Mario Ferri

Mario Felice Ferri (; born January 6, 1948) is an Italian-Canadian community organizer, activist, municipal and regional councillor of Vaughan, Ontario. He also co-founded an organization credited with helping to force the closure of Canada's largest municipal waste facility, the Keele Valley Landfill.

At the time of its closure, the waste facility was the third-largest in North America near the heart of Vaughan, the fifth-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area. The waste landfill site became the centre of a 14-year battle between the citizens of Vaughan and both the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto government, which owned and operated the site. Mr. Ferri co-founded Vaughan CARES, an activist group that became prominent in the fight to close the waste facility.

As a community organizer Ferri also contributed to numerous cultural organizations and helped organize large events, as well as administering community recreational facilities in Toronto, Vaughan and other surrounding communities. In his roles as a York Region Separate School Board trustee, municipal and regional councillor and deputy mayor he undertook several community campaigns and frequently acted as a spokesperson for the school board, the City of Vaughan and for York Region. In October 2014, Ferri was elected to his fifth term as a councillor for the City of Vaughan and his third term as a councillor for the Region of York, Ontario.

Biography

Ferri was born in Pescosolido, Frosinone, Italy on January 6, 1948, to Fillipo and Maria Ferri, immigrating to Canada by ship docking at the Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1959, soon after settling in Toronto. Ferri attended Neil McNeil High School and then entered Centennial College, graduating with a diploma in Recreation Leadership in 1970. He then attended and graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology and sociology in 1978, and a Masters of Environmental Studies mastering in Human Service Management from the same university in 1983.