Christopher Joseph Bittle (born February 17, 1979) 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 ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician who was elected to represent the riding of St. Catharines 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. He currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, sitting on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. He previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and as Deputy House Leader of the Government. Bittle is the youngest MP to hold the Deputy House Leader position in the House of Commons.

Early life and career

Born in Niagara Falls, Bittle graduated from St. Paul Catholic Secondary School 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. Before he was elected Member of Parliament, he worked at Lancaster, Brooks and Welch LLP, 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. Bittle also worked as an instructor in the Department of Continuing Education at Niagara College and as seminar leader at Brock University.

Political career

Bittle was elected as a first time Member of Parliament in October 2015. He received 24,870 votes and defeated incumbent

Rick Dykstra Richard Dykstra (born April 10, 1966) is a Canadian politician. He served as president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 2016 to 2018. He also served as the MP for the Ontario riding of St. Catharines from 2006 to 2015. He ...

. 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. In December 2019, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, where he worked alongside Minister

Marc Garneau Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau (born February 23, 1949) is a Canadian politician, retired Royal Canadian Navy officer and former astronaut who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Par ...

and Minister

Omar Alghabra Omar Alghabra ( ar, عمر الغبرا, ʿUmar al-Ḡabrā; born October 24, 1969) is a Saudi-born Syrian-Canadian politician who has served as Canada's Minister of Transport since January 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he has represented ...

to invest in public transit and particularly on safe travel during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In March 2021, Bittle was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change,

Jonathan Wilkinson Jonathan Wilkinson (born June 11, 1965) is a Canadians, Canadian politician who has served as the Minister of Natural Resources, minister of natural resources since 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Wilkinson was ele ...

. Bittle is also a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Bittle was re-elected as an Member of Parliament in the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Minist ...

but with a decreased share of the vote. In August 2022 Bittle apologized to

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

law professor

Michael Geist Michael Allen Geist (born July 11, 1968) is a Canadian academic, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa and a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society. Geist was educated at the Univers ...

for accusing Geist of racism during a twitter dispute.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bittle, Chris 1979 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Lawyers in Ontario People from Niagara Falls, Ontario Politicians from St. Catharines Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Windsor alumni University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni