Ali Cyrus Ehsassi ( fa, علی احساسی‎; born April 24, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician currently serving as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Willowdale, Ontario riding of Willowdale in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 2015 federal election. Ehsassi's victory marked a historical milestone, as he is one of the first two Canadians of Iranian heritage to ever be elected to Canada's federal Parliament, with the other being Majid Jowhari.

Biography

Ali was born on April 24, 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland. At the age of three, his family relocated to New York City and by age 15, Ali moved to

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

with his family. Ali's extended family has extensive experience in international relations. Ali's maternal great-grandfather was Iranian statesman

Abdolhossein Teymourtash Abdolhossein Teymourtash ( fa, عبدالحسین تیمورتاش; 25 September 1883 – 3 October 1933) was an influential Iranian statesman who served as the first minister of court of the Pahlavi dynasty from 1925 to 1932, and is credited ...

, who was the first Minister of Court during the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

. Ehsassi's father was also an Iranian diplomat and works in Iran's embassy at Switzerland when he was born. His family left Iran during the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

Education

Ehsassi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master's of Science degree from the London School of Economics . He attended

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Osgoode Hall Law School having obtained his LL.B. Ehsassi then went on to

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Law School to pursue a masters of international trade and arbitration law, which he attended concurrently as a global and WTO fellow.

Member of Parliament

Ali Ehsassi was elected in 2015 as the Liberal representative for Willowdale. Ali has been active in both his riding and in Ottawa, and is a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Ali is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and other Crimes against Humanity, Co-Chair of the 416 Caucus, is on the Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration, and the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. 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.

Advocacy for human rights

In 2015, Ehsassi supported Justin Trudeau's positive stance on the

Iran Nuclear Deal The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the nuclear program ...

and stated that

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

should be held to account for its abysmal human rights record and refrain from supporting international terrorism.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehsassi, Ali 1970 births 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 People from North York Politicians from Toronto Canadian people of Iranian descent Canadian politicians of Iranian descent Canadian Muslims Alumni of the London School of Economics Swiss emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians