Ali Cyrus Ehsassi MP (Persian: علی احساسی; born April 24, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Willowdale since 2015. He is the current Minister of Government Transformation, Public Services and Procurement.
Biography
Ehsassi was born on April 24, 1970, in Geneva, Switzerland. At the age of three, his family relocated to New York City and by age 15, Ehsassi moved to North York, Ontario, with his family.4[better source needed]
Ehsassi's extended family has extensive experience in international relations. His maternal great-grandfather was Iranian statesman Abdolhossein Teymourtash, who was the first Minister of Court during the Pahlavi dynasty. Ehsassi's father was also an Iranian diplomat and worked in Iran's embassy in Switzerland when he was born. His family left Iran during the Iranian Revolution.
Education
Ehsassi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master's of Science degree from the London School of Economics. He attended York University Osgoode Hall Law School having obtained his LL.B. Ehsassi then went on to Georgetown University Law School to pursue a masters of international trade and arbitration law,5 which he attended concurrently as a global and WTO fellow.[better source needed]
Member of Parliament
Ehsassi has served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Willowdale since 2015. He was one of the first two Canadians of Iranian heritage elected to federal Parliament.6
Ehsassi is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and other Crimes against Humanity, Co-Chair of the 416 Caucus, is on the Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration, and the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.
He is also a member of several Parliamentary Associations and Interparliamentary groups such as the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, Canada-China Legislative Association Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group, Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association, Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas.7
He notably opposes the Iranian government and called for a public inquiry into potential Iranian interference in Canadian elections.8
In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsed Mark Carney.9
Electoral record
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 2025 general election will be held on April 28. | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | |||||||
| New Democratic | Christy Kheirallah | |||||||
| Conservative | James Lin | |||||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| Source: Elections Canada10 | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | 21,043 | 51.2 | +2.2 | $98,989.39 | |||
| Conservative | Daniel Lee | 13,916 | 33.9 | -2.3 | $70,040.08 | |||
| New Democratic | Hal Berman | 4,231 | 10.3 | +1.0 | $2,471.22 | |||
| People's | Al Wahab | 1,102 | 2.7 | +1.5 | $1,784.10 | |||
| Green | Anna Gorka | 812 | 2.0 | -1.7 | $1,462.34 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 41,104 | 99.1 | – | $108,952.94 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 383 | 0.9 | ||||||
| Turnout | 41,487 | 54.8 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 75,773 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +2.3 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada11 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | 22,282 | 49.0 | -4.4 | $103,868.26 | |||
| Conservative | Daniel Lee | 16,452 | 36.2 | -0.8 | $82,193.67 | |||
| New Democratic | Leah Kalsi | 4,231 | 9.3 | +2.3 | none listed | |||
| Green | Sharolyn Vettese | 1,671 | 3.7 | +1.5 | $0.00 | |||
| People's | Richard Hillier | 563 | 1.2 | - | $1,005.61 | |||
| Independent | Birinder Singh Ahluwalia | 200 | 0.4 | -0.1 | none listed | |||
| Independent | Shodja Ziaian | 71 | 0.2 | - | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,470 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 410 | |||||||
| Turnout | 45,880 | 58.2 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 78,809 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -1.80 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada1213 | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | 24,519 | 53.4 | +13.5 | $89,151.49 | |||
| Conservative | Chungsen Leung | 16,990 | 37.0 | -4.7 | $135,960.85 | |||
| New Democratic | Pouyan Tabasinejad | 3,203 | 7.0 | -11.4 | $6,678.16 | |||
| Green | James Arruda | 1,025 | 2.2 | +1.81 | $7,484.51 | |||
| Independent | Birinder Singh Ahluwalia | 216 | 0.5 | – | $39,117.06 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,953 | 100.0 | $207,725.33 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 251 | 0.5 | -0.1 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,204 | 61.46 | +3.06 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,172 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +9.1 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada1415 | ||||||||
External links
References
"Search For Contributions". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2021-06-23. https://www.elections.ca/WPAPPS/WPF/EN/CCS/ContributionReport?returnStatus=1&reportOption=5&queryId=cf1e71de41504453918af9a11566ef4d&sortDirection=asc&sortOrder=0%2C1%2C2&totalRecordFound=77¤t200Page=1&total200Pages=1&reportExists=True&displaySorting=True ↩
"Willowdale: Liberal Ali Ehsassi unseats Conservative Chungsen Leung in Willowdale". 20 October 2015. http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5967747-willowdale-liberal-ali-ehsassi-unseats-conservative-chungsen-leung-in-willowdale/ ↩
"Roles - Hon. Ali Ehsassi". Our Commons. https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/ali-ehsassi(89010)/roles ↩
Chignall, Selina (2015-08-27). "Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi: a life lived around the world". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-14. https://ipolitics.ca/2015/08/27/liberal-candidate-ali-ehsassi-a-life-lived-around-the-world/ ↩
Chignall, Selina (2015-08-27). "Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi: a life lived around the world". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-02-14. https://ipolitics.ca/2015/08/27/liberal-candidate-ali-ehsassi-a-life-lived-around-the-world/ ↩
"Iranian Canadians". The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/iranians ↩
"Ali Ehsassi - Work - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2019-02-14. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members/Ali-Ehsassi(89010)/Work ↩
"Lawmaker Urges Inquiry Into Iran Meddling In Canada's Politics". www.iranintl.com. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2025. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202402043304 ↩
Djuric, Mickey; Taylor-Vaisey, Nick; Blanchfield, Mike (2025-01-17). "Pipeline politics and tariff threats". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-01-23. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/ottawa-playbook/2025/01/17/pipeline-politics-and-tariff-threats-00198893 ↩
"Voter information service". Elections Canada. Retrieved April 18, 2025. https://www.elections.ca/Scripts/vis/candidates?L=e&ED=35117&EV=62&EV_TYPE=1&PC=c1a1s4&PROV=&PROVID=&MAPID=&QID=8&PAGEID=17&TPAGEID=&PD=&STAT_CODE_ID=-1 ↩
"Election Results: Willowdale – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 10 January 2025. https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr2021app/53/11862e.html ↩
"List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019. https://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand/lst&document=index&lang=e ↩
"Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019. https://enr.elections.ca/ElectoralDistricts.aspx?lang=e ↩
Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Willowdale, 30 September 2015 https://www.elections.ca/Scripts/vis/candidates?L=e&ED=35115&EV=41&EV_TYPE=1&PC=&PROV=ON&PROVID=35&MAPID=&QID=8&PAGEID=17&TPAGEID=&PD=&STAT_CODE_ID=-1 ↩
Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates https://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand/canlim&document=index&lang=e ↩