Anthony Housefather
| Anthony Housefather MP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights | |
|
Assumed office February 16, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Wallace |
| Member of Parliament for Mount Royal | |
|
Assumed office November 4, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Irwin Cotler |
| Mayor of Côte Saint-Luc | |
|
In office November 7, 2005 – November 4, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Libman |
| Succeeded by | Glenn J. Nashen |
| Councillor for the Borough of Côte-Saint-Luc–Hampstead–Montreal West | |
|
In office 2001–2005 | |
| President of Alliance Quebec | |
|
In office 2000–2001 | |
| Preceded by | William Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Brent Tyler |
| Town Councillor in Hampstead | |
|
In office 1994–2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 25, 1971 Montreal, Quebec |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Alma mater |
McGill University Concordia University |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Website | Liberal Party of Canada |
Anthony Housefather (born January 25, 1971) is a politician and corporate lawyer. Born in Montreal, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Mount Royal on October 19, 2015, and was previously Mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc, Quebec, a city on the Island of Montreal.[1] He holds three degrees: Two law degrees from McGill University, and an MBA from Concordia University, and is Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs and General Counsel at a multinational technology company.[2] He was a nationally ranked athlete as a student and returned to competitive swimming in 2010.
Early political career
Housefather started his political career in the Mount Royal Liberal Association. He later became Vice President of the Liberal Party of Canada. Housefather ran for Town Councillor in Hampstead in 1994 at age 24, defeating two candidates. He served until to 2001, when the Quebec government forced all cities and towns on the Island of Montreal to merge.
Housefather was president of Alliance Quebec between June 2000 to 2001.
When the mega-city of Montreal was created in 2001, he was elected as a Councillor for the Borough of Côte-Saint-Luc–Hampstead–Montreal West. In 2004, he served as co-chair of the demerger committee of Côte-Saint-Luc–Hampstead–Montreal West along with former City Councillors Mitchell Brownstein, Ruth Kovac and Glenn J. Nashen, and was a member of the Hampstead Demerger Committee in the successful 2004 demerger referendums, when all three sectors of the borough voted to separate from Montreal.
Mayor of Côte Saint-Luc
On November 7, 2005, Housefather was elected Mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc, Quebec with 75% of the vote. He cites his accomplishments as getting the provision added to Bill 22 to allow Côte Saint-Luc to operate its first-responder service permanently, saving police Station 9, launching the Fun Card recreation access pass, and keeping Meadowbrook green. He also cities other accomplishments as the construction of the $18 million Aquatic and Community Centre, and the fight to preserve the status of bilingual municipalities in Quebec.
Housefather was re-elected by acclamation to a second term as Mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc on October 2, 2009 (in advance of the November 1, 2009 vote).[3] He was acclaimed again on October 4, 2013 (in advance of the November 4, 2013 vote).[4]
Island-wide issues
In addition to helping run the City of Côte-Saint-Luc, Housefather is the Secretary of the Association of Suburban Municipalities, or ASM, which represents the 15 demerged cities and towns on the Island of Montreal. He helped draft a brief and then presented it on March 11, 2013 with Town of Mount Royal Mayor Philippe Roy at the National Assembly of Quebec on the Quebec government's proposed Bill 14.[5] Housefather is also a member of the island-wide Montreal agglomeration council and the agglomeration's Public Security Commission.
Federal politics
When Liberal MP Irwin Cotler announced he would not run in the 2015 federal election in the Mount Royal riding, Housefather declared his intention to run supported by most of the elected officials in the riding. His opponent was communications strategist Jonathan Goldbloom. Housefather said his 20 successful years in municipal politics were excellent preparation for the role of MP. Over the course of the year he signed up over 3,000 residents of the riding to support him at the nominating meeting[6]
The Mount Royal nomination meeting took place on November 30, 2014. With 1948 ballots cast, Housefather was declared the winner and the official Liberal Party candidate for the 2015 federal election.[7]
Housefather was elected as an MP on October 19, 2015, garnering 50.4% of the vote,[8] and was profiled as one of 10 rookie MPs to watch in the new parliament.[9] On February 16, 2016, he was chosen to chair the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
In the media
He has written many political opinion pieces for Canadian newspapers[10] [11] and appears on local radio and television broadcasts.[12][13][14]
Athletics
Housefather was a competitive swimmer in his teens and then a competitive water polo player. He started competitive swimming again in 2010. In July and August 2013, Housefather won seven medals in the Masters category in swimming at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.[15][16][17][18]
Electoral record
| Canadian federal election, 2015 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Anthony Housefather | 24,187 | 50.34 | +8.93 | – | |||
| Conservative | Robert Libman | 18,201 | 37.88 | +2.27 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Mario Jacinto Rimbao | 3,884 | 8.08 | -9.77 | – | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Jade Bossé Bélanger | 908 | 1.90 | -1.01 | – | |||
| Green | Timothy Landry | 747 | 1.55 | -0.20 | – | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Diane Johnston | 124 | 0.26 | -0.02 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 48,051 | 100.00 | – | $207,183.11 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 425 | 0.88 | – | – | ||||
| Turnout | 48,476 | 65.18 | +7.54 | – | ||||
| Eligible voters | 74,374 | – | – | – | ||||
| Source: Elections Canada[19][20] | ||||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +6.66 | ||||||
References
- ↑ Cohen, Mike (July 14, 2010). "Saluting human rights activists for oppressed Jews in foreign lands". Jewish Tribune. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- ↑ "Anthony Housefather". dialogic.com.
- ↑ "Résultats des élections pour les postes de maire et de conseiller – Élections municipales 2009 – Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Occupation du territoire". gouv.qc.ca.
- ↑ http://resultats.electionsmunicipales.gouv.qc.ca/resultats.html?municipalite=C%C3%B4te-Saint-Luc&v=66058
- ↑ ASM presentation regarding Bill 14 / Présentation par l'ASM à propos du projet de loi 14. YouTube. March 12, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/C%C3%B4te+Mayor+Anthony+Housefather+hopes+make+jump+federal+Liberals/9618819/story.html
- ↑ "Montreal Gazette".
- ↑ http://enr.elections.ca/ElectoralDistricts.aspx?lang=e. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Nearly 200 rookie MPs were elected on Monday. Here's who to watch". National Post. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
- ↑ ,Anthony Housefather. "Opinion: A shocking attack on the anglophone community". www.montrealgazette.com.
- ↑ http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/Opinion+Growing+healthy+communities/8283119/story.html
- ↑ Global News interview with Mayor Anthony Housefather – Jan. 29, 2013. YouTube. January 30, 2013.
- ↑ "CJAD's Ric Peterson interviews Mayor Anthony Housefather about urban agriculture on April 22, 2013". SoundCloud.
- ↑ "Radio interview with Mayor Anthony Housefather about Bill 14". firstpost.com.
- ↑ Mark Lidbetter (August 7, 2013). "Housefather Harvests Seven Medals From Maccabiah Waters – By Mark Lidbetter – The Suburban Newspaper". thesuburban.com.
- ↑ http://www.west-end-times.com/index.php/i-have-a-vision/
- ↑ "Canadians achieve medal success at Maccabiah Games". jewishtribune.ca.
- ↑ http://www.freepresspaper.com/pdf/FP-2013-08-12.pdf
- ↑ Elections Canada – Election Results, 22 October 2015
- ↑ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
.svg.png){kind=small}