Chris Bittle

Christopher Joseph Bittle MP (born February 17, 1979) is a Canadian Liberal politician, who was elected to represent the riding of St. Catharines in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.[2] He serves as the current deputy house leader of the government and is a member of the Subcommittee on the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Commons: Sexual Harassment, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs [3]

Chris Bittle MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for St. Catharines
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Rick Dykstra
Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
In office September 19, 2017 – November 20, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Arnold Chan
Succeeded by	Kirsty Duncan
Personal details
Born	Christopher Joseph Bittle February 17, 1979 Niagara Falls, Ontario[1]
Political party	Liberal
Residence	St. Catharines, Ontario[1]
Alma mater	University of Windsor (LL.B.) Queen's University (B.A.)
Profession	Lawyer

Early life and career

Born in Niagara Falls, Bittle graduated from St. Paul Catholic Secondary School [4] 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.[5][6][7] Before he was elected Member of Parliament, he worked at Lancaster, Brooks and Welch LLP,[8] as a civil litigator focusing in matters like commercial disputes, real state litigation defamation and landlord tenant matters. Chris also worked as an instructor in the Department of Continuing Education at Niagara College and as seminar leader at Brock University.[9]

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.

In September 2017, Bittle was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. He is the youngest Member of Parliament to hold that position.[10]

Investments in Niagara

Bittle has, on several occasions since being elected Member of Parliament, made announcements in Niagara highlighting the federal government's investments in St. Catharines and surrounding areas.

In March 2017, Bittle and Vance Badawey announced the federal government was investing in public transit in Niagara. In 2018, the federal government followed up on that announcement when Bittle announced an $82 million investment in Niagara's transit systems.[11]

Bittle has, on behalf of the federal government, also made several project specific funding announcements including $180,000 for Centennial Gardens,[12] $2 million for a Skills Link program at Goodwill Industries,[13] and $100,000 in funding for two local wineries who expanded their services and increase employment opportunities [14]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Chris Bittle	24,870	43.2	+22.6	–
	Conservative	Rick Dykstra	21,637	37.6	-13.3	–
	New Democratic	Susan Erskine-Fournier	9,511	16.5	-7.3	–
	Green	Jim Fannon	1,488	2.6	-1.2	–
	Communist	Saleh Waziruddin	85	0.1	-0.1	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			57,591	100.0		$221,576.61
Total rejected ballots			243	–	–
Turnout			57,834	–	–
Eligible voters			84,474
Source: Elections Canada[15][16][17]

References

1. "Biography". Retrieved 23 October 2015.
2. "St. Catharines News - Latest Daily Breaking News Stories - StCatharinesStandard.ca". StCatharinesStandard.ca. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
3. "Chris Bittle - Roles - House of Commons of Canada". Ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
4. "Home". Spchs.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
5. "Biography - Chris Bittle - Your member of parliament for St. Catharines". Cbittle.liberal.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-11-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Cheevers, Melinda (20 October 2015). "'We did it, eh'". Niagarathisweek.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
8. "History - Lancaster Brooks & Welch LLP". Lbwlawyers.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
9. "Government Members key contacts - Research Canada". Rc-rc.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
10. "Chris Bittle appointed deputy government house leader". NiagaraThisWeek.com. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
11. "Ottawa to invest $1.9B in GO Transit's regional express rail project - The Star". Thestar.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
12. Omand, Geordon (27 February 2018). "From birds to belugas, feds boost conservation funding in budget". Ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
13. "Facebook". Facebook.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
14. Cheevers, Melinda (20 February 2018). "Winery investments bring new jobs". Niagarathisweek.com. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
15. "Voter Information Service - Who are the candidates in my electoral district?". Elections.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
16. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
17. "Election Night Results - Elections Canada". p. Ontario, St. Catharines. Retrieved 23 October 2015.

External links

• Official Website