First elected to the House of Commons in 2004, Francis Scarpaleggia was re-elected to Parliament in 2006, 2008 and 2011.
Francis is the Liberal Critic for Public Safety and Water Policy. He is also Chair of the National Liberal Caucus and founding Chair of the National Liberal Water Caucus, a committee of Liberal M.P.s and Senators dedicated to strengthening Canada’s water policies.
Francis has made the protection of Canada’s freshwater a personal priority. With this goal in mind, he has submitted motions and bills to the House of Commons for debate, including a motion calling on the government to create a national water strategy and a bill to ban bulk-water exports. He has also initiated an in-depth study by the House of Commons Environment committee into the impact of the oil sands on Canada’s water resources, introduced legislation to prohibit the dumping of toxic mining waste into Canada’s water bodies, and called on the government to create a Council of the St. Lawrence to better protect this vital waterway.
Francis is Vice Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. Since first being elected, he has also served on the following other House of Commons committees: Environment and Sustainable Development (Vice Chair); Transport; Canadian Heritage; Government Operations and Budgetary Estimates.
Francis has also been a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care and organized hearings in Montreal in the fall of 2010 to receive testimony for the committee’s final report.
As former senior political advisor to his predecessor, Clifford Lincoln, Francis has extensive knowledge and experience of the federal policy-making and legislative processes. In this earlier capacity, he was involved in Clifford Lincoln’s original work for improving train service in the West Island that has since evolved into the well-known Train de l’Ouest initiative under the former Lac-Saint-Louis M.P.’s ongoing leadership.
Before entering politics, Francis taught business administration at Montreal’s Dawson College. Prior to that, he spent several years working in the private sector, including as a corporate financial analyst.
Francis did his undergraduate work in economics at McGill University and earned a Master’s degree in economics from Columbia University in New York. He later obtained an MBA from Concordia University.
Francis Scarpaleggia lives with his wife and two children in Kirkland.
