Catherine McKenney
McKenney in 2022
Ottawa City Councillor
In office
December 1, 2014 – November 15, 2022
Preceded byDiane Holmes
Succeeded byAriel Troster
ConstituencySomerset Ward
Personal details
Born (1961-06-03) June 3, 1961[1][2]
Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, Canada[1]
SpouseCatharine Vandelinde[3] (m. circa 2005)[4]
Children3
ResidenceCentretown West[5]
Alma materUniversity of Ottawa (BSocSc, 1993)
Websitemckenney2022.ca

Catherine McKenney (born June 3, 1961) is a Canadian politician who served on Ottawa City Council from 2014 to 2022, representing Somerset Ward. McKenney did not seek re-election as councillor in the 2022 Ottawa election, instead running for Mayor of Ottawa and finishing second. Before running for office, they worked as an advisor and political staffer.

Early life and education

McKenney was born in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, the child of a forester and stay-at-home parent. The family would then move to Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, where McKenney went to elementary school. In grade 9, McKenney moved to Pembroke, Ontario when their dad got a job at Algonquin College. McKenney had two children in their early 20s, working in fast food and as a photographer's assistant to support them. McKenney moved to Ottawa at the age of 26, where they completed a Bachelor of Social Science at the University of Ottawa in 1993.[5][6]

Career

After graduating, McKenney lived in Kanata and had a job reading news articles on television for people who are blind.[4]

Prior to holding elected office, McKenney worked as a staffer in the offices of city councillors Diane Holmes and Alex Munter, and federal members of Parliament Ed Broadbent and Paul Dewar.[7] They supported Jim Watson in the 2014 mayoral election.[8]

McKenney was first elected in the 2014 municipal election to represent Somerset Ward, which consists of Centretown, Centretown West, and the downtown core. During the 2022 Canada convoy protests, McKenney criticized inaction by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and the Ottawa Police Service.[9] McKenney virtually joined an Ottawa City Council meeting from the streets of the occupation.[10] In December 2021, McKenney announced that they would be running for mayor in the 2022 Ottawa municipal election.[11]

In January 2023, McKenney co-founded CitySHAPES non-profit organization to address "climate change, active transportation, transit, affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness."[12]

Personal life

McKenney is queer and is the first non-male openly-LGBT person to serve on Ottawa's city council.[13] They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns.[14] They have three children.[8]

Electoral record

2022 Ottawa municipal election

2022 Ottawa municipal election: Mayor
Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes  % ±%
Mark Sutcliffe 161,679 51.37 – $537,834.79
Catherine McKenney 119,241 37.88 – $542,847.97
Bob Chiarelli 15,998 5.08 – $96,844.84
Nour Kadri 7,496 2.38 – $71,062.45
Mike Maguire 2,775 0.88 – $5,500.00
Graham MacDonald 1,629 0.52 – $5,334.50
Brandon Bay 1,512 0.48 – $9,478.02
Param Singh 1,176 0.37 – $13,650.40
Celine Debassige 867 0.28 – none listed
Ade Olumide 636 0.20 – $1,966.25
Gregory Jreg Guevara 584 0.19 – $2,349.61
Bernard Couchman 471 0.15 -0.21 none listed
Jacob Solomon 432 0.14 – none listed
Zed Chebib 264 0.08 – none listed
Total valid votes 314,760 99.53
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 1,500 0.47 -0.92
Turnout 316,260 43.79 +1.24
Eligible voters 722,227
Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.)
and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: City of Ottawa[15][16]

2018 Ottawa municipal election

Somerset Ward (Ward 14)[17]
Candidate Votes %
Catherine McKenney7,75476.66%
Jerry Kovacs1,46114.44%
Arthur David7016.93%
Merdod Zopyrus1991.97%

2014 Ottawa municipal election

Somerset Ward (Ward 14)[18]
Candidate Votes %
Catherine McKenney3,99740.13%
Jeff Morrison1,68116.88%
Martin Canning1,63116.38%
Conor Meade8078.10%
Edward Conway5765.78%
Thomas McVeigh4344.36%
Lili V. Weemen2923.94%
Denis Schryburt2232.24%
Sandro Provenzano990.99%
Curtis Tom770.77%
Silviu Riley430.43%

References

  1. 1 2 Pearson, Matthew (21 October 2015). "The two Catherines: How to tell McKenney and McKenna apart". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. ↑ @CatharineV (June 3, 2020). "Happy birthday to my person @cmckenney" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "Catherine McKenney, Catherine McKenna and Ottawa's struggle to tell them apart". Macleans.ca.
  4. 1 2 "Catherine McKenney is trying not to think about making history". CBC Ottawa. October 13, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Why Catherine McKenney keeps showing up: the making of Ottawa's progressive mayoral candidate". Ottawa Citizen. October 19, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Annual Report 2015-2016" (PDF). The Alumni Association of the University of Ottawa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  7. ↑ "Catherine McKenney to run for Somerset Ward". Xtra Ottawa. April 22, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Ottawa votes: Somerset candidates answer our questions". Ottawa Citizen. September 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Ottawa police board chair ousted in dramatic city council meeting". Ottawa. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  10. ↑ "'What is the plan?': Ottawa councillor joins meeting from downtown street crowded with protesters". CBC News. February 16, 2022.
  11. ↑ Pritchard, Trevor (2021-12-10). "The first 3 candidates aiming to replace Jim Watson as Ottawa's mayor". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-24.
  12. ↑ "Where are they now? Fourteen public figures a year after the convoy protest". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  13. ↑ "Ottawa elects first openly queer woman to city council". Xtra Ottawa. October 28, 2014. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Councillor posts hateful email to 'give people pause'". CBC News. November 5, 2019.
  15. ↑ "2022 Official election results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Financial statements for the 2022 Municipal Elections". City of Ottawa. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  17. ↑ "2018 Election Results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  18. ↑ "2014 Election Results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
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