Kathryn McGarry is a Canadian politician who has served as the president of the Ontario Liberal Party since 2023. Previously, she served the 6th mayor of Cambridge from 2018[1] to 2022. Prior to her election as mayor, she represented the riding of Cambridge in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018. She was a minister in the Cabinet of Premier Kathleen Wynne. In 2023, McGarry was elected president of the Ontario Liberal Party.[2]
Kathryn McGarry | |
|---|---|
| President of the Ontario Liberal Party | |
| Assumed office March 5, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Johns |
| 6th Mayor of Cambridge | |
| In office December 1, 2018 – November 15, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Doug Craig |
| Succeeded by | Jan Liggett |
| Minister of Transportation | |
| In office January 18, 2018 – June 7, 2018 | |
| Premier | Kathleen Wynne |
| Preceded by | Steven Del Duca |
| Succeeded by | John Yakabuski |
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Cambridge | |
| In office June 12, 2014 – June 7, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Leone |
| Succeeded by | Belinda Karahalios |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | Ontario Liberal |
| Other political affiliations | Independent |
| Spouse | Fred McGarry |
| Children | 4 |
| Residence | North Dumfries |
| Profession |
|
| Website | Official website |
Background
editMcGarry began her career as a critical care nurse in 1978, working first at the Hospital for Sick Children, as well as Grand River Hospital and Cambridge Memorial hospital.[3]
McGarry was a founding member of Hospice Waterloo Region; past president of the Heritage Cambridge Board of Directors; and past chair of the Heritage Master Plan Implementation Committee. She is a member of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, and was a contributing member of the Community Leaders' Task Force on Municipal Restructuring.[4] McGarry has been a recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for voluntary, community and humanitarian service,[5] and the Bernice Adams Special Trustee award.[6]
Provincial politics
editIn the 2007 provincial election, McGarry vied as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Cambridge. She was defeated by Progressive Conservative incumbent Gerry Martiniuk by 3,238 votes.[7] McGarry ran a second time in the 2011 provincial election but was defeated by a reduced margin of 1,954 votes to new PC candidate Rob Leone.[8] McGarry ran a third time in 2014, this time defeating Leone by 3,067 votes.[9][10]
On June 24, 2014, McGarry was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, and given responsibility for drafting the province's driverless car regulation, reforming the province's intercity bus system and strengthening cycling and road safety.[11][12]
On November 20, 2014, McGarry introduced a private member's bill, The Lung Health Act 2014,[13] which called for the development and implementation of a comprehensive Ontario Lung Health Action Plan covering research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung disease.[14]
On June 13, 2016, McGarry was appointed Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.[15] She introduced and passed legislation that increased accountability and oversight of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities.[16] She also introduced the Aggregate Resources and Mining Modernization Act, which modernized the province's resource extraction rules by updating processes for fee and royalty increases on aggregates, expanded public participation in the extraction application process and enhanced environmental protections through clearer regulations and better oversight for aggregate companies.[17]
In a cabinet shuffle on January 18, 2018, McGarry was named Minister of Transportation.[18] As Minister, McGarry announced the government would conduct a feasibility study to extend GO Transit rail service to Cambridge, connecting the city to the Kitchener line through Guelph via a currently unused CN Rail owned track.[19]
McGarry lost her re-election bid in the 2018 provincial election to Belinda Karahalios.[20]
In 2023, she announced that she would run for president of the Ontario Liberal Party. She was elected president at the party's annual general meeting in March 2023.[21]
Cabinet positions
editMunicipal politics
editOn July 18, 2018, McGarry announced that she was running for Mayor of Cambridge, Ontario,[22] stating that the people of the city were no longer satisfied with Craig's leadership style, and pledged to run city hall in a more communicative and consultative manner.[22] During the campaign, Craig was forced to apologize to McGarry when his campaign staff edited her out of a photograph of a public event they had both attended while McGarry was still sitting in the Legislative Assembly.[23] On October 22, 2018, McGarry was elected Mayor of Cambridge, defeating 18 year incumbent Doug Craig as well as three other candidates with 13,404 votes and 47.7% of the vote, becoming the first candidate in the city's history to defeat an incumbent mayor.[24]
She was defeated by Jan Liggett in the 2022 municipal election.
Election results
edit| Cambridge mayoral election, 2018 | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Kathryn McGarry | 13,404 | 47.72 |
| Doug Craig (X) | 7,394 | 26.32 |
| Ben Tucci | 4,902 | 17.45 |
| Colin Tucker | 1,553 | 5.53 |
| Randy Carter | 836 | 2.98 |
| Total | 28,089 | 100.00 |
| Source: City of Cambridge [25] | ||
| 2018 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Belinda Karahalios | 17,793 | 36.97% | 4.41 | ||||
| New Democratic | Marjorie Knight | 15,639 | 32.49% | 10.88 | ||||
| Liberal | Kathryn McGarry | 11,191 | 23.25% | -15.67 | ||||
| Green | Michele Braniff | 3,018 | 6.27% | 0.61 | ||||
| Libertarian | Allan Dettweiler | 490 | 1.02% | -0.24 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 100.0 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | - | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[26] | ||||||||
| 2014 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Kathryn McGarry | 18,763 | 38.92 | 5.85 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Rob Leone | 15,694 | 32.56 | -5.13 | ||||
| New Democratic | Bobbi Stewart | 10,413 | 21.59 | -3.02 | ||||
| Green | Temara Brown | 2,726 | 5.68 | 3.18 | ||||
| Libertarian | Allan R. Dettweiler | 605 | 1.25 | -0.24 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 48,200 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 814 | |||||||
| Turnout | 49,015 | 49.04 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 100,130 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | 5.85 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[9] | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Rob Leone | 15,947 | 37.69 | -3.97 | ||||
| Liberal | Kathryn McGarry | 13,993 | 33.07 | -1.04 | ||||
| New Democratic | Atinuke Bankole | 10,414 | 24.61 | 10.81 | ||||
| Green | Jacques Malette | 1,056 | 2.50 | -6.43 | ||||
| Libertarian | Allan Dettweiler | 629 | 1.49 | |||||
| Independent | Robert Ross | 271 | 0.64 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 42,310 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 187 | 0.44 | ||||||
| Turnout | 42,497 | 46.04 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 92,310 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | -1.47 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[8] | ||||||||
| 2007 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gerry Martiniuk | 17,884 | 41.66 | -0.84 | ||||
| Liberal | Kathryn McGarry | 14,641 | 34.11 | -1.08 | ||||
| New Democratic | Mitchell Healey | 5,923 | 13.80 | -4.29 | ||||
| Green | Colin Carmichael | 3,835 | 8.93 | 6.84 | ||||
| Family Coalition | Paul Vendervet | 650 | 1.50 | -0.63 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 42,933 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[7] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Kathryn McGarry unseats Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig". Global News, October 22, 2018.
- ^ Thomson, Chris (March 5, 2023). "Former Cambridge mayor Kathryn McGarry elected Ontario Liberals president". CTV Kitchener. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ "Meet the candidates - CambridgeTimes.ca". September 18, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Cambridge- Kathryn McGarry - Liberal". September 16, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "YWCA announces Women of Distinction - CambridgeTimes.ca". April 21, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Bernice Adams award winners - CambridgeTimes.ca". June 6, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ a b "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 3 (xii). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "General Election by District: Cambridge". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
- ^ "Liberal Kathryn McGarry beats Tory in historic Cambridge win". CBC News. June 13, 2014.
- ^ Herhalt, Chris (November 5, 2014). "Waterloo Region's Liberal MPPs will help with jobs fund, driverless cars law". Waterloo Region Record. Waterloo Region. Archived from the original on November 13, 2014.
- ^ "2014 Parliamentary Assistant Mandate Letter: Transportation The Minister's instructions to the Parliamentary Assistant on priorities for the year 2014". Ontario.ca. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "Bill 41, Lung Health Act, 2016 - Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Bills & Lawmaking - Current Parliament". www.ontla.on.ca. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ "MPP McGarry stands up for lung health - CambridgeTimes.ca". December 10, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ Hicks, Jeff (June 13, 2016). "McGarry gives Waterloo Region voice in Ontario cabinet". Waterloo Region Record. Waterloo Region.
- ^ Werner, Kevin (June 12, 2017). "Ontario proposes stricter oversight of conservation authorities". Stoney Creek News. Hamilton.
- ^ "Bill 39, Aggregate Resources and Mining Modernization Act, 2017 - Legislative Assembly of Ontario - Bills & Lawmaking - Current Parliament". www.ontla.on.ca.
- ^ Martin, Ray (January 18, 2018). "McGarry surprised and excited with new post". Cambridge Times. Cambridge.
- ^ Davis, Brent (May 3, 2018). "GO train service to Cambridge to be studied". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener.
- ^ "PC Belinda Karahalios wins in Cambridge riding". CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. June 7, 2018.
- ^ "Kathryn McGarry, former Cambridge mayor, running for president of Ontario Liberals". January 22, 2023.
- ^ a b "Kathryn McGarry running for mayor in Cambridge". Waterloo Region Record. July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Cambridge, Ont., mayor apologizes after image of political rival edited out of campaign photo". CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, September 14, 2018.
- ^ "Mayor Doug Craig defeated as Cambridge elects a new mayor". Cambridge Times. October 23, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Election Results". City of Cambridge. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
- ^ "Candidate Search". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 18, 2018.