Introduction
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. 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
Early life and career
Born in Niagara Falls, Bittle graduated from St. Paul Catholic Secondary Schoolbefore 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. Chris 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.
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.
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.
Bittle has, on behalf of the federal government, also made several project specific funding announcements including $180,000 for Centennial Gardens, $2 million for a Skills Link program at Goodwill Industries, and $100,000 in funding for two local wineries who expanded their services and increase employment opportunities
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 | ||||||||