On January 23, 2006, Denise Savoie became the first woman elected as Member of Parliament for Victoria. She was re-elected in the October 14, 2008 general election.
During her first term, she served as critic for post-secondary education, skills training and literacy in Jack Layton's NDP caucus, and as co-chair of the party's environment caucus. In her role as post-secondary education critic, she successfully pushed the government to establish a grant program, making post-secondary education more affordable and reducing student debt. In June 2011, Denise was named Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committees of the Whole by all-party consent and served as Assistant Deputy Speaker during the 40th Parliament. She is a founding member of the all-party Climate Change Caucus, has served as Chair of the all-party Parliamentary Arts Caucus and is a member of the executive of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas.
In 2010, Denise introduced Bill C-466 (the “Green Commuter Bill”), which would allow Canadian employers to offer green commuter benefits to their employees, free of tax at the federal level. It has garnered support from Canadian mayors, municipalities, transit authorities and transportation experts from Halifax to Saanich. Denise has initiated legislation to re-direct $2 billion in annual CMHC unused revenues into affordable housing and to stimulate investment in affordable housing through deferred capital gains taxes.
In our community, Denise led the fight at the federal level to stop the fast-tracked approval of the mega-yacht marina for the Inner Harbour and open the process to public input and scrutiny, pushed for fair treatment for veterans and their families, and secured unprecedented infrastructure investments for Victoria, including a federal commitment to sewage treatment and $21 million in federal funding for the new Johnson Street Bridge.
As a former Victoria City Councillor and Capital Regional District Director from 1999 to 2005, Denise helped to establish a regional housing trust, brought leadership to the harbour cleanup and heritage preservation, and received two national awards for her work on the environment. As a community activist, Denise was a pioneer in alternative transportation. She spearheaded development of the Galloping Goose Trail and the Selkirk Trestle. Denise lives in Victoria West and has three children and six grandchildren. An educator by profession, she is fluently bilingual. Denise is an avid cyclist and goes on kayaking trips to remote locations every summer.
"As a parent and grandparent, I am committed to preserving this fragile planet of ours. As a community activist and municipal councillor, I learned how to get things done by finding consensus on shared values across partisan divides. As your MP, I will continue to work with all of my colleagues to reduce inequality and promote a green economy to create local jobs and fight climate change." – Denise Savoie.