Summary
Christopher Joseph Bittle MP (born February 17, 1979) is a Canadian Liberal politician who was elected to represent the riding of St. Catharines in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[2] He currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change,[3] sitting on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.[4] He previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and as Deputy House Leader of the Government.[5] Bittle is the youngest MP to hold the Deputy House Leader position in the House of Commons.[6]
Chris Bittle | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for St. Catharines | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Rick Dykstra |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change | |
| Assumed office March 19, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Peter Schiefke |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport | |
| In office December 12, 2019 – March 19, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Arnold Chan |
| Succeeded by | Kirsty Duncan |
| Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons | |
| In office September 19, 2017 – September 11, 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christopher Joseph Bittle February 17, 1979 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Residence(s) | St. Catharines, Ontario[1] |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Early life and career edit
Born in Niagara Falls, Bittle graduated from St. Paul Catholic Secondary School[7] before attending Queen's University where he graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree. He then attended law school at the University of Windsor where he received a Bachelor of Laws.[8][9] Before he was elected Member of Parliament, he worked at Lancaster, Brooks and Welch LLP,[10] as a civil litigator focusing in matters like commercial disputes, real state litigation defamation, and landlord tenant matters. In addition to practicing law Bittle also served as Chair of Quest Community Health Centre, a not-for-profit Community Health Centre in St. Catharines.[11] Bittle also worked as an instructor in the Department of Continuing Education at Niagara College and as seminar leader at Brock University.[12]
Political career edit
Bittle was elected as a first time Member of Parliament in October 2015. He received 24,870 votes and defeated incumbent Rick Dykstra.
In September 2017, Bittle was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the youngest Member of Parliament to hold that position.[13] In December 2019, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, where he worked alongside Minister Marc Garneau and Minister Omar Alghabra to invest in public transit and particularly on safe travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]
In March 2021, Bittle was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Jonathan Wilkinson.[15] Bittle is also a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.[16]
Bittle was re-elected as an Member of Parliament in the 2021 Canadian federal election but with a decreased share of the vote.[17]
In August 2022 Bittle apologized to University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist for accusing Geist of racism during a twitter dispute.[18][19]
Electoral record edit
| 2021 Canadian federal election: St. Catharines | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chris Bittle | 22,069 | 37.59 | -2.64 | $63,959.39 | |||
| Conservative | Krystina Waler | 19,018 | 32.39 | +0.82 | $106,257.96 | |||
| New Democratic | Trecia McLennon | 12,294 | 20.94 | +0.26 | $13,666.86 | |||
| People's | Rebecca Hahn | 3,860 | 6.57 | +5.20 | $10,008.13 | |||
| Green | Catharine Rhodes | 1,091 | 1.86 | -4.29 | $205.19 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 58,332 | 99.36 | -0.19 | $118,995.79 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 377 | 0.64 | +0.19 | |||||
| Turnout | 58,709 | 64.51 | -1.95 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 91,010 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -1.70 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[20] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: St. Catharines | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chris Bittle | 24,183 | 40.23 | -2.95 | $87,246.25 | |||
| Conservative | Krystina Waler | 18,978 | 31.57 | -6.00 | $114,133.28 | |||
| New Democratic | Dennis Van Meer | 12,431 | 20.68 | +4.16 | none listed | |||
| Green | Travis Mason | 3,695 | 6.15 | +3.56 | $5,554.85 | |||
| People's | Allan deRoo | 826 | 1.37 | none listed | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 60,113 | 99.17 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 506 | 0.83 | +0.41 | |||||
| Turnout | 60,619 | 66.46 | -1.28 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 91,215 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +1.52 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[22][23] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Chris Bittle | 24,870 | 43.2 | +22.6 | – | |||
| Conservative | Rick Dykstra | 21,637 | 37.6 | -13.3 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Susan Erskine-Fournier | 9,511 | 16.5 | -7.3 | – | |||
| Green | Jim Fannon | 1,488 | 2.6 | -1.2 | – | |||
| Communist | Saleh Waziruddin | 85 | 0.1 | -0.1 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 57,591 | 100.0 | $221,576.61 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 243 | – | – | |||||
| Turnout | 57,834 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 84,474 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[24][25][26] | ||||||||
References edit
- ^ a b "Biography". Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ "Elections Canada - Election results since 2015: St. Catharines, Ontario". Elections Canada. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "ST. CATHARINES' MP APPOINTED TO NEW ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE ROLE". iHeartRadio. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "OurCommons - Members of Parliament: Chris Bittle". May 11, 2021. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019.
- ^ "OurCommons - Chris Bittle: Roles, Current and Past". OurCommons.ca. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Bittle Named Parliamentary Secretary to Transportation Minister". iHeartRadio. December 12, 2019. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Home". Spchs.ca. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Biography - Chris Bittle - Your member of parliament for St. Catharines". Cbittle.liberal.ca. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Cheevers, Melinda (October 20, 2015). "'We did it, eh'". Niagarathisweek.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "History - Lancaster Brooks & Welch LLP". Lbwlawyers.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "QUEST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE - Annual Report 2014-2015" (PDF). Quest Community Health Care. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Government Members key contacts - Research Canada". Rc-rc.ca. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ "Chris Bittle appointed deputy government house leader". NiagaraThisWeek.com. September 19, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ "ST. CATHARINES' MP APPOINTED TO NEW ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE ROLE". iHeartRadio. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Bittle appointed to environment role". The St. Catharines Standard. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "Our Commons - Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development: WORK". OurCommons.ca. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ Edwards, Luke; Green, Abby (September 21, 2021). "Liberal Chris Bittle re-elected in tight St. Catharines race". St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ title=Liberal MP apologizes for tweet implying professor was racist |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-mp-apologizes-implying-racist-1.6563450 |website=CBC News
- ^ "Bittle apologizes for 'unfounded and inappropriate' tweet after online feud with law professor". August 30, 2022.
- ^ "Election results since 2015". Elections Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
- ^ "Voter Information Service - Who are the candidates in my electoral district?". Elections.ca. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Election Night Results - Elections Canada". p. Ontario, St. Catharines. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
External links edit
- Official Website
- Chris Bittle – Parliament of Canada biography