Omar Alghabra

In March 2020, the Huffington Post published an article titled “Canadian Politicians As the Cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine” where they compared Alghabra to character Adrian Pimento because “Why not?”.

Alghabra’s first job was at Ainsworth Inc. as a Quality Assurance supervisor. He later transitioned to sales and worked as the Predictive Maintenance supervisor. Afterwards, he joined General Electric (GE) as a Six Sigma Black Belt in the Industrial Service Business. He became the Global Business Leader for GE’s Industrial Refurbished Parts business.

Alghabra was additionally involved in the release of Salim Alaradi who was detained in the United Arab Emirates for 17 months without being charged. Alghabra stated he was personally in discussion with U.A.E. officials about Alaradi’s case and relieved to hear of his release. Alghabra addressed his welcome back to Canada in the House of Commons.

Alghabra’s consular affairs portfolio includes assisting those Canadians stranded by Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean states. Following his work in consular affairs, Alghabra stated that Canadians should abide by travel advisories before leaving the country and that the government will do what they can to help Canadians abroad but there are limited means and options at times. Although he misses his family in Syria, he follows warnings against travelling there and encourages fellow Canadians to follow the government’s advice too.

Alghabra was also part of Report 15, Supporting Efforts to Address Sex Trafficking in South Asia. The government generally agreed with the committee’s recommendations in the report to strengthen prevention efforts, support survivors, and hold perpetrators to account through bilateral relations and NGOs.

Alghabra was part of Report 17 on Canada’s Development Finance Initiative (DFI). The committee made recommendations to encourage international development through DFIs that are meant to generate profits and achieve development outcomes simultaneously. The committee noted that Canadian DFIs must compete with established DFIs and must consider higher-risk markets to profit. DFIs were also recommended to be independent from the government while upholding government objectives. The government noted in response that Findev Canada is an independent organization and will complement international assistance programs with the purpose of catalyzing private investment for international development.

Report 17 titled “Canada’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Federal Support for their International Trade Activities” had recommendations by the committee, including enhancement of domestic competitiveness of Canadian firms and recognition that they have different barriers than those faced by large firms.

Alghabra was re-elected as Member of Parliament in the 2019 federal election in a Liberal minority government. He has been appointed Parliament Secretary to the Prime Minister with a focus on Public Service Renewal and Parliament Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Alghabra has also been sworn into the Privy Council.  

Alghabra has been tasked with working directly with victim’s families of the Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752. Alghabra stated that the government is offering legal assistance and exploring forms of interim compensation while they wait for proper compensation to be settled with Iran. Alghabra also announced that Ottawa will match funds raised during the Canada Strong campaign launched to raise $1.5 million for those who lost loved ones when the Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down by Iranian military. The Prime Minister has thanked Alghabra for his ongoing work with this tragedy.

Alghabra has said that the senate is important in their role as a “sober second thought”. He argues they have previously intervened in laws that criminalized abortion and gave ministers too much power. He has stated that the senate’s “inherent independence from election cycles…provides an indispensable public service that enriches our democracy”. However, he proposed that reforms are needed in the form of transparency to senate expenses and to their appointment process. He was also open to examining term limits that would ensure independence and experience but not at the expense of productivity.

Alghabra has proposed that more condos and offices in Mississauga are a good idea when residents do not need to use their cars to access work or shopping facilities in response to the city of Mississauga’s Downtown21 plan where they designated the downtown core as Mixed Use. He states that a high-density community causes congestion when residents need to exit the community to access these places. To make Mississauga a world-class city, he argues that increasing population density is necessary.

In 2018, Alghabra gave a speech before the United Nations Security Council on behalf of Canada on combating sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. In this speech, he expressed the outrage of Canada on use of sexual violence as a tactic of warfare and urged the international community to take a role in prevention of sexual violence as part of violence prevention and sustainable peace. He spoke of Canada’s concerns over the plight of Irenaeus Rohingya women and girls in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Alghabra was appointed Parliament Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification and served from 2018 to 2019. Alghabra also served on the Standing Committee for International Trade, collaborating on the culmination of various reports.

