House Standing Committee on Finance (February 13, 2024)
ANNEX A: Committee member profiles and key personnel
Key personnel
Aside from the contributions of committee members (see Annex A), several roles support FINA’s work:
- Chair: responsible for enforcing the rules during meetings. As a sitting Member of Parliament (MP) who is elected by fellow committee members, the committee chair becomes the spokesperson for the committee.
- Vice-Chairs: two MPs who serve as replacements and preside over meetings when the Chair is unable to attend. All the Chair’s powers can be delegated to the Vice-Chairs, but the Vice-Chairs cannot preside over a meeting while the office of Chair is vacant. Normally, Vice-Chairs also serve as members of the sub-committee on agenda and procedure.
- Clerk of the Committee: a non-partisan (politically neutral) Senate or House of Commons employee (i.e., not an MP) with expertise on rules and procedures. The Clerk is the chief procedural, administrative and information officer for the committee and drafts the minutes, which serve as the official record of a meeting. They are also responsible for inviting witnesses and dealing with all the details regarding their appearance before the committee.
- Committee Assistant: provides a wide range of specialized administrative services for the organization of committee meetings and the publishing of documents on the committee’s Website. The committee assistant works with the clerk to meet the needs of the committee.
- Analysts are non-partisan Library of Parliament employees who support the work of committees by researching topics on request. They are part of the committee’s institutional memory and are a unique resource for parliamentarians. Analysts support parliamentarians during committee meetings and help answer questions. They also write papers and briefing notes and draft reports about topics the committee discusses.
- Parliamentary reporters (Senate) and proceedings and verification officers (House of Commons) create a written record of committee discussions.
FINA Committee member profiles
SUMMARY: Trends observed in past social media posts show that some members of the committee have aggressive positions on housing. We can expect some of the members to use parts of the witnesses’ testimonies, out of context, in their social media posts to validate and push forward their respective agendas.
Chair: Peter Fonseca
Peter Fonseca is the Member of Parliament for Mississauga East-Cooksville and an Olympian who proudly represented Canada as a top Marathon runner. He sat in the Ontario Legislature as a Member of Provincial Parliament between 2003 and 2011, and served as a Cabinet Minister, taking on the Labour and Tourism & Recreation portfolios. He also served parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and to the Minister of Health Promotion.
KEYWORDS: healthcare
Social media: n/a
Vice-Chair: Jasraj Singh Hallan
Jasraj Singh Hallan was elected as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Forest Lawn in October 2019. He holds an accounting diploma from SAIT, a certified Master Builder designation, and ran a successful homebuilding business in Calgary. Jasraj serves as the Shadow Minister of Finance and Middle Class Prosperity and Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee.
KEYWORDS: housing, accounting, fiscal
RECENT HOUSE STATEMENTS:
January 30, 2024:
When we look at Bill C-59, we see that the only thing the government has included with respect to housing is that it changed the housing department's name and increased the funding for more photo ops. There is no concrete action that would be taken to help with housing affordability. After eight years, we have seen rents double and mortgages double, and even the down payment needed for a house has doubled in just eight years. [MORE…]
December 5, 2023:
The government has doubled the cost of rent and mortgages because of all of its deficit spending and the debt of more than half a trillion dollars, which led to the interest rate hikes to tackle the inflation that was caused by the government. The other side of the equation is housing supply, which has also been affected by mismanagement and all of the government spending. Not only are people not able to get into homes because of low supply, but because of the high interest rates caused by the spending, homebuyers also cannot get into new homes they would like to buy. As well, builders are affected by not being able to build because of the high interest rates. [MORE…]
Social media: very active on X; vocal about the housing crisis; proposes a link between government spending and inflation; quotes BoC governor from his appearance in front of the Committee. Uses quotes out of context from the witnesses of the Committee in his tweets. Tone: negative.
Vice-Chair: Gabriel Ste-Marie
Gabriel has represented the riding of Joliette since 2015. He holds an economics degree from l’Université du Québec à Montréal and teaches economics at Cégep régional de Lanaudière. He is also a researcher at the Contemporary Economics Research Institute and lecturer at Université du Québec à Montréal.
