Brian Masse

Brian Masse
MP
Shadow Minister for Small Business and Tourism
In office
January 23, 2015 – November 19, 2015
Leader Thomas Mulcair
Preceded by Glenn Thibeault
Succeeded by Blake Richards
Alice Wong
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Windsor West
Assumed office
May 13, 2002
Preceded by Herb Gray
Windsor City Councillor
In office
December 1, 1997 – May 13, 2002
Serving with Peter Carlesimo
Preceded by Sheila Wisdom
Succeeded by Ronald Jones
Personal details
Born (1968-07-09) July 9, 1968
Windsor, Ontario
Political party New Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Terry Chow
Residence Windsor, Ontario
Profession Member of Parliament

Brian S. Masse (born July 9, 1968) is a Canadian politician. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons since 2002, representing the riding of Windsor West as a member of the New Democratic Party.

Masse is married to Terry Chow, with whom he has a daughter and a son.

Early life and career

Masse was born in Windsor, Ontario. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1991, and has completed course work for a Master of Arts degree at the University of Windsor.[1] During the 1990s, he was a job developer for the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities and a program coordinator for the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County.[2]

Masse gained local prominence in 1996 for his opposition to a dance bar that was planned for a residential neighbourhood.[3] He was elected for Ward 2 of the Windsor city council in 1997, and was re-elected in 2000. In 1998, he played a prominent role in preventing a rock-crushing operation from opening in the Wellington Avenue area.[4]

In May 2001, the Windsor city council unanimously approved Masse's motion to prevent school boards from selling vacant property lots at the highest market value. His purpose was to dissuade boards from closing schools, though some criticized the motion as working against taxpayer interests.[5] Masse later called for a referendum on a proposed new arena project, but this was not accepted by council.[6]

Brian Masse has a son and daughter named Wade Masse and Alexandria Masse. Wade Masse was born December 8, 2003. Alexandria Masse was born September 26, 2000. He also has a wife Terry Chow.

Member of Parliament

Masse joined the federal New Democratic Party in 1997, and was first elected to the Canadian parliament in a by-election held on May 13, 2002.[7] The election was called after the resignation of Herb Gray, a long-time Liberal cabinet minister who had been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1962. Masse won the NDP nomination without opposition, and defeated Liberal candidate Richard Pollock by 2,477 votes to win the seat.[8] He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 2004 general election. Masse's success in 2002 was partly due to support from Joe Comartin, a fellow Windsor New Democrat who was elected to the House of Commons in the 2000 federal election.[9] In 2002-03, Masse supported Comartin's bid for the NDP leadership.[10]

Masse served as the NDP critic for Auto Policy, Canada Border Services, and Customs in the 38th Canadian parliament. He also became a member of the newly formed all-party "Border Caucus", examining aspects of Canada-U.S. trade relations.[11] He introduced a motion in 2004 to restrict large pharmaceutical companies from renewing their patent protection, and has worked in support of Stephen Lewis's efforts to bring affordable AIDS drugs to Africa.[12]

During his first campaign for the House of Commons, the Windsor Star newspaper ran an editorial opposing him as "a bench-warmer, a yes-man, a political careerist".[13] Two years later, however, a leading Star columnist wrote that Masse had "vastly exceeded expectations and quickly developed into an able, hard-working representative who has stayed on top of riding issues".[14]

Masse was re-elected in the 2006 federal election with an increased majority over Liberal Werner Keller. He currently serves as NDP Deputy Industry Critic. After the election, Masse and Comartin spoke out against the provincial NDP's decision to remove Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove from the party.[15]

Masse has criticized Industry Minister Maxime Bernier's plans to deregulate Canada's telecommunications market and ease restrictions on foreign ownership, arguing that the reforms could result in a small number of companies controlling the Canadian industry.[16]

