Member of Parliament
Masse joined the federal New Democratic Party in 1997, and was first elected to the Canadian parliament in a by-election held on May 13, 2002. The election was called after the resignation of Herb Gray, a long-time Liberal cabinet minister who had been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1962. Masse won the NDP nomination without opposition, and defeated Liberal candidate Richard Pollock by 2,477 votes to win the seat. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 2004 general election. Masse's success in 2002 was partly due to support from Joe Comartin, a fellow Windsor New Democrat who was elected to the House of Commons in the 2000 federal election. In 2002-03, Masse supported Comartin's bid for the NDP leadership.
Masse served as the NDP critic for Auto Policy, Canada Border Services, and Customs in the 38th Canadian parliament. He also became a member of the newly formed all-party "Border Caucus", examining aspects of Canada-U.S. trade relations. He introduced a motion in 2004 to restrict large pharmaceutical companies from renewing their patent protection, and has worked in support of Stephen Lewis's efforts to bring affordable AIDS drugs to Africa.
During his first campaign for the House of Commons, the Windsor Star newspaper ran an editorial opposing him as "a bench-warmer, a yes-man, a political careerist". Two years later, however, a leading Star columnist wrote that Masse had "vastly exceeded expectations and quickly developed into an able, hard-working representative who has stayed on top of riding issues".
Masse was re-elected in the 2006 federal election with an increased majority over Liberal Werner Keller. He currently serves as NDP Deputy Industry Critic. After the election, Masse and Comartin spoke out against the provincial NDP's decision to remove Canadian Auto Workers leader Buzz Hargrove from the party.
Masse has criticized Industry Minister Maxime Bernier's plans to deregulate Canada's telecommunications market and ease restrictions on foreign ownership, arguing that the reforms could result in a small number of companies controlling the Canadian industry.
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