Peter was first elected to the House of Commons in June 2004. He was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Burnaby-New Westminster on January 23, 2006. He currently serves as the New Democratic Party’s Critic for International Trade, Gateways and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Formerly a manual labourer, Peter served as Executive Director of the Council of Canadians, of which he was a founding member in 1985. During his term, the Council played a leading role in the building of the Peoples Summit in Québec City, held to head off the proposed FTAA.

Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Peter served as Executive Director of the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (WIDHH). At the time, WIDHH won consecutive Canadian Consumer Choice Awards for Excellence, as well as lead in the building of the British Columbia Disability Employment Network.

In Parliament, Peter is fighting to expose the push by stealth for deep integration under both the Liberal and Conservative governments. He hosted the second Tri-National Forum on a people-centered approach to trade to formulate a people-centred trade model with quality-of-life, democratic rights, social and labour standards and environmental protection as first principles. The forum included legislators and civil society representatives from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

Peter also spearheaded the opposition in Parliament to the softwood lumber sellout, underlining what Canada sacrifices in failing to protect the
interests of our citizens.

A militant opposed to the globalization agenda of the multinationals, Peter co-chaired the Common Front on the WTO, which rallied NGOs throughout Canada against the multinationals’ free trade agenda. Peter speaks out regularly on related local, national and international issues.

Peter holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). Peter is fluent in English and French and has a working knowledge of American Sign Language.