Joe Volpe

Joe Volpe

Giuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, (born September 21, 1947) was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011, holding two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet from 2003 to 2006, and serving as transportation critic when his party became the Official Opposition. In 2006, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party. In the 2011 federal election, Volpe lost his seat to Joe Oliver.

Volpe was born in Monteleone, Puglia, Italy, and moved to Canada with his family in 1955. He was raised in a working-class household and earned Bachelor of Arts (1970), Bachelor of Education (1971) and Master of Education (1980) degrees from the University of Toronto. As a teacher, he taught in Stoney Creek from 1971 to 1974, headed the history department of a secondary school in Etobicoke from 1974 to 1979, and was head of multicultural studies in a college in Weston, Ontario between 1979 and 1982. He worked as a mortgage development officer in 1982-83, and was vice-principal of the J.M. McGuigan Secondary School (which he helped found) between 1983 and 1988.

He is married to Mirella and they have four children: Luciano, Flavio, Letizia and Massimo.