Catherine McKenney

Early life, education and career 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.

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

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. They supported Jim Watson in the 2014 mayoral election.

Political career 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. McKenney virtually joined an Ottawa City Council meeting from the streets of the occupation.

In December 2021, McKenney announced that they would be running for mayor in the 2022 Ottawa municipal election. During the campaign, they were endorsed by figures including Mark Carney and Joel Harden. McKenney lost to Mark Sutcliffe with 119,241 votes to 161,679 votes.

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

2014 Ottawa municipal election

Somerset Ward (Ward 14) CandidateVotes%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%