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2008: Windsor West
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
New DemocraticBrian Masse 20,791 52.5% +3.01% $55,997
ConservativeLisa Lumley 8,954 22.6% +2.49% $61,153
LiberalLarry Horwitz 7,357 18.6% −6.79% $52,616
GreenJohn Esposito 2,253 5.7% +2.67% $132
CommunistElizabeth Rowley 125 0.3% $373
Marxist–LeninistMargaret Villamizar 116 0.3% +0.07%
Total valid votes 39,596 99.3%
Total rejected ballots 281 0.7%
Turnout 39 877 47.3%
Electors on the lists 84 245
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
Canadian federal election, 2006: Windsor West
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
New DemocraticBrian Masse 23,608 49.49 +3.52 $76,342
LiberalWerner Keller 12,110 25.39 −5.93 $55,858
ConservativeAl Teshuba 9,592 20.11 +1.20 $77,898
GreenJillana Bishop 1,444 3.03 −0.47 $2,450
Progressive CanadianChris Schnurr 614 1.29 – $731
     Independent Habib Zaidi 224 0.47 $3,631
Marxist–LeninistEnver Villamizar 108 0.23 −0.07
Total valid votes 47,700 99.31
Total rejected ballots 329 0.69 +0.08
Turnout 48,029 57.29 +3.20
Electors on the lists 83,839
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
Canadian federal election, 2004: Windsor West
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
New DemocraticBrian Masse 20,297 45.97 +30.01 $77,487
LiberalRichard Pollock 13,831 31.32 −22.80 $74,197
ConservativeJordan Katz 8,348 18.91 −9.63 $69,771
GreenRob Spring 1,545 3.50 $4,721
Marxist–LeninistEnver Villamizar 134 0.30 $300
Total valid votes 44,155 99.39
Total rejected ballots 273 0.61 0.00
Turnout 44,428 54.09 +11.08
Electors on the lists 82,143
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
Canadian federal by-election, May 13, 2002: Windsor West
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
New DemocraticBrian Masse 14,021 42.69 +26.79 $65,195
LiberalRichard Pollock 11,544 35.15 −19.06 $64,964
AllianceRick Fuschi 5,420 16.50 −6.45 $60,657
     Progressive Conservative Ian West 957 2.91 −2.62 $11,212
GreenChris Holt 655 1.99 – $9,246
Christian HeritageAllan James 249 0.76 – $2,072
Total valid votes 32,846 99.39
Total rejected ballots 200 0.61
Turnout 33,046 43.01
Electors on the lists 76,825
     New Democratic Party gain from Liberal
2000 Windsor municipal election, Council, Ward Two (two members elected)
Candidate Total votes % of total votes Notes
(x)Brian Masse 4,908 32.36
(x)Peter Carlesimo 3,430 22.61
Jim Bennett 2,861 18.86
Graham Wilson 1,274 8.40
Lawrence Holland 1,144 7.54
Frank DiPierdomenico 714 4.71
Kevin Flood 373 2.46
Bob Harper 336 2.22
Bowen Alkemade 128 0.84
Total votes 15,168 100.00

Results provided by the City of Windsor.

1997 Windsor municipal election, Council, Ward Two (two members elected)
Candidate Total votes % of total votes Notes
Brian Masse 3,425 26.20
(x) Peter Carlesimo 2,865 21.91
Jim Bennett 2,491 19.05
Rolly Marentette 1,613 12.34
George Dadamo 1,587 12.14
Gail Zdyb 597 4.57
Robert Potomski 496 3.79
Total votes 13,074 100.00

Results are provided by the City of Windsor.

Electors could vote for two candidates in the municipal elections. The percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes.

All federal election information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

References

  1. ↑ CBC Canada Votes 2006, Windsor West profile, Brian Masse.
  2. ↑ Brian Cross, "The Prosperity Puzzle", Windsor Star, January 10, 1995, A1.
  3. ↑ Brian Masse, "Neighbours have a right to maintain their area", Windsor Star, June 19, 1996, A7.
  4. ↑ Roseann Danese, Local News, Windsor Star, October 20, 1998, A3.
  5. ↑ "City taxpayers", Windsor Star, May 9, 2001, A6.
  6. ↑ Roseann Danese, "Arena plebiscite defeated", Windsor Star, April 9, 2002, A3.
  7. ↑ Chris Thompson, "Pollock on offensive at candidates meeting", Windsor Star, April 17, 2002, A3.
  8. ↑ Don Lajoie, "Masse carries NDP banner", Windsor Star, April 5, 2002, A3.
  9. ↑ Doug Williamson, "CAW not ready to back Comartin yet", Windsor Star, July 26, 2002, A1.
  10. ↑ Scott Piatkowski, "Support for NDP is growing", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, January 13, 2003, A7.
  11. ↑ "All-party Border Caucus launched in Ottawa", Brian Masse press release, December 15, 2004.
  12. ↑ "One of Windsor's New Democrat M-P's wants to save Canada's health-care system hundreds of (m) millions of dollars", Broadcast News, November 15, 2004, 02:31 report; "New Democrats committed to the Lewis legacy", Party press release, November 6, 2003.
  13. ↑ "Don't promote Brian Masse", Windsor Star, May 3, 2002, A8.
  14. ↑ Gord Henderson, column, Windsor Star, June 24, 2004, A3.
  15. ↑ Carly Weeks, "MPs split over decision to throw Hargrove out of NDP", Vancouver Sun, February 13, 2006, A3. Hargrove had called for "strategic voting" against the Conservatives, and endorsed Liberal candidates in areas where the NDP had little chance of winning. Masse strongly disagreed with Hargrove's position, but argued that it was unnecessarily harsh to expel him from the party.
  16. ↑ Catherine McLean, "Less regulation good for telecom: panel", Globe and Mail, March 24, 2006, B3; Bill Curry, "NDP alarmed at talk of easing telecom cap", Globe and Mail, March 28, 2006, B6.
Preceded by
Sheila Wisdom and Peter Carlesimo		 Windsor City Councillor, Ward Two (with Peter Carlesimo)
1997-2002 		Succeeded by
Peter Carlesimo and Ron Jones
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