Born in
Montreal, Quebec, Pacetti is a former accountant and entrepreneur, and former commissioner of the Pointe-de-l'Île school board. Pacetti ran as the Liberal candidate in a by-election in 2002 for a seat in the Canadian House of Commons and was elected in the riding of
Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel. He was re-elected in the
2004,
2006,
2008 and
2011 general elections. In May 2009, he introduced bill C-302, an "Act to recognize the
injustice that was done to persons of
Italian origin through their "
enemy alien" designation and
internment during the
Second World War, and to provide for
restitution and promote education on Italian-Canadian history [worth $2.5 million]" which was passed by the House of Commons on April 28, 2010.
Canada Post was also to issue a commemorative postage stamp commemorating the
internment of Italian-Canadian citizens, however, Bill C-302 did not pass through the necessary stages to become law. Pacetti is the Vice–Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) and the FINA Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure. Pacetti opposed Parliament studying the definition of a human being, saying "In reality, this is just a back door to reopen the debate over abortion in Canada, and a debate that has been closed for many years." On November 5, 2014, Pacetti and fellow MP
Scott Andrews were both suspended from the Liberal Party caucus by leader
Justin Trudeau, following allegations of harassment laid by two unnamed
New Democratic Party MPs (in 2018 it was revealed that one of the MP was
Christine Moore). Both Andrews and Pacetti sat for the remainder of the parliament as
independent MPs pending investigation of the complaints. ==Electoral record==