Filomena Tassi

Filomena Tassi MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	David Sweet
Personal details
Born	Hamilton, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Jim
Children	Maria Matthew
Alma mater	University of Waterloo University of Western Ontario
Profession	Attorney Chaplain
Religion	Roman Catholic

Filomena Tassi 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.^[1] She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

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 Secondary School, a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.^[2]

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.^[3]

Electoral record

Federal

Canadian federal election, 2015: 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[4][5]

Provincial

Ontario general election, 1995: 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. "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated". CBC Hamilton, October 19, 2015.
2. Meet Filomena Tassi, Liberal.ca.
3. Susana Mas, Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015, CBC News, November 28, 2014.
4. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015
5. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates

External links

• Official Website