Michelle Ferreri is officially the member of Parliament for the federal riding of Peterborough-Kawartha as of Friday afternoon.
During a ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the rookie Conservative was joined by her partner Ryan Moore and her parents — Martin and Catherine Leahy — as she was sworn into the 44th Parliament. Her siblings and Moore’s family also joined her in the nation’s capital.
Ferreri says she wrote her name as “Michelle Leahy Ferreri” to honour her family and their heritage.
Ferreri defeated Liberal incumbent Maryam Monsef in the federal election on Sept. 20, ending Monsef’s quest for a third consecutive term as the area’s federal representative in Ottawa. Ferreri’s victory also snapped the riding’s decades-long streak as a bell whether riding.
“I will do my best to represent our riding and I take this responsibility incredibly seriously,” she said on her Facebook page. “We are diverse and keeping peace while maintaining diversity is a challenge but it’s also the essence of democracy.”
Ferreri called it a “huge honour” and “felt the magnitude” to be elected during the ceremony.
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On election night she garnered 39 per cent of the votes cast (27,301), ahead of Monsef (35.1 per cent or 24,564 votes), Joy Lachica of the NDP (19 per cent or 13,335 votes), Paul Lawton of the People’s Party of Canada (4.4 per cent or 3,078 votes), Chanté White of the Green Party (2.2 per cent or 1,551 votes) and independent candidate Robert Bowers (0.3 per cent or 226 votes).
“I will work hard for you Peterborough-Kawartha, I promise,” said Ferreri in a video from Parliament Hill after the ceremony. “I do will my very best. It is a huge honour.”
Ferreri’s constituency office will be at 417 Bethune St. in Peterborough, taking over the same space Monsef used as her constituency office since 2015.
Before being elected Ferreri ran a social media marketing company. She is a former TV anchor/host with CHEX Television in the city before leaving in 2014 (Global News acquired the station in 2017).
Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will swear in his new cabinet on Oct. 26 and the 44th Parliament will commence in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Nov. 22.
The Liberals hold 160 seats in the House of Commons, followed by the Conservatives with 119, the Block Quebecois with 32, the NDP with 25 and the Green Party holds two.
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