View source for Filomena Tassi

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Filomena Tassi
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|Liberal|PC|size=100%}}
| image               = Minister of Seniors Filomena Tassi (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Tassi in 2019
| office              = [[Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario|Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]]
| primeminister       = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| term_start          = August 31, 2022
| term_end            = December 20, 2024
| predecessor         = [[Helena Jaczek]]
| successor           = [[Ruby Sahota]]
| office1             = [[Minister of Public Services and Procurement]]<br />[[Receiver General for Canada]]
| primeminister1      = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| term_start1         = October 26, 2021
| term_end1           = August 31, 2022
| predecessor1        = [[Anita Anand]]
| successor1          = [[Helena Jaczek]]
| office2             = [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|Minister of Labour]]
| primeminister2      = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| term_start2         = November 20, 2019
| term_end2           = October 26, 2021
| predecessor2        = [[Patty Hajdu]]
| successor2          = [[Seamus O'Regan]]
| office3             = [[Minister of Seniors]]
| primeminister3      = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| term_start3         = July 18, 2018
| term_end3           = November 20, 2019
| predecessor3        = ''Office re-established''
| successor3          = [[Deb Schulte]]
| office4             = [[Party Whip (Canada)|Deputy Government Whip]]
| primeminister4      = [[Justin Trudeau]]
| term_start4         = January 30, 2017
| term_end4           = August 31, 2018
| predecessor4        = [[Ginette Petitpas Taylor]]
| successor4          = [[Linda Lapointe]]
| riding5             = [[Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas (federal electoral district)|Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas]]
| parliament5         = Canadian
| term_start5         = October 19, 2015
| term_end5           = March 23, 2025
| predecessor5        = [[David Sweet]]
| successor5          = [[John-Paul Danko]]
| birth_date          = {{birth year and age|1962}}{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}
| birth_place         = [[Hamilton, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| profession          = {{hlist|Attorney|chaplain}}
| alma_mater          = {{ublist|[[University of Waterloo]]|[[University of Western Ontario]]}}
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
| residence           = [[Dundas, Ontario]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr2019app/51/table12E.html|title=Official Voting Results|publisher=Elections Canada|access-date=January 23, 2021}}</ref>
| footnotes           = 
| spouse              = 
}}

'''Filomena Tassi''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] politician who served as the [[Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario|Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]] from 2022 to 2024. A member of the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]], Tassi represented the [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas (federal electoral district)|Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas]] in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], taking office following the [[2015 Canadian federal election|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 (Canada)|Minister of Labour]] from 2019 to 2021, and as the [[Minister of Seniors]] from 2018 to 2019. She did not seek re-election in 2025.

== Education and early career ==
Tassi is of Italian descent, from the regions of [[Marche]] and [[Abruzzo]], and was raised [[Catholic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://openparliament.ca/debates/2017/5/15/filomena-tassi-2/|title = Filomena Tassi, "Italian Heritage Month" on May 15th, 2017 &#124; openparliament.ca}}</ref> 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 (Hamilton, Ontario)|St. Mary Catholic Secondary School]] and [[Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School]], a job she held until her election to the House of Commons.<ref>[http://filomenatassi.liberal.ca/biography/ Meet Filomena Tassi], Liberal.ca.</ref>

== Political career ==
Tassi's first run for elective office was as a candidate for the [[Ontario Liberal Party]] in the [[1995 Ontario general election|1995 provincial election]], where she finished a narrow second to [[Ontario New Democratic Party|NDP]] incumbent [[David Christopherson]]. Two decades later, she became the federal Liberal candidate in Hamilton during the [[2015 Canadian federal election|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.<ref>Susana Mas, [http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-says-filomena-tassi-agreed-to-vote-pro-choice-if-elected-in-2015-1.2854248 Justin Trudeau says Filomena Tassi agreed to vote pro-choice if elected in 2015], CBC News, November 28, 2014.</ref>

Prior to entering federal politics, Tassi was a Catholic school board trustee.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/liberals-pick-up-two-hamilton-ridings-marston-defeated-1.3278333 "Liberals pick up two Hamilton ridings, Marston defeated"]. [[CBC Hamilton]], October 19, 2015.</ref>

