.7	$14,813.36
	Green	Victoria Galea	1,661	2.6	-4.8	7,901.50
	Rhinoceros	Spencer Rocchi	137	0.2	±0.0	$0.00
Total valid votes			62,821	99.4
Total rejected ballots			387	0.6
Turnout			63,208	71.2
Eligible voters			88,781
	Liberal hold		Swing		-2.8
Source: Elections Canada[9]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Filomena Tassi	30,214	46.55	-1.13	$77,474.77
	Conservative	Bert Laranjo	17,340	26.72	-5.11	none listed
	New Democratic	Yousaf Malik	11,527	17.76	+1.49	$35,360.66
	Green	Victoria Galea	4,770	7.35	+3.12	none listed
	People's	Daniel Ricottone	894	1.38	–	none listed
	Rhinoceros	Spencer Rocchi	156	0.24	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			64,901	99.36
Total rejected ballots			415	0.64	+0.20
Turnout			65,316	72.83	+0.29
Eligible voters			89,679
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.99
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

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[12][13]

Provincial

v t e 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. "Filomena Tassi, "Italian Heritage Month" on May 15th, 2017 | openparliament.ca".
3. Meet Filomena Tassi, Liberal.ca.
4. Susana Mas, Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015, CBC News, November 28, 2014.
5. "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated". CBC Hamilton, October 19, 2015.
6. Wright Allen, Samantha (July 25, 2018). "Rodriguez, Tassi staying as government whips for now, changes expected soon". The Hill Times. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
7. Bharti, Bianca (November 20, 2019). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: Some new faces, some old faces, and some faces in new places | National Post". National Post. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
8. Zimonjic, Peter (August 31, 2022). "Trudeau tweaks cabinet, swapping ministers Tassi and Jaczek". CBC News. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
9. "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
10. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
11. "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
12. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015
13. 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

29th Ministry – Cabinet of Justin Trudeau