Appearance before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (December 1, 2020): Biographies of members

Kelly Block - Chair

Conservative – Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek (Saskatchewan)

Biography

Kelly Block has been re-elected for 4 terms since in 2008. Her Parliamentary work has had serve on several Special Committees including the Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women.

In 2010, ‎she was voted the ‘Rising Star’ by her colleagues in the Maclean’s annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards and has since held several roles in her caucus.

She served as the Chair of the Saskatchewan Conservative Caucus between 2011 and 2013. In 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Kelly to serve as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources. As Parliamentary Secretary, Kelly played an important legislative role in overseeing the passing of the Offshore Health and Safety Act, the Energy Safety and Security Act, and the Pipeline Safety Act.

She then served as the critic for Transport between 2015 and 2019. After the 2019 election she was appointed as the critic for Public Services and Procurement, where she served until October 2020 when she was elected as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, where she currently serves.

Prior to being elected as a Member of Parliament, Ms. Block served two terms as Mayor Waldheim, Saskatchewan and one term as a town councilor. During this time, she was a member of the Saskatoon Regional Health Authority and the Director of Administration at Forest Grove Community Church.

Kelly and her husband Milton have four children, all of whom are married, and eleven grandchildren.

Lloyd Longfield – Vice-Chair

Liberal – Guelph (Ontario)

Biography

Mr. Longfield was elected to Parliament in 2015. In his first term, he served as a member of the Standing Committee for Industry, Science and Technology and as a member of the Standing Committee for Agriculture and Agri-Food. He is Secretary of the Ontario Caucus. He currently serves as a member of Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development.

Following his re-election in 2019, Lloyd was called on to serve as Chair of the Parliamentary Health Research Caucus which advocates for long-term, sustainable health research funding in order to spur innovation and ensure that Canadian citizens are among the healthiest in the world.

He is passionate about Social, Environmental, and Economic issues facing the community and, ultimately, Canada.

Prior to politics, Mr. Longfield led the Guelph Chamber of Commerce for 7 years. This followed a successful career in hydraulic and pneumatic automation where he owned his own business. He co-founded Innovation Guelph and organization to support businesses and innovated ideas in the community, and has served as director of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, YMCA-YWCA Guelph, University of Guelph College of Business & Economics Advisory Board, Guelph Wellington Poverty Elimination Task Force, Immigrant Services Guelph Welling, Career Education Council, and Downtown Guelph Business Association.

He is a recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Award 2012 and has made over 115 blood donations at Canadian Blood Services. Mr. Longfield has been happily married to his high school sweetheart Barb for over 40 years and have three daughters and four grandchildren.

Maxime Blanchette-Joncas – Vice Chair

Bloc Québécois – Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques (Québec)

Biography

He was elected in 2019.  He serves as the Bloc critics for Public Works and Government Services, Transport, and Canadian Heritage (Tourism portfolio).

He received a degree in Business Administration from l’Université du Québec à Rimouski.

Prior to his election, he was the I am the Deputy Director General of the Municipality of L'Isle-Verte. He also worked for the Business Development Bank of Canada where he assisted entrepreneurs in moving their projects forward.

He has also served as director of public affairs des affaires for the Jeune Chambre de Rimouski and vice-president et treasurer of Librairie l’Alphabet. He was active in youth groups such as the Forum jeunesse du Bloc Québécois, where he was president of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, and with the Conseil des jeunes du Parti Québécois.

Luc Berthold

Conservative – Mégantic—L'Érable (Quebec)

Biography

Luc Berthold was first elected to Parliament in 2015. He is the Official Opposition Critic for the Treasury Board and was previously the critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Prior to his election, he served as the of Mayor of Thetford Mines for 2 years until stepping down to run federally.

His background is in journalism and communications. Early in his career he was a radio host for CKLD radio in Thetford Mines, Quebec and was the Chief Editor of the ‘’Courrier Frontenac’’ for several years. He also worked as a self-employed speaker, coach and trainer, giving leadership training sessions.

In 1999, he entered politics when he became the political assistant and communications advisor for the Leader of the Official Opposition. Since then, he served as a political assistant for the Minister for Regional Development and Tourism, Chief of Staff for the Minister for Transport and was the Interim Director of communications for the Liberal Party of Canada - Quebec.

He is the father of three children. Luc has lived in the riding of Mégantic-L’Érable for the past twenty-nine years.

Kody Blois

Liberal – Kings—Hants (Nova Scotia)

Biography

He was elected in 2019. He currently serves as the chair of the National Liberal Rural Caucus, chair of the Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus, and is also a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.

The first member of his family to attend university, Mr. Blois completed degrees in commerce, law, and public administration - which sparked his interest in serving his community.

Mr. Blois previously coached youth hockey and softball teams which led him to help create the East Hants Sport Heritage Society and the Come Home East Hants Association.

Mr. Blois is a community advocate working to grow his community’s economy, creating new jobs, and supporting the middle-class through financial investments.

Greg Fergus

Liberal – Hull-Aylmer (Quebec)

Biography

Greg Fergus was first elected in 2015. Since his election he has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, as well as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Digital Government. He was previously Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, a member of the standing Committee on Finance, and the Chair of Black Caucus.

Prior to his election, he worked for over 25 years in the private, public, non-profit, and academic sectors. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the Aylmer Arms, a residence for retired seniors, as vice president of his neighbourhood association, and on several school and community boards.. He also as a long history in politics having worked as a policy advisor and senior policy advisor in a number of ministerial offices at the federal and provincial levels. He has also held several roles at the Liberal Party of Canada, including as National Director.