After previously serving as [[Party Whip (Canada)|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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wright Allen|first=Samantha|date=July 25, 2018|title=Rodriguez, Tassi staying as government whips for now, changes expected soon|work=The Hill Times|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2018/07/25/rodriguez-tassi-staying-government-whips-least-next-weeks/151845|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref> After being re-elected in [[2019 Canadian federal election|2019]], Tassi was named [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|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 Canadian federal election|2021 federal election]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bharti|first=Bianca|date=2019-11-20|title=Justin Trudeau's cabinet: Some new faces, some old faces, and some faces in new places {{!}} National Post|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/justin-trudeau-cabinet-2019-liberals|access-date=2019-11-20|website=National Post|language=en-CA}}</ref> Tassi served in that job until August 31, 2022, when she was named [[Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario|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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Zimonjic|first=Peter|date=August 31, 2022|title=Trudeau tweaks cabinet, swapping ministers Tassi and Jaczek|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-shuffles-liberal-cabinet-1.6567811|access-date=August 31, 2022}}</ref>

Tassi did not seek re-election in the [[2025 Canadian federal election]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 17, 2024 |title="Hamilton Liberal MP Filomena Tassi won't run for re-election" |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/tassi-election-1.7355058 |url-status=live |access-date=May 14, 2025 |work=CBC News}}</ref> [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[John-Paul Danko]] succeeded her as [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas (federal electoral district)|Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hewitt |first=Fallon |date=2025-04-29 |title=John-Paul Danko wins Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas for Liberals |url=https://www.thespec.com/politics/federal-elections/who-won-hamilton-west-ancaster-dundas/article_6782ad0a-c3b9-502c-a337-8fe043727215.html |access-date=2025-05-14 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |language=en |issn=1189-9417}}</ref>

== Electoral record ==
=== Federal ===
{{2021 Canadian federal election/Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas}}
{{2019 Canadian federal election/Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2015|Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas|percent=yes|change=yes|expenditures=yes}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Filomena Tassi|29,694|47.68|+22.76|&ndash;}}
{{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Vincent Samuel|19,821|31.83|-10.57|&ndash;}}
{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Alex Johnstone|10,131|16.27|-11.92|&ndash;}}
{{CANelec|CA|Green|Peter Ormond|2,633|4.23|+0.5|&ndash;}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes/Expense limit|62,279|100.0|&nbsp;|$221,675.78}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots|272|&ndash;|&ndash;}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Turnout|62,551|74.1%|&ndash;}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Eligible voters|84,350}}
{{CANelec/notgain|CA|Liberal|Conservative|+16.66%}}
{{CANelec/source|Source: [[Elections Canada]]<ref>[http://www.elections.ca/Scripts/vis/candidates?L=e&ED=35038&EV=41&EV_TYPE=1&PC=&PROV=ON&PROVID=35&MAPID=&QID=8&PAGEID=17&TPAGEID=&PD=&STAT_CODE_ID=-1 Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, 30 September 2015]</ref><ref>[http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand/canlim&document=index&lang=e Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815061116/http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand%2Fcanlim&document=index&lang=e |date=August 15, 2015 }}</ref>}}
{{end}}

=== Provincial ===
{{1995 Ontario general election/Hamilton Centre}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://filomenatassi.liberal.ca/ Official Website]
* [https://pm.gc.ca/en/cabinet/honourable-filomena-tassi Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister]{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=18502}}

{{s-start}}
{{Canadian federal ministry navigational box header |ministry=29}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post4preceded = [[Helena Jaczek]]
| post4         = [[Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario|Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]]
| post4years    = August 31, 2022 – present
| post4note     = 
| post4followed = ''Incumbent''
| post3preceded = [[Anita Anand]]
| post3         = [[Minister of Public Services and Procurement]]
| post3years    = October 26, 2021 – August 31, 2022
| post3note     = 
| post3followed = [[Helena Jaczek]]
| post2preceded = [[Patty Hajdu]]
| post2         = [[Minister of Labour (Canada)|Minister of Labour]]
| post2years    = November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021
| post2note     = 
| post2followed = [[Seamus O'Regan]]
| post1preceded = [[Alice Wong]]
| post1         = [[Minister of Seniors]]
| post1years    = July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019
| post1note     = 
| post1followed = [[Deb Schulte]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{CA-Ministers of Public Works}}
{{CA-Ministers of Labour}}
{{Justin Trudeau Ministry}}

{{authority control}}

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