Patricia "Patti" Starr (born 1943) was the chair of Ontario Place from 1987 to 1989 and involved in a scandal that damaged the Liberal government of David Peterson in the late 1980s, contributing to its defeat in the 1990 provincial election. Starr was charged with multiple charges of fraud and criminal breach of trust as well as violations of the Elections Finance Act as a result of illegally using charitable funds to make donations to political campaigns, predominantly those of Liberal candidates. Starr was head of the National Council of Jewish Women, Toronto Division until the accusations that she misused the charity's funds forced her to resign as the Council's leader in May 1989[1] and as chair of Ontario Place the next month.[2] In June 1991, she was sentenced to six months in jail.[3]
Starr was born in Toronto, Ontario. Today, she heads her own consulting business that specializes in fundraising/special event co-ordination, fact-checking, editing, research and writing. Starr received her training at Ryerson University.
Starr is the author of one book about her political rise and fall Tempting Fate: A cautionary tale of power and politics (1993) and two works of fiction: Deadly Justice (1997) and Final Justice (2002). She is also the Associate Editor of the Blue Book of Canadian Business[4]