In 2016, Alghabra followed in the footsteps of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and established a local youth council. The youth council encourages youth to engage with the federal political process and consists of youth in Mississauga centre from ages 16 to 24. Alghabra has also advised people wanting to enter politics to “get involved. There’s no substitute for getting involved—joining a campaign, knocking on doors, making phone calls, attending conventions—this is how you can begin to make change”.

Alghabra served as Parliament Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs) from 2015-2018.

Alghabra has been a consistent advocate for youth empowerment and engagement in politics. He has encouraged students to stay in school and become socially engaged. In 2011, Alghabra committed to creating an internship in his office for Mississauga youth who want to learn about the political process.

In the General Election 2011, the National Post stated that Alghabra promotes himself with “humour and self-deprecation” to establish himself in the public mind in a positive sense, before he can be trashed by competitors.

After his political defeat in the 2008 general election, Alghabra joined ENBALA Power Networks as their Vice President for Corporate Development. Later, he worked as an advisor to the COO of the Ontario Energy Board on innovation in the utility sector. Alghabra returned to the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science after being appointed a Distinguished Visiting Professor. In this role, he also joined Ryerson’s start-up incubator DMZ as their Executive-in-residence.

Alghabra was defeated in General Election 2008 and General Election 2011 for Mississauga-Erindale. He was next re-elected to the 42 Parliament of Canada in 2015 as Member of Parliament for Mississauga Centre. Alghabra’s campaign efforts garnered media attention for parodying the opening sequence of Game of Thrones.

As Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Erindale, Alghabra was appointed as the Critic for Citizenship and Immigration and served as member in the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in 2007.

In 2007, Alghabra critiqued the Harper government of using security rhetoric to invoke the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act that allowed for preventative arrest and investigative hearings. He argued that “good police work using ordinary legal measures” had been used to apprehend alleged suspects in the past. He continued his argument that these extraordinary measures need evidence of threat to merit their use. It is “parliament’s priority to protect all Canadians and not to allow ideology to trump rational and evidence-based debate”. Alghabra also challenged that terror suspects should be charged as a third option, instead of released or deported. He stated that since Canada is supposed to have an unbiased legal system, it should be used otherwise many suspects are vulnerable to presumption of guilt, racial profiling, and public fear. He cited the case of Maher Arar as an example.

Alghabra stated that his involvement with Politics began as a campaign volunteer, where he had opportunities to advocate on issues of equality, national security, and racial profiling. When a Member of Parliament retired, Alghabra left General Electric to run as a Liberal candidate for Member of Parliament in the 2006 federal election in the riding of Mississauga—Erindale. He defeated Conservative candidate Bob Dechert by 3,328 votes. He got elected into a Conservative Party minority government, led by Stephen Harper. Alghabra has said his engineering background has enriched his perspective in politics.

Throughout his career, he remained socially engaged. Alghabra supported initiatives that empowered new Canadians and promoted economic and social integration. He became involved in civic organizations in his community to encourage a better understanding of civil rights, equality, and justice. He also served as a member of the community editorial board for the Toronto Star in 2003 where he published several articles.

Omar Alghabra PC MP (Arabic: عمر الغبرا) (born October 24, 1969) is a Canadian politician who serves as Liberal Member of Parliament for Mississauga Centre. He was first elected in 2006 to the 39 Parliament of Canada, then again in 2015 to the 42 Parliament of Canada. He served as Parliament Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs) from 2015 to 2018 and Parliament Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification from 2018 to 2019. Alghabra was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. He was appointed as Parliament Secretary to the Prime Minister (Public Service Renewal) and Parliament Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. He was also sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in February 2020.

Alghabra was born in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia to a Syrian family. His father, an architect, moved their family to Saudi Arabia in 1968. Alghabra has stated that he remembers living a sheltered life there, attending private school and visiting Syria in the summer. Alghabra completed his high school education at the Dhahran Ahliyya School in Alkhobar. He then moved to Damascus, Syria where he started his Engineering degree at Damascus University. He decided to complete his education in Canada.