Filomena Tassi is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

, Tassi represents the riding of Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, 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 Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from 2019 to 2021, and as the

Minister of Seniors The minister of Seniors (french: Ministre des Aînés), previously known as the minister of State for Seniors (french: Ministre d'État aux Aînés), is a Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The portfolio was initially introduced du ...

from 2018 to 2019.

Education and early career

She is of Italian descent, from the regions of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

and

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, and raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Tassi studied law at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames Ri ...

, 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 The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

, and began working as the chaplain at

Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School is a Catholic secondary school located in Ancaster. It is part of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board and is home to students of seven feeder schools. History Founding Bishop Tonno ...

, a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.

Political career

Tassi's first run for elective office was as a candidate for the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of lib ...

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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

faith made her personally opposed to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

, which seemingly put her in conflict with Liberal leader

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

'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. Prior to entering federal politics, Tassi was a Catholic school board trustee. After previously serving as Deputy Government Whip, Tassi was appointed to cabinet as

on July 18, 2018, becoming the first minister responsible for the portfolio since 2015. After being re-elected in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Tassi was named

, 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. 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.

Electoral record

Federal

Provincial

References

External links

Official Website

Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tassi, Filomena Living people 1962 births Canadian people of Italian descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian chaplains Women Christian clergy Canadian Christian clergy Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian women lawyers Lawyers in Ontario University of Waterloo alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Western Law School alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians People from Dundas, Ontario Ontario school board trustees