Francis Scarpaleggia
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Francis Scarpaleggia, MP, (born June 6, 1957 in Montreal, Quebec) is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada (since 1985) and Member of Parliament for the riding of Lac-Saint-Louis, which encompasses the western tip of the island of Montreal, Quebec. Scarpaleggia was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2004 federal election, and re-elected in the 2006 election, both times by large margins.
[edit] Biography
Scarpaleggia, the son of Maurice and Lois Scarpaleggia, was raised in the Town of Mount Royal, a northern suburb of the City of Montreal. Scarpaleggia completed his Bachelor’s degree in economics at McGill University and his Master’s degree in economics at Columbia University in New York City before spending several years working in the private sector. Scarpaleggia holds an MBA from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business, as well as a diploma in administration from McGill.
He has held positions at Petro-Canada, Comterm, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, in addition to running his own company. Prior to his career in politics, Scarpaleggia was a professor of business administration at Montreal’s Dawson College, where he taught marketing, accounting and entrepreneurship.
Scarpaleggia held the position of senior political advisor to Clifford Lincoln, Member of Parliament for the riding of Lachine—Lac-Saint-Louis (1993-1997) and the more recently formed riding of Lac-Saint-Louis (1997-2004).
Scarpaleggia, 48, is currently married and resides in the Town of Kirkland with his wife, Jan, and two children.
[edit] Political life
During his first term as an MP, Scarpaleggia served on several committees; member of both the Committee on Government Operations and Estimates and the Committee on Transport, associate member of the Committee of Canadian Heritage, the Committee of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Committee of Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology.
These responsibilities allowed Scarpaleggia to promote a rapid and equitable solution to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation labour dispute and voice an objection to plans to reduce the flight attendant-to-passenger ratio on Canadian commercial flights, plans which would have been detrimental to air safety as highlighted by the crash of Air France flight 358 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Since October 2005, Scarpaleggia has chaired a new national Liberal caucus on water. As chair, Scarpaleggia has lead the caucus as it focuses on the political, legislative, scientific, and public health issues surrounding Canada’s water supplies. The overall goal of the caucus is to highlight the matters that most require the government’s attention.
Recently re-elected to a second term, Scarpaleggia was named Associate Critic to the Minister of Heritage. This new position will allow him to keep the government to task on issues important to Canadian culture, including the future of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the ever changing role of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as a federal regulator.