KEYWORDS: economics, academia, anti-tax-havens
Social media: has mentioned the housing crisis on X once since November. Tone: neutral.
Member: Yvan Baker
Yvan Baker is the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre. He is a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and a former Ontario MPP. Prior to being elected, Yvan taught MBA students at the Schulich School of Business at York University. During that time, Yvan also operated his own management consulting practice. Prior to starting his own practice, Yvan holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, where he also taught MBA students.
KEYWORDS: management consulting, Ukraine, academia, MBA
Social media: has tweeted about the housing crisis and retweeted content critical of the Conservative’s messages on Canada’s debt crisis.
Member: Rachel Bendayan
Rachel is the Member of Parliament for Outremont and Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade. She was first elected in a by-election in February 2019. For close to 10 years, Rachel practiced law at Norton Rose Fulbright in the fields of litigation and international arbitration, specializing in international trade law. While in private practice, Rachel also taught at the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Law.
KEYWORDS: international trade law, small business
RECENT HOUSE STATEMENTS:
October 17, 2023:
I want to highlight certain measures that our government introduced recently to continue to support Canadians. We know that for too many of them, including youth and new Canadians, the dream of being homeowners is increasingly unattainable, and the cost of rent keeps rising. I see it back home, especially in Côte-des-Neiges. People are struggling to pay their rent because it keeps rising all the time.
The housing crisis is also affecting our economy. Because of the shortage of housing in our communities, it is difficult for businesses to attract the workers they need to grow and succeed. When people spend more of their income on housing, it means they are spending less money in our communities and on necessities. [MORE...]
Social media: n/a
Member: Daniel Blaikie
First elected in 2015, Daniel Blaikie is serving his second term as the Member of Parliament for Elmwood-Transcona. He holds a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy from the University of Winnipeg, and a master's degree in philosophy from Concordia University. He also trained as an electrician before entering politics and was a board member of the Apprenticeship and Certification Board of Manitoba, which coordinates the apprenticeship and certification system in Manitoba. His father, Bill Blaikie, served as an NDP MP and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (MLA). His sister, Rebecca Blaikie, served as the NDP's president and treasurer.
KEYWORDS: building trades, unions, labour
RECENT HOUSE STATEMENTS:
November 21, 2023:
We are facing a housing crisis. Again, we do not have to watch the news; we just have to walk out into our neighborhood and odds are, no matter what neighborhood one lives in, more and more neighborhoods are finding that they have people, friends, neighbours and family members who have lived in those neighborhoods their whole life who can no longer afford to live there. [MORE…]
Social media: regularly tweets about the housing situation in a somewhat neutral and informative tone; can be critical of Conservatives. Tone : neutral
Member: Adam Chambers
Adam holds law and MBA degrees from Western University in Ontario. Most recently, Adam served as Assistant Vice President at one of Canada’s largest life insurance companies. He previously worked as a senior advisor to Canada’s Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty during the Global Financial Crisis. Adam is also an entrepreneur, founding an online education platform to assist college and university students with licensing exams. To date, they have served over 13,000 students.
KEYWORDS: entrepreneurship, insurance, licensing
Social media: has tweeted about topics such as public servants, the housing crisis and can be critical of regulators, including OSFI (and the perceived paradox between OSFI’s and FCAC’s politics). Tone: negative.
Member: Julie Dzerowicz
Elected in 2015, and re-elected in 2019 and 2021, Julie is the first female Member of Parliament to represent the riding of Davenport. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA at the University of British Columbia. During the 43rd Parliament, she introduced Bill C-273: An Act to Establish a National Strategy for a Guaranteed Basic Income. Before becoming an MP, Julie spent more than 20 years in the private sector (investment banking, banking and biotechnology). At BMO Bank of Montreal, she was instrumental in creating and launching the email money transfer service in Canada.
