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 City of Laval and the Town of Mount Royal, both suburbs 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 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, 49, is currently married and resides in the Town of Kirkland with his wife, Jan, and two children.

[edit] Political life

2004-2006

Elected by one of the largest margins in the country in the Canadian federal election, 2004, Scarpaleggia became a member of the Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, and the Committee on Transport. He was also an 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.

Scarpaleggia was one of a small minority of Liberal MP's to vote against Bill C-38, which formally legalized same-sex marriage in Canada in accordance with a ruling by the judiciary.

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.

2006-Present

Re-elected with a large margin in the Canadian federal election, 2006, and one of only thirteen Liberal MP's remaining in the province of Quebec, Scarpaleggia was named Associate Critic to the Minister of Heritage. Additionally, Scarpaleggia was named to the Committee of Canadian Heritage, and the Committee of Environment and Sustainable Development.

During the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership contest Scarpaleggia was one of two Quebec MP's who backed the candidacy of Stéphane Dion, who ultimately went on to win the race on December 2, 2006 at the Montreal convention centre, le Palais des Congres.

Scarpaleggia once again broke with his party and voted with the Conservative government to re-open the same-sex marriage debate on December 7, 2006 (see Members of the 39th Canadian Parliament and same-sex marriage), the only Quebec Liberal MP to do so.