Massimo Pacetti

Massimo Pacetti
Member of Parliament
for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel
In office
May 13, 2002 – August 4, 2015
Preceded byAlfonso Gagliano
Succeeded byNicola Di Iorio
Personal details
Born (1962-08-22) August 22, 1962 (age 62)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyIndependent (2014–2015)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (2002–2014)
ResidenceMontreal
Professionaccountant

Massimo Pacetti (born August 22, 1962) is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada. Pacetti was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 2002 by-election and continued as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel sitting with the Liberal caucus until 2014; he served his last year of office as an Independent MP.

Life and career

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Pacetti is a former accountant and entrepreneur, and former commissioner of the Pointe-de-l'Île school board.

Pacetti ran as the Liberal candidate in a by-election in 2002 for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons and was elected in the riding of Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel. He was re-elected in the 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011 general elections.

In May 2009, he introduced bill C-302, an "Act to recognize the injustice that was done to persons of Italian origin through their "enemy alien" designation and internment during the Second World War, and to provide for restitution and promote education on Italian-Canadian history [worth $2.5 million]" which was passed by the House of Commons on April 28, 2010.[1] Canada Post was also to issue a commemorative postage stamp commemorating the internment of Italian-Canadian citizens,[2] however, Bill C-302 did not pass through the necessary stages to become law.[3]

Pacetti is the Vice–Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) and the FINA Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure.[4]

Pacetti opposed Parliament studying the definition of a human being, saying "In reality, this is just a back door to reopen the debate over abortion in Canada, and a debate that has been closed for many years."[5]

On November 5, 2014, Pacetti and fellow MP Scott Andrews were both suspended from the Liberal Party caucus by leader Justin Trudeau, following allegations of harassment laid by two unnamed New Democratic Party MPs (in 2018 it was revealed that one of the MP was Christine Moore).[6][7] Both Andrews and Pacetti sat for the remainder of the parliament as independent MPs pending investigation of the complaints.[7] Pacetti announced on March 18, 2015 that he would not be running in the October 2015 federal election, however he continued to maintain that he is innocent of sexual misconduct. It had been reported that Trudeau had intended to meet Pacetti and Andrews later that day to inform them that they were being permanently expelled from the Liberal caucus and would not be allowed to run as Liberals in the next election.[8]

Electoral record

2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Massimo Pacetti 15,340 42.30 -14.95
New Democratic Roberta Peressini 11,720 32.32 +21.64
Conservative Riccardo De Ioris 4,991 13.76 -1.12
Bloc Québécois Alain Bernier 3,396 9.36 -4.24
Green Michael Di Pardo 657 1.81 -1.00
Marxist–Leninist Garnet Colly 162 0.45 +0.02
Total valid votes/Expense limit 36,266 100.00
Total rejected ballots 674 1.75 +0.18
Turnout 36,940 51.51 -2.08
Eligible voters 71,717 – –
2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Massimo Pacetti 21,652 57.25 -0.08 $58,674
Conservative Lucie Le Tourneau 5,627 14.88 +0.47 $28,585
Bloc Québécois Farid Salem 5,146 13.60 -5.14 $8,509
New Democratic Laura Colella 4,039 10.68 +3.86 $2,036
Green Frank Monteleone 1,063 2.81 +0.50
Marxist–Leninist Garnet Colly 165 0.43 -0.09
Independent Joseph Young 122 0.32 – $743
Total valid votes/Expense limit 37,814 100.00 $81,851
Total rejected ballots 604 1.57 +0.05
Turnout 38,418 53.59
  Liberal hold Swing -0.3


2006 Canadian federal election: Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Massimo Pacetti 23,705 57.17 −6.73 $66,670
Bloc Québécois Justine Charlemagne 7,772 18.74 −3.11 $20,789
Conservative Ercolano Pingiotti 5,975 14.41 +9.13 $15,672
New Democratic Laura Colella 2,831 6.83 +0.85 $4,702
Green Pierre-Louis Parant 961 2.32 −0.01 none listed
Marxist–Leninist Stéphane Chénier 219 0.53 −0.13 none listed
Total valid votes 41,463 100.00
Total rejected ballots 640
Turnout 42,103 57.00 +2.48
Electors on the lists 73,869
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
2004 Canadian federal election: Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Massimo Pacetti 25,884 63.90 −12.76 $63,440
Bloc Québécois Paul-Alexis François 8,852 21.85 +7.40 $9,289
New Democratic Laura Colella 2,422 5.98 $6,007
Conservative Payam Eslami 2,138 5.28 −0.11 $5,647
Green Ricardo Fellicetti 944 2.33 none listed
Marxist–Leninist Stéphane Chénier 267 0.66 none listed
Total valid votes 40,507 100.00
Total rejected ballots 855
Turnout 41,362 54.52
Electors on the lists 75,864
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada. Percentage change totals are in relation to the 2000 general election.
Canadian federal by-election, 13 May 2002
Retirement of Alfonso Gagliano
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Massimo Pacetti 14,076 83.5 +6.9
Bloc Québécois Umberto Di Genova 1,495 8.9 -5.6
Progressive Conservative Antonio Cordeiro 634 3.8 +1.5
New Democratic Normand Caplette 447 2.7 +1.5
Marijuana Marc-Boris St-Maurice 197 1.2 -0.2
Total valid votes 16,849 100.0

References

  1. ^ Third Session, Fortieth Parliament, House of Commons, Bill C–302 Retrieved January 2, 2011. (pdf file)
  2. ^ "Apology to interned Italian-Canadians questioned".
  3. ^ "Redress and Apology". www.italiancanadianww2.ca.
  4. ^ Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) membership list Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  5. ^ Ditchburn, Jennifer. "The Chronicle Herald - Parties clash over abortion". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  6. ^ Blatchford, Christie (2018-05-09). "Christie Blatchford: Moore may not be the feminist conscience she has branded herself to be". National Post. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  7. ^ a b "Liberal MPs Scott Andrews, Massimo Pacetti suspended from caucus amid harassment allegations". CBC News, November 5, 2014.
  8. ^ "Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti maintains innocence, says he won't run again". Globe and Mail. March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.