Costas Menegakis (born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a businessman, an entrepreneur and a former

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, who represented the federal

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Richmond Hill from 2011 to 2015.

Personal life

Menegakis is of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

descent born to parents who immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the 1950s. He was educated in

and is a graduate of Concordia University's Faculty of Commerce. He moved to

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

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 ...

in 1985 and currently resides in Richmond Hill,

. Menegakis founded Tilwood Inc., a product fulfillment & logistics company in Richmond Hill in 1988. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Tilwood Inc. currently operating in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

. Menegakis has served in a volunteer capacity for the following non-profit organizations over the past 30 years that offer services to families and particularly to youth, seniors and persons with special needs. He has served on the Board of Directors of

Accessible Media Inc. AMI (Accessible Media Inc.) is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs, and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. The company operates three broadcast services: AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in Fre ...

, the Metropolitan Toronto Police Chief's Community Advisory Council, the

Empire Club of Canada The Empire Club of Canada is a Canadian speakers' forum. Established in 1903, the Empire Club has provided a forum for many thousands of different speakers. Through a variety of presentation formats, the Empire Club invites local, national and in ...

, the Greek Community of Toronto, the Hellenic Home for the Aged and the World Council for Hellenes Abroad. Menegakis is a member of the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375, the Rotary Club of York and the Oak Ridges Lions Club. Menegakis was awarded Her Majesty's Queen Elizabeth II Gold and Diamond Jubilee Medals and is a recipient of Rotary International's Paul Harris Fellow recognition. Menegakis speaks three languages:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Federal politics

Member of Parliament

In 2011 Costas Menegakis was elected to Canada's 41st Parliament as the Member of Parliament for Richmond Hill and in 2013, Menegakis was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration The minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship (french: Ministre de l'immigration, des réfugiés et de la citoyenneté) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The minister is responsible for Immigration, Refugees and Citi ...

by Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

. During his time in office, Menegakis was a member on the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committees for Citizenship and Immigration, Procedures and House Affairs, Government Operations and Estimates and Official Languages.

2015 federal election

In the 2015 federal election, Menegakis contested in the new Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding. Menegakis was defeated by Liberal candidate

Leona Alleslev Leona Alleslev-Krofchak (born March 16, 1968) is a Canadian politician and former military officer who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill. She was elected as a Liberal in the 2015 federal election, ...

by just 1,093 votes.

2019 federal election

In February 2018, Menegakis was again elected as the Conservative candidate for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, but later stepped down as the party's nominee when Alleslev crossed the floor to join the Conservative Party. Two weeks later, Menegakis was acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in his former riding of Richmond Hill.

2021 federal election

Menagakis was nominated as the Conservative Candidate in Richmond Hill and was defeated in a rematch of the 2019 federal election by the incumbent MP, Majid Jowhari 47.7% to 38.8%.

Electoral record

References

External links

Costas Menegakis
(copy archived October 2013) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menegakis, Costas 1959 births Anglophone Quebec people Canadian people of Greek descent Conservative Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Richmond Hill, Ontario Politicians from Montreal 21st-century Canadian politicians Concordia University alumni