Meet 10 new faces in Canada’s next Parliament

While the number of seats may have remained largely the same for parties after the elections, there will still be many new faces in the House of Commons.

Among them will be the Conservatives who toppled Liberal cabinet ministers, Ontario’s first Green Member of Parliament, a new NDP MP from Nunavut and the Liberals who successfully took the back seats their party had previously lost.

His backgrounds range from political strategist to former journalist to nonprofit founder and management consultant.

Here are 10 of those new faces:

Rick perkins

The conservative candidate in the leadership of Nova Scotia from South Shore – St. Margarets overthrew the current liberal, the Minister of Fisheries, Bernadette Jordan. Jordan was in a tough fight to keep his post, having faced backlash for his handling of the dispute over indigenous fishing rights in the province. Perkins is an entrepreneur who has worked in both the public and private sectors. During his time in government, he worked on fisheries issues and served as a senior advisor to ministers of foreign affairs and veterans affairs.

Joanne Thompson

Thompson won the St. John’s East Newfoundland and Labrador race for the Liberals, taking away the only NDP seat in Atlantic Canada after current MP Jack Harris failed to seek reelection. Thompson, a former registered nurse, served as executive director of Gathering Place, a community health center in St. John’s that includes an overnight shelter.

Melissa lantsman

Conservative strategist and political commentator Lantsman kept Thornhill Blue on the GTA following the retirement of Conservative MP Peter Kent. She also becomes the second openly gay conservative member of Parliament. Lantsman has worked on federal and provincial conservative campaigns, including being in charge of the war room for the successful 2018 Ontario Progressive Conservatives campaign.

Blake desjarlais

The NDP candidate ousted incumbent Conservative Kerry Diotte in Edmonton-Griesbach, becoming the first openly two-spirit member of Parliament. Desjarlais is a Métis / Cree, according to her NDP bio, and was raised in the Fishing Lake Métis settlement. He is a community activist who represented the Métis people at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and has also been an advocate on climate issues.

Leah Taylor Roy

Taylor Roy reclaimed the GTA battlefield in Aurora – Oak Ridges – Richmond Hill for the Liberals from Conservative MP Leona Alleslev, who had won the Liberal seat in 2015 before crossing the court to join the Conservatives. Taylor Roy, who also competed against Alleslev in 2019, is a Harvard graduate who has worked for the World Bank and at the management consulting firm McKinsey.

Anna Roberts

The Conservative candidate is projected to remove the King-Vaughan seat from Liberal incumbent Senior Minister Deb Schulte in another tight race for the GTA. Roberts is a mortgage broker who has worked in the banking and finance industry for decades.

Mike morrice

Morrice becomes the first green candidate to win in a federal race in Ontario, and will join former party leader Elizabeth May in a group of two. The leadership of the Kitchener Center became a bit free for all after liberal incumbent Raj Saini suspended his campaign earlier this month following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards female staff, which he has denied. Morrice, who ran for the Greens in 2019, is the founder of Sustainable Waterloo Region and Green Economy Canada.

Michelle Ferreri

The conservative Ferreri overthrew the liberal incumbent and cabinet minister Maryam Monsef in Peterborough-Kawartha, traditionally a benchmark, where the chosen candidate has been part of the government in almost every election since the creation of the leadership. Ferreri is a former CHEX television reporter and worked as a business development coordinator with the Loomex Group.

Lori idlout

Idlout’s victory ensures that Nunavut remains an NDP seat, after incumbent MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq did not seek re-election (and called for workplace racism in the House of Commons). Idlout, a lawyer for Inuk, said she would pressure Ottawa to invest in affordable housing and health services in the territory. She was also the first CEO of the Embrace Life Council, a nonprofit suicide prevention organization.

George chahal

The former Calgary councilor was the only Liberal candidate to win in that city, after his party was completely excluded in Alberta in 2019 (as of Tuesday afternoon, former Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault led by just over 100 votes to regain the Edmonton Center.) Chahal, who will represent Calgary Skyview, was first elected to the city council in 2017, where he started and chaired the city’s public safety task force.