25 Facts About Leo Housakos

Leonidas Housakos was born on January 10,1968 and is a Canadian politician who has served as the senator for Wellington, Quebec since January 8,2009.

Leo Housakos served as the speaker of the Senate for part of 2015.

Leo Housakos was born in Montreal, Quebec into a Greek family.

Leo Housakos graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 and worked as a ministerial staffer in the Ministry of Multiculturalism under Gerry Weiner.

Leo Housakos was a member of the North America Advisory Board for the Alexander Proudfoot Company, an organization specializing in the productivity of corporations.

Leo Housakos co-founded the Hellenic Board of Trade in 1993, an organization dedicated to the development of business opportunities and networking in the Greater Montreal Area.

Leo Housakos was an advisor to the Mayor of Montreal between 2001 and 2002.

Leo Housakos began his political involvement in 1993 as a field organizer for Jean Charest in Montreal back when Charest ran for leadership for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Leo Housakos served as a co-chair on Pierre Poilievre's leadership campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada in 2022.

Leo Housakos was a candidate for the Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election, in the riding of Laval West, where he has lived for over twenty years.

For several year Leo Housakos acted as the head of the Action democratique du Quebec's fundraising arm, a provincial party in Quebec whose leader, Mario Dumont, campaigned for the "Yes" side during the 1995 referendum in Quebec along with Parti Quebecois and Bloc Quebecois.

Leo Housakos was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on December 22,2008, as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada promising to uphold the limit of 8 years for Senate appointees.

Leo Housakos served as the president of the fundraising committee of the Action democratique du Quebec.

In October 2013, a witness with the Charbonneau Commission insinuated to the CBC that Leo Housakos gave him illegal contributions collected in 2008 in favour of the party.

In 2006, during an informal meeting with the former chief of staff to Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, Leo Housakos raised the possibility of the department's dropping its plan to reclaim a building complex from the Rosdev Group.

Leo Housakos hoped Rosdev's president, Michael Rosenberg, would become a strong ally for the party, especially within Montreal's Jewish community.

Leo Housakos was appointed acting speaker of the Senate on April 24,2015, following the death of Pierre Claude Nolin.

Leo Housakos was succeeded as Speaker by Senator George Furey on December 3,2015, on Furey's appointment to the position by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Leo Housakos argues that the Canadian government should provide prospective new immigrants a clear understanding of the norms and values of their adoptive new home, because Canada is a country based on the separation of Church and state and the equality of men and women.

Leo Housakos published Multiculturalism's an Outdated Insult, in March 2013, where he argues that official Multiculturalism became a state-financed marketing program where the government uses tax dollars to buy photo ops with ethnic leaders.

Leo Housakos suggested that multiculturalism should be replaced with a policy of integration.

Leo Housakos later spoke out against the Parti Quebecois government's Charter of Quebec Values, on the basis that it negates respect for individual rights.

Leo Housakos is married to Demi Papapanagiotou; they have two children.

Leo Housakos helped to organize a charity ball for Giant Steps, an association dedicated to helping autistic children.

Leo Housakos has been coaching a youth hockey team for over 10 years.