Brian Masse
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Brian S. Masse (born July 9, 1968) is a Canadian politician. He served in the
House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
from 2002 until the 2025 Canadian federal election, representing the riding of Windsor West as a member of the
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
.


Early life and career

Masse was born in
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. He graduated from
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
after earning a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
in 1991. He also completed coursework for a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree at the
University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...
, but left prior to submitting his thesis. During the 1990s, he was a job developer for the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities and a program coordinator for the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County. Masse was elected for Ward 2 of the Windsor City Council in 1997 and was re-elected in 2000. In 1998, he played a prominent role in preventing a rock-crushing operation from opening in the Wellington Avenue area. In May 2001, the Windsor City Council unanimously approved Masse's motion to prevent school boards from selling vacant property lots at the highest market value. His purpose was to dissuade boards from closing schools, though some criticized the motion as working against taxpayer interests. Masse later called for a referendum on a proposed new arena project, but this was not accepted by council. Masse is married to Terry Chow, with whom he has two children.


Member of Parliament

Masse joined the federal New Democratic Party in 1997 and was first elected to the Canadian Parliament in a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
held on May 13, 2002. The election was called after the resignation of
Herb Gray Herbert Eser Gray (May 25, 1931 – April 21, 2014) was a Canadian lawyer who became a prominent federal politician. He was a Liberal member of parliament for the Windsor area over the course of four decades, from 1962 to 2002, making Gray ...
, a long-time Liberal
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
who had been a member of Parliament (MP) since 1962. Masse won the NDP nomination without opposition and defeated Liberal candidate Richard Pollock by 2,477 votes to win the seat. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 2004 general election. Masse's success in 2002 was partly due to support from
Joe Comartin Joseph John Comartin (born December 26, 1947) is a retired Canadian lawyer and politician. He represented the riding of Windsor—Tecumseh (federal electoral district), Windsor—Tecumseh as its Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliamen ...
, a fellow Windsor New Democrat who was elected to the House of Commons in the 2000 federal election. In 2002–03, Masse supported Comartin's bid for the NDP leadership. Masse served as the NDP critic for Auto Policy, Canada Border Services, and Customs in the
38th Canadian Parliament The 38th Canadian Parliament was in session from October 4, 2004, until November 29, 2005. The membership was set by the 2004 Canadian federal election, 2004 federal election on June 28, 2004, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and ...
. He also became a member of the newly formed all-party "Border Caucus", examining aspects of Canada-U.S. trade relations. In 2004, he introduced a motion to restrict pharmaceutical companies from renewing their patent protection. During his first campaign for the House of Commons, the ''
Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...
'' ran an editorial opposing him as "a bench-warmer, a yes-man, a political careerist". Two years later, however, a ''Star'' columnist wrote that Masse had "vastly exceeded expectations and quickly developed into an able, hard-working representative who has stayed on top of riding issues." Masse was re-elected in the 2006 federal election with an increased majority over Liberal Werner Keller. He served as NDP Deputy Industry Critic. After the election, Masse and Comartin spoke out against the provincial NDP's decision to remove
Canadian Auto Workers The National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada, commonly known as the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), was one of Canada's largest labour unions. In 2013, it merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperwork ...
leader
Buzz Hargrove Basil Eldon "Buzz" Hargrove (March 8, 1944 – June 15, 2025) was a Canadian labour leader and onetime National President of the Canadian Auto Workers. Until his death in 2025, he served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Toronto Metropo ...
from the party. Masse has criticized Industry Minister
Maxime Bernier Maxime Bernier (; born January 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the founder and leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC). Formerly a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party, Bernier left the caucus in 2018 t ...
's plans to deregulate Canada's telecommunications market and ease restrictions on foreign ownership, arguing that the reforms could result in a small number of companies controlling the Canadian industry. Since 2015, Masse has sat on the NDP frontbench as the critic for Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Masse was re-elected in the
2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...
and the
2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The Writ of election, writs of election were issued by Governor General of ...
, on both occasions finishing ahead of former Liberal MPP
Sandra Pupatello Sandra Pupatello (née Pizzolitto; born October 6, 1962) is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2011 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, and served as a cabinet minister in the gove ...
. In the
2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...
, he was
unseated Unseating is a political term which refers to a legislator who loses their seat in an election. A legislator who is unseated loses the right to sit in a legislative chamber. A landslide victory results in many legislators being unseated. Austral ...
by Conservative candidate
Harb Gill Harbinder Gill is a Canadian politician from the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected Member of Parliament for Windsor West in the 2025 Canadian federal election. Gill unseated Unseating is a political term which refers to a legislat ...
. He offered to endorse defeated Conservative MP Rick Perkins in the election.


Electoral record


Federal

, - bgcolor="white" , align="left" colspan=2,
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
hold , - bgcolor="white" , align="left" colspan=2,
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
hold


Municipal

Results provided by the City of Windsor. Results are provided by the City of Windsor. Electors could vote for two candidates in the municipal elections. The percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes. All federal election information is taken from
Elections Canada Elections Canada () is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering elections in Canada, Canadian federal elections and Referendums in Canada, referendums. History Elections Canada is an agency of the Parliament of Canada, and reports ...
. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.


References


External links


Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masse, Brian 1968 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario New Democratic Party MPs University of Windsor alumni Windsor, Ontario city councillors Wilfrid Laurier University alumni 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada