Bardish Chagger
Bardish Chagger | |
---|---|
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons | |
Assumed office August 19, 2016 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Dominic LeBlanc |
Minister of Small Business and Tourism | |
In office November 4, 2015 – July 18, 2018 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Maxime Bernier |
Succeeded by | Melanie Joly (Tourism) Mary Ng (Small Business) |
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Waterloo | |
Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Riding Established |
Personal details | |
Born | Waterloo, Ontario, Canada | April 6, 1980
Political party | Liberal |
Alma mater | University of Waterloo |
Profession | Community organizer |
Website | bardishchaggermp.ca |
Bardish Chagger PC MP (born April 6, 1980) is a Canadian politician who is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Waterloo. She is the current Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the former Minister of Small Business and Tourism. Chagger was elected as a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 Canadian election.[1][2]
Chagger assumed the responsibilities of Leader of the Government in the House of Commons on August 19, 2016, in addition to the responsibilities she already held as Minister of Small Business and Tourism.[3]
Chagger was appointed as the first female Leader of the Government in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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Early life and career[edit]
Chagger's parents immigrated to Waterloo from Punjab, India in the 1970s. Her family is Sikh.[4] Her father, Gurminder "Gogi" Chagger, was active in Liberal Party politics and an admirer of Pierre Trudeau, and Chagger's first involvement in politics came in the 1993 federal election as a 13-year-old volunteer for Andrew Telegdi's successful campaign in Waterloo. She attended the University of Waterloo, with aspirations to become a nurse, but she subsequently became an executive assistant to Telegdi, who represented Waterloo in the House of Commons for the Liberals from 1993 to 2008.[5]
Chagger graduated from the University of Waterloo with a bachelor's degree in science.[6] After Telegedi's defeat in 2008, Chagger became a director of special events for the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre.[6]
Federal politics[edit]
Chagger volunteered for Justin Trudeau's 2013 party leadership bid, and subsequently became the Liberal Party's candidate in the newly reconstituted Waterloo riding. She took 49.7% of the vote and defeated two-term Conservative incumbent Peter Braid, who had earlier ousted her former employer Andrew Telegdi.[5][6]
Minister for Small Business and Tourism[edit]
On November 4, 2015 Chagger was sworn in as Minister of Small Business and Tourism.[7]
As a result of the July 18, 2018 cabinet shuffle, Chagger's responsibilities for Small Business were given to Mary Ng, and Mélanie Joly took on the responsibilities of Tourism.[8]
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons[edit]
On August 19, 2016, Chagger was sworn in as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons replacing Dominic Leblanc in the position. She retained her responsibilities as Minister of Small Business and Tourism until the July 18, 2018 cabinet shuffle.[3]
On March 10, 2017, Chagger in her role as Government House Leader released a discussion paper titled Modernization of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons[9] which sought to implement different ways that House of Commons procedure and practice could be improved to be more accountable, predictable and available to all Members of Parliament, and the public. The modernization paper suggested reforms to the House of Commons such as the implementation of electronic voting, the curtailment of Friday sittings, the reformation of Question Period, including a Prime Minister's Question Period, changes to the process of prorogation, greater powers for the Speaker to separate votes and committee studies on omnibus bills and legislative programming.
Opposition Members of Parliament were concerned with the reforms proposed in the discussion paper, in particular with proposals to implement legislative programming and the elimination or change of Friday sittings in the House of Commons. In late April 2017, Chagger sent a letter to her counterparts, then New Democratic Party House Leader Murray Rankin and Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen, to inform them that the government would be abandoning several of the key proposals that were part of the modernization paper, such as changes to the Friday sitting, legislative programming, and electronic voting.[10] They would continue however with proposals that were explicitly part of the 2015 Liberal election platform, including the decision to have a Prime Minister’s Question Period, requiring the government to issue a report following the use of prorogation, and allowing the Speaker of the House of Commons to separate votes or committee studies on different parts of an bill that he or she deems to be omnibus.[11]
Member of the Board of Internal Economy[edit]
Chagger is also the member of the Board of Internal Economy.
Electoral record[edit]
2015 Canadian federal election: Waterloo | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | Bardish Chagger | 29,752 | 49.7 | +11.38 | $140,131.74 | |||
Conservative | Peter Braid | 19,318 | 32.3 | -9.08 | $148,370.13 | |||
New Democratic | Diane Freeman | 8,928 | 14.9 | -0.04 | $96,964.67 | |||
Green | Richard Walsh | 1,713 | 2.9 | -1.78 | – | |||
Animal Alliance | Emma Hawley-Yan | 138 | 0.2 | – | $4,066.17 | |||
Total valid votes/Expense limit | 59,849 | 100.0 | $212,120.63 | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 198 | – | – | |||||
Turnout | 60,047 | – | – | |||||
Eligible voters | 77,312 | |||||||
Source: Elections Canada[12][13] |
References[edit]
- ^ "Liberal Chagger takes Waterloo", Waterloo Region Record, 20 October 2015.
- ^ "19 Indian-Canadians elected to Canadian parliament". The Economic Times. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Bardish Chagger adds government House leader to small business, tourism duties". CBC News. 19 August 2016.
- ^ D'Amato, Luisa (15 December 2017). "Bardish Chagger's politics are always local, and her office rarely locked". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ^ a b Mercer, Greg (27 October 2015). "Newly elected Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger loves the political life". The Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ a b c "Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger named to Justin Trudeau's cabinet". CBC News. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Record Staff, Waterloo MP Chagger named to federal cabinet, The Waterloo Region Record, November 4, 2015
- ^ Harris, Kathleen (July 18, 2018). "Trudeau cabinet shuffle brings new faces, several changes for run-up to 2019 campaign". CBC News. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ^ Office, Privy Council (2017-03-10). "Reforming the Standing Orders of the House of Commons". aem. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- ^ "Government House Leader Bardish Chagger's letter to her opposition counterparts | Government". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- ^ "Liberals shelve House of Commons reform plans after opposition criticism - National | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Waterloo, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
External links[edit]
- Bardish Chagger – Parliament of Canada biography
- Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
29th Ministry – Cabinet of Justin Trudeau | ||
Cabinet posts (2) | ||
---|---|---|
Predecessor | Office | Successor |
Dominic LeBlanc | Leader of the Government in the House of Commons August 19, 2016 – present |
Incumbent |
Maxime Bernier | Minister of Small Business and Tourism November 4, 2015 – July 18, 2018 |
Mary Ng (Small Business) Melanie Joly (Tourism) |
- Living people
- Canadian politicians of Indian descent
- Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- People from Waterloo, Ontario
- University of Waterloo alumni
- Women in Ontario politics
- Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry
- Canadian Sikhs
- Women government ministers of Canada
- 1980 births
- 21st-century Canadian women politicians