Ali Ehsassi
Ali Ehsassi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Willowdale | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Chungsen Leung |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 24, 1970 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto Osgoode Hall Law School Georgetown University London School of Economics |
| Profession | Lawyer, International Law Executive of the Ontario Bar Association |
Ali Ehsassi MP (Persian: علی احساسی; born April 24, 1970) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Willowdale in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[1] He is one of the first two Canadians of Iranian descent to ever be elected to Canada's federal Parliament, with the other being Majid Jowhari.
Contents
Biography[edit]
Ali Ehsassi's maternal great-grandfather was Iranian statesman Abdolhossein Teymourtash, who was reportedly the first Minister of Court during the Pahlavi Dynasty and was overthrown from his position during the Iranian Revolution. Ehsassi's father was also reported to be an Iranian Diplomat and at the age of three his family relocated to New York City due to the revolution. At the age of 15 Ehsassi moved to Canada North York with his family who he described to have faced a lot of hardship after the revolution.[2][better source needed]
Education[edit]
Ali Ehsassi also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Master's of Science from the London School of Economics[citation needed]. He attended York University Osgoode Hall Law School having obtained his LL.B.[citation needed] as well as Georgetown University Law School to pursue a masters of international trade and arbitration law,[3] which he attended concurrently as a global and WTO fellow[citation needed].[better source needed]
Member of Parliament[edit]
Ali Ehsassi is a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Ehsassi published an official statement explaining why he proudly voted in favour of the motion to launch an investigation into the allegations made on February 7 by The Globe and Mail regarding the Jody Wilson-Raybould case, as he stated being confident in his government's commitment to transparency and rule of law.[4] Elhassi voted to prevent the former Attorney General from discussing matters related to SNC-Lavalin in the Justice committee after she was demoted by the Prime Minister.
Ehsassi is also a member of several Parliamentary Associations and Interparliamentary groups such as the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, Canada-China Legislative Association Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group, Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association, Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas.[5]
Advocacy for human rights[edit]
In 2015, Ehsassi supported Justin Trudeau's positive stance on the Iran Nuclear Deal[6] and stated that Iran should be held to account for its abysmal human rights record and refrain from supporting international terrorism.[7]
Electoral record[edit]
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | 24,519 | 53.4 | +13.5 | – | |||
| Conservative | Chungsen Leung | 16,990 | 37.0 | -4.7 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Pouyan Tabasinejad | 3,203 | 7.0 | -11.4 | – | |||
| Green | James Arruda | 1,025 | 2.2 | +1.81 | – | |||
| Independent | Birinder Singh Ahluwalia | 216 | 0.5 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,953 | 100.0 | $206,712.87 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 251 | 0.5 | -0.1 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,204 | 61.46 | +3.06 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,172 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +9.1 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[8][9] | ||||||||
References[edit]
- ^ http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5967747-willowdale-liberal-ali-ehsassi-unseats-conservative-chungsen-leung-in-willowdale/
- ^ Aug 27, Selina Chignall Published on; 2015 5:00am (2015-08-27). "Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi: a life lived around the world". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ Aug 27, Selina Chignall Published on; 2015 5:00am (2015-08-27). "Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi: a life lived around the world". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "Ali Ehsassi - Work - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "Ali Ehsassi - Work - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ July 15; 2015. "Liberal Party of Canada statement on the nuclear deal with Iran". www.liberal.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ Aug 27, Selina Chignall Published on; 2015 5:00am (2015-08-27). "Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi: a life lived around the world". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Willowdale, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
External links[edit]
- Living people
- Osgoode Hall Law School alumni
- Georgetown University Law Center alumni
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
- Lawyers in Ontario
- Politicians from Toronto
- Canadian people of Iranian descent
- Canadian politicians of Iranian descent
- Canadian Muslims
- Alumni of the London School of Economics
- 21st-century Canadian politicians
- 1970 births
- People from Geneva
