Masse was elected for Ward 2 of the Windsor City Council in 1997 and was re-elected in 2000. In 1998, he played a prominent role in preventing a rock-crushing operation from opening in the Wellington Avenue area.[3]
In May 2001, the Windsor City Council unanimously approved Masse's motion to prevent school boards from selling vacant property lots at the highest market value. His purpose was to dissuade boards from closing schools, though some criticized the motion as working against taxpayer interests.[4] Masse later called for a referendum on a proposed new arena project, but this was not accepted by council.[5]
Masse is married to Terry Chow, with whom he has two children.[6]
Member of Parliament
Masse joined the federal New Democratic Party in 1997 and was first elected to the Canadian Parliament in a by-election held on May 13, 2002.[7] The election was called after the resignation of Herb Gray, a long-time Liberalcabinet minister who had been a member of Parliament (MP) since 1962. Masse won the NDP nomination without opposition and defeated Liberal candidate Richard Pollock by 2,477 votes to win the seat.[8] He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 2004 general election. Masse's success in 2002 was partly due to support from Joe Comartin, a fellow Windsor New Democrat who was elected to the House of Commons in the 2000 federal election.[9] In 2002–03, Masse supported Comartin's bid for the NDP leadership.[10]
Masse served as the NDP critic for Auto Policy, Canada Border Services, and Customs in the 38th Canadian Parliament. He also became a member of the newly formed all-party "Border Caucus", examining aspects of Canada-U.S. trade relations.[11] In 2004, he introduced a motion to restrict pharmaceutical companies from renewing their patent protection.[12]
During his first campaign for the House of Commons, the Windsor Star ran an editorial opposing him as "a bench-warmer, a yes-man, a political careerist".[13] Two years later, however, a Star columnist wrote that Masse had "vastly exceeded expectations and quickly developed into an able, hard-working representative who has stayed on top of riding issues."[14]
Masse was re-elected in the 2006 federal election with an increased majority over Liberal Werner Keller. He served as NDP Deputy Industry Critic. After the election, Masse and Comartin spoke out against the provincial NDP's decision to remove Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove from the party.[15]
Masse has criticized Industry MinisterMaxime Bernier's plans to deregulate Canada's telecommunications market and ease restrictions on foreign ownership, arguing that the reforms could result in a small number of companies controlling the Canadian industry.[16]
Since 2015, Masse has sat on the NDP frontbench as the critic for Innovation, Science and Economic Development.[17]
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Electors could vote for two candidates in the municipal elections. The percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes.
All federal election information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.
^Catherine McLean, "Less regulation good for telecom: panel", Globe and Mail, March 24, 2006, B3; Bill Curry, "NDP alarmed at talk of easing telecom cap", Globe and Mail, March 28, 2006, B6.
