Bardish Chagger (born April 6, 1980) is a Canadian politician who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, Chagger has sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for the
riding of
Waterloo since the
2015 federal election.
Chagger previously held the portfolios of
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. ...
and
Minister of Small Business and Tourism
The minister of international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development (french: ministre du commerce international, de la promotion des exportations, de la petite entreprise et du développement économique) is a minister o ...
.
Chagger was the first female
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. ...
in the history of Canada.
Early life and education
Chagger's parents immigrated to
Waterloo from
Punjab, India
Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...
in the 1970s. Her family is Sikh. Her father, Gurminder "Gogi" Chagger, was active in the Liberal Party and an admirer of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada
The prime mini ...
. Chagger's first involvement in politics came in the
1993 federal election as a 13-year-old volunteer for
Andrew Telegdi
Andrew Peter Telegdi, PC (born András Telegdi; May 28, 1946 – January 23, 2017) was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2008, representing Waterloo and the successor r ...
's successful campaign in Waterloo.
She attended the
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...
, with aspirations to become a nurse, but she subsequently became an executive assistant to Telegdi, who represented Waterloo in the House of Commons for the Liberals from 1993 to 2008.
Chagger graduated from the University of Waterloo with a bachelor of science degree.
After Telegedi's defeat in 2008, Chagger became a director of special events for the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre.
Federal politics
Chagger volunteered for
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
's
2013 party leadership bid, and subsequently became the Liberal Party's candidate in the newly reconstituted
Waterloo riding. She took 49.7% of the vote and defeated two-term
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
incumbent
Peter Braid
Peter Braid (born January 7, 1964) is a Canadian businessman and former politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Kitchener—Waterloo from 2008 to 2015. While in office he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and ...
, who had earlier ousted her former employer Andrew Telegdi.
Minister for Small Business and Tourism
On November 4, 2015, Chagger was sworn in as
Minister of Small Business and Tourism
The minister of international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development (french: ministre du commerce international, de la promotion des exportations, de la petite entreprise et du développement économique) is a minister o ...
.
As a result of the July 18, 2018 cabinet shuffle, Chagger's responsibilities for Small Business were given to
Mary Ng
Mary Ng (born December 16, 1969) is a Canadian politician serving as Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development since 2018. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, she has been the member of Parl ...
, and
Mélanie Joly
Mélanie Joly (born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada), Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Joly repr ...
took on the responsibilities of Tourism.
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
On August 19, 2016, Chagger was sworn in as
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. ...
replacing
Dominic Leblanc
Dominic A. LeBlanc (born December 14, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the minister of intergovernmental affairs since 2020 and also became the minister of infrastructure and communities in 2021. A member of the Liber ...
in the position. She retained her responsibilities as
Minister of Small Business and Tourism
The minister of international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development (french: ministre du commerce international, de la promotion des exportations, de la petite entreprise et du développement économique) is a minister o ...
until the July 18, 2018 cabinet shuffle.
On March 10, 2017, Chagger in her role as Government House Leader released a discussion paper titled ''Modernization of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons'' which sought to implement different ways that House of Commons procedure and practice could be improved to be more accountable, predictable and available to all Members of Parliament, and the public. The modernization paper suggested reforms to the House of Commons such as the implementation of electronic voting, the curtailment of Friday sittings, the reformation of Question Period, including a Prime Minister's Question Period, changes to the process of prorogation, greater powers for the Speaker to separate votes and committee studies on omnibus bills and legislative programming.
Opposition members of Parliament were concerned with the reforms proposed in the discussion paper, in particular with proposals to implement legislative programming and the elimination or change of Friday sittings in the House of Commons. In late April 2017, Chagger sent a letter to her counterparts, then New Democratic Party House Leader Murray Rankin and Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen, to inform them that the government would be abandoning several of the key proposals that were part of the modernization paper, such as changes to the Friday sitting, legislative programming, and electronic voting. They would continue however with proposals that were explicitly part of the 2015 Liberal election platform, including the decision to have a Prime Minister’s Question Period, requiring the government to issue a report following the use of prorogation, and allowing the
speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
to separate votes or committee studies on different parts of a bill that he or she deems to be omnibus.
WE Charity Ethics Investigation
In July 2020, Chagger was the first witness who testified in front of a parliamentary committee investigating awarding of a sole-sourced contract to run Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) to
WE Charity
WE Charity (french: Organisme UNIS), formerly known as Free the Children (French: ''Enfants Entraide''), is an international development charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburger ...
, an organization with ties to Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
and
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
Bill Morneau
William Francis Morneau Jr. (born October 7, 1962) is a Canadian businessman and former Liberal Party politician who served as minister of finance and member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre from 2015 to 2020.
Morneau was executive chai ...
. Chagger was the one who signed the contracts with WE Charity, and had met with WE Charity days before student program was announced by Trudeau. Originally it was reported that WE charity would get a payment of at least $19.5 million, later it was disclosed that the contract was paying them up to $43.5 million to run student volunteer grant program. Chagger testified that it was the public service that recommended the grant program be outsourced to a third party via a contribution agreement, specifically it was Assistant Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Rachel Wernick.
Electoral record
References
External links
*
Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chagger, Bardish
Living people
Canadian politicians of Indian descent
Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Politicians from Waterloo, Ontario
University of Waterloo alumni
Women in Ontario politics
Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry
Canadian Sikhs
Women government ministers of Canada
1980 births
21st-century Canadian women politicians
Canadian politicians of Punjabi descent
Punjabi people