KEYWORDS: banking, guaranteed basic income
RECENT HOUSE STATEMENTS:
October 17, 2023:
We know that for too many Canadians, including young people and new Canadians, the dream of owning a home is increasingly out of reach and paying rent has become more expensive across the country. This lack of affordable housing has an impact on our economy. That is why our government has launched the most ambitious plan that Canada has ever had to ensure they are able to afford a home sometime in the future. [MORE…]
Social media: has tweeted about mortgage renewals, housing affordability and low-cost bank accounts. Tone: positive.
Member: Phlip Lawrence
First elected in 2019, Philip is Member of Parliament from Northumberland–Peterborough South. He is currently serving as the Shadow Minister for Federal Economic Development Agency for Eastern, Central and Southern Ontario, and has previously served as the Shadow Minister for National Revenue. He holds a Law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. He practiced Tax Law before entering financial services, where he spent 10+ years.
KEYWORDS: tax law, regions, national revenue, financial services
RECENT HOUSE STATEMENTS:
November 20, 2023:
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, millions of Canadians can never afford to buy a home, and millions of Canadians cannot afford to keep their home. According to a recent Scotiabank report, the cost of the average mortgage is going to go up by more than $700 because of the Liberals’ profligate spending. [MORE…]
Social media: has tweeted about the housing crisis, with the same tone as his colleague Jasraj Singh Hallan, he also uses quotes from witnesses’ testimonies, sometimes with little context, in his tweets (see example below). Tone: negative
Member: Marty Morantz
Marty Morantz is the MP for Charleswood – St. James – Assiniboia – Headingley.
He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1986 and worked as a partner at the law firm of Levene Tadman LLP in Winnipeg. He practiced mainly in the areas of real estate law, corporate law, and wills and estates. A former Winnipeg city councillor, in 2019 he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Charleswood -St. James -Assiniboia-Headingley.
KEYWORDS: real estate law, municipal politics
Social media: has tweeted about mortgages, the Fall Economic Statement, and the appearance of the Minister of Finance in front of the Committee. Tone: negative.
Member: Joanne Thompson
Joanne was elected the Member of Parliament for St. John’s East in September 2021. She is Chair of the National Seniors Caucus and sits on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. She worked as a Registered Nurse while attending Memorial University part-time, and holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a MBA specializing in social enterprise. In 2018 she was named a Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Champion and also received the Senate of Canada Sesquicentennial Medal.
KEYWORDS: healthcare, nursing, MBA, social enterprise
Social media: has tweeted about her work with the Committee and the government’s housing programs. Tone: positive.
Member: Patrick Weiler
Patrick Weiler is the Member of Parliament for West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country. Before entering politics, Patrick was an environmental and Aboriginal lawyer and international development professional with deep roots in the communities which he has been representing in Parliament since 2019. He is an alumnus of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree a few years after completing his Bachelor of Arts program at McGill University. Patrick sits on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and is the co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Tourism Caucus.
KEYWORDS: Indigenous, environmental law
Social media: n/a
Member: Laurel Collins
Laurel Collins has served as Member of Parliament for Victoria since 2019. She is the NDP Critic for Environment and Climate Change and Deputy Critic for Families Children and Social Development. Laurel is recognized as a climate champion in the House of Commons and has fought hard for bold climate action and good jobs for workers in a low-carbon economy. She has been a strong advocate for a health-based approach to the toxic drug crisis, for Indigenous rights, and for real action on the affordable housing crisis in Victoria. As a Victoria City Councilor, she successfully fought to accelerate the City of Victoria’s Climate Leadership Plan, for strong affordable housing policies, and for protecting the urban forest. Before entering politics, Laurel co-founded Divest Victoria, an organization promoting responsible investment, for which she won a Victoria Community Leadership award in Sustainability and Community Building. As an instructor the University of Victoria, she taught courses in Social Justice Studies, Political Sociology, Social Inequality and the Sociology of Gender.
KEYWORDS: Climate, social housing
Social media: as a new member of the committee, MP Collins has not yet posted about topics related to its work. Tone: TBD