Mr. Fergus holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa, and a Bachelor in International Relations from Carleton University. He has also undertaken studies at the Master’s level in International Relations.

He has been an advocate for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), social housing and seniors.

He and his wife and three children. He is passionate about running, politics, and jazz.

Matthew Green

New Democratic Party – Hamilton Centre (Ontario)

Biography

He was elected in 2019. He is the NDP Critic for National Revenue, Public Services and Procurement, and Treasury Board and the Deputy Critic for Ethics. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

He was a city councillor for the Hamilton City Council from 2014 to 2018. He made history as the first person of colour elected to Hamilton’s council.

Prior to being elected to city council Matthew owned a small business in Hamilton and served as the Executive Director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion.

Mr. Green has a Political Science and Legal Studies degree from Acadia University and continued his education at McMaster University as well as the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.

Matthew’s policy initiatives focused on ecology, equity, affordable housing, and economic justice.

Philip Lawrence

Conservative – Northumberland—Peterborough South (Ontario)

Biography

He was elected in 2019. He is the Official Opposition Critic for National Revenue. He is currently also a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Prior to working in politics, Mr. Lawrence earned his BA in Political Science at Brock University. He went on to attend Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business to obtain his law degree and MBA. He started his practice in law with a focus on taxation and corporations. In 2008, he joined one of Canada’s largest financial institutions as a financial planner. He also volunteers with the Financial Planning Standards Council and serves on their disciplinary committee. He is a member of the Newcastle Lions Club.

He has a wife and two children.

Francesco Sorbara

Liberal – Vaughan—Woodbridge (Ontario)

Biography

Mr. Sorbara was elected to Parliament in 2015.  He currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. He is also an associate member of the House of Commons Standing Committee of Finance.

An economist by training and a CFA Charterholder, Mr. Sorbara worked in the global financial markets in both Canada and the United States for JPMorgan Chase, DBRS, and the Bank of Nova Scotia before running for Parliament. His professional background in finance and economics has provided him with an extensive expertise in financial materials across a broad range of industry sectors, including financial services, automotive, media and telecommunications, retail, real estate, energy, infrastructure.

He earned an honours degree in economics & finance from Simon Fraser University and a Masters of Arts (Economics) from the University of Toronto. Before entering public life, Francesco worked in the private sector for approximately twenty years.

He has volunteered with the organizations such as the United Way, Eva’s Initiatives and the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, the Canadian Italian Business Association, the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario, and the Toronto Society of Financial Analysts.

He has a wife and two daughters.

Mr. Sorbara is passionate about personal finance and financial literacy and has shared FCAC’s information on his social media channels. He also made a statement in the House of Commons for the 10th anniversary of Financial Literacy Month.

Len Webber

Conservative – Calgary Confederation South (Alberta)

Biography

Mr. Webber was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 2015. He is the Chair of the Conservative Alberta Caucus. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Health and in the previous Parliament held the position of Vice-Chair for that committee. He was also a member of the special COVID-19 Committee which sat virtually throughout the pandemic.

Prior to his 2015 election, Mr. Webber served three terms as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. During this time, he also held various positions as Minister of Aboriginal Relations, Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, Deputy Government Whip, Parliamentary Assistant for Energy, as well as sitting on multiple boards and committees. He was also a member of the MLA Task Force on Affordable Housing and Homelessness in Alberta.

Before politics, Mr. Webber was the vice-president and director of Webber Academy, a non-denominational university preparatory private school in Calgary.  The academy provides advanced and challenging curriculum to about 1000 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12.

He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary and his journeyman communications electrician certificate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). He owned and operated his own contracting business for 10 years before starting with Webber Academy.

Mr. Webber has volunteered extensively with community groups including as a board member of the Hospice Calgary, The Calgary Foundation, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), Board of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, the Calgary Homeless Foundation, Calgary Dragonboat Society, and WorldSkills. He has also volunteered at many fundraising events to support breast cancer research.

He is a recipient of the Alberta Centennial Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to the province of Alberta.

Mr. Webber has three daughters with his late wife.

His MP website contains several posts with information about COVID-19 benefits and protecting oneself from fraud. In January 2020, he posted about FCAC’s Budget Planner promoting it to his constituents.

Jean Yip

Liberal – Scarborough—Agincourt (Ontario)

Biography

Jean Yip was first elected in a by-election in 2017. In Parliament, Ms. Yip also sits on the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Liberal Seniors Caucus and is a member of the Liberal Party’s Caucuses on Immigration, Mental Health and Women’s Issues.

After completing her degree at the University of Toronto, Ms. Yip pursued a career in insurance and underwriting, becoming a team leader in her field. She holds the Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional Designation.

Prior to becoming an MP, she served on the STEM Fellowship Board of Directors which promotes computer literacy and programming capacity among youth as a Sunday school teacher at her parish.

Since being elected, she has spoken in the House of Commons on many issues including student employment, pension security, National Daffodil Day, and removing barriers to STEM. She is dedicated to strengthening Canada’s our middle class through financial supports for families and students and creating new, well-paying jobs for families.

She has three teenaged sons with her late husband. Ms. Yip actually ran in the 2017 by-election to replace her husband who passed away while serving as MP for Scarborough—Agincourt. She wanted to continue his work in the community.