Catherine McKenney

For the former MP for Ottawa Centre, see Catherine McKenna.

Catherine McKenney
McKenney in 2022
Ottawa City Councillor
In office December 1, 2014 – November 15, 2022
Preceded by	Diane Holmes
Succeeded by	Ariel Troster
Constituency	Somerset Ward
Personal details
Born	(1961-06-03) June 3, 1961 (age 63)[1][2] Fort-Coulonge, Quebec, Canada[1]
Political party	Ontario New Democratic Party
Spouse	Catharine Vandelinde[3] (m. circa 2005)[4]
Children	3
Residence	Centretown West[5]
Alma mater	University of Ottawa (BSocSc, 1993)
Website	https://www.mckenney2022.ca/ at the Wayback Machine (archived 2023-01-26)

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. In the 2025 Ontario general election, McKenney was announced as the Ontario New Democratic Party (Ontario NDP) candidate for Ottawa Centre.[6] 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][7]

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.[8] They supported Jim Watson in the 2014 mayoral election.[9]

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.[10] McKenney virtually joined an Ottawa City Council meeting from the streets of the occupation.[11]

In December 2021, McKenney announced that they would be running for mayor in the 2022 Ottawa municipal election.[12] McKenney lost to Mark Sutcliffe with 119,241 votes to 161,679 votes.[13]

In January 2023, McKenney co-founded CitySHAPES non-profit organization with Ottawa economist Neil Saravanamuttooto address "climate change, active transportation, transit, affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness."[14][13]

In October 2024, McKenney launched a campaign for the Ontario NDP nomination in Ottawa Centre. McKenney was announced as the NDP candidate in November 2024, replacing former Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden who was announced as the NDP candidate in the 2025 Canadian federal election[13][6]

Personal life

McKenney is queer and is the first non-male openly-LGBT person to serve on Ottawa's city council.[15] McKenney is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.[16] McKenney has three children.[9]

Electoral record

2022 Ottawa municipal election

Main article: 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[17][18]

2018 Ottawa municipal election

Main article: 2018 Ottawa municipal election

Somerset Ward (Ward 14)[19]
Candidate	Votes	%
Catherine McKenney	7,754	76.66%
Jerry Kovacs	1,461	14.44%
Arthur David	701	6.93%
Merdod Zopyrus	199	1.97%

2014 Ottawa municipal election

Main article: 2014 Ottawa municipal election

Somerset Ward (Ward 14)[20]
Candidate	Votes	%
Catherine McKenney	3,997	40.13%
Jeff Morrison	1,681	16.88%
Martin Canning	1,631	16.38%
Conor Meade	807	8.10%
Edward Conway	576	5.78%
Thomas McVeigh	434	4.36%
Lili V. Weemen	292	3.94%
Denis Schryburt	223	2.24%
Sandro Provenzano	99	0.99%
Curtis Tom	77	0.77%
Silviu Riley	43	0.43%

References

1. Pearson, Matthew (21 October 2015). "The two Catherines: How to tell McKenney and McKenna apart". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
2. @CatharineV (3 June 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. "Catherine McKenney is trying not to think about making history". CBC Ottawa. October 13, 2022.
5. "Why Catherine McKenney keeps showing up: the making of Ottawa's progressive mayoral candidate". Ottawa Citizen. October 19, 2022.
6. "Ontario NDP announce former city councillor Catherine McKenney as Ottawa-Centre candidate". CityNews. November 24, 2024.
7. "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.
8. "Catherine McKenney to run for Somerset Ward". Xtra Ottawa. April 22, 2014.
9. "Ottawa votes: Somerset candidates answer our questions". Ottawa Citizen. September 25, 2014.
10. "Ottawa police board chair ousted in dramatic city council meeting". Ottawa. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
11. "'What is the plan?': Ottawa councillor joins meeting from downtown street crowded with protesters". CBC News. February 16, 2022.
12. 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.
13. "Catherine McKenney seeking Ontario NDP nomination in Ottawa Centre". CBC. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
14. "Where are they now? Fourteen public figures a year after the convoy protest". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
15. "Ottawa elects first openly queer woman to city council". Xtra Ottawa. October 28, 2014. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014.
16. "Councillor posts hateful email to 'give people pause'". CBC News. November 5, 2019.
17. "2022 Official election results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
18. "Financial statements for the 2022 Municipal Elections". City of Ottawa. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
19. "2018 Election Results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
20. "2014 Election Results". City of Ottawa. Retrieved 2018-09-19.

External links

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2023-01-26)