Maria McRae

Maria McRae (born in Sudbury, Ontario) is an Ottawa City Councillor. She represents the River Ward covering some of the city's southern suburbs. Born in Sudbury, Ontario McRae has an undergraduate degree in biology and a law degree from the University of Western Ontario. ^{[citation needed]} She moved to Ottawa in 2000 working as a legal consultant and teaching at Algonquin College. She quickly became known in the community and in the 2003 Ottawa election ran to replace the departing Wendy Stewart. McRae, who was endorsed by Stewart, won a large victory against two opponents in the November 10 election.

First mandate

She ran on a fiscally conservative platform opposing tax hikes and voted against a tax increase the first year, but faced with the significant budget shortfall she was forced to abandon this pledge. She also was criticized for paying Stewart $4000 in consulting fees.^[1]

On November 9, 2005, McRae did not vote in favour of a pesticide bylaw that was promoted by the Canadian Cancer Society and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).^[2] In the period leading up to the vote, McRae was implicated in email incident.^[3] It was the daughter of a woman retired federal intelligence analyst who discovered McRae's wrongdoing, when the daughter received an acknowledgement from Councillor Cullen on which the content of her pro-bylaw e-mail was changed to read the opposite. Allegedly, the daughter's predicament was not unique, as there were about 40 other e-mails that were similarly altered. Evidently, Maria McRae had been involved by having written an email whereby she impersonated Councillor Alex Cullen by placing his name on a pro-pesticide e-mail petition conducted by a pro-pesticide website, propertyrights.ca. Alex Cullen, who in fact supports a strong pesticide bylaw, replied to McRae stating: "I must tell you that I am doubly disappointed to learn that you, a council colleague, used my name to author a message you knew did not represent my position and then, when the matter became public more than three weeks ago, you did not acknowledge your role in this matter, neither to me nor to the public."^[4]

The City of Ottawa's investigation into propertyrights.ca that implicated McRae reportedly cost the city about $1,500 in overtime. The investigation cleared McRae of any intentional wrongdoing with Chief Corporate Services Officer Greg Geddes stating that McRae's actions were nothing more than an "innocent mistake."^{[citation needed]}

McRae subsequently apologized to City Council stating "I'm very sorry." Alex Cullen accepted McRae's apology and said he would now put the issue behind him.^[5]

She was the Chair of Ottawa Community Housing Corporation from 2004 until 2006 – the province of Ontario’s second largest landlord with 50,000 tenants living in more than 15,000 units of housing stock worth more than $2B. She was Vice-Chair of the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee from 2003-2006.

Second mandate

On November 13, 2006, McRae again won in the Ottawa Municipal election, garnering over 65% of the vote^[6] to remain River Ward City Councillor.

In February 2007, Maria McRae brought to the attention of the City Solicitor a complaint regarding a community newspaper named "Capital Xtra." The "Capital Xtra" caters to gay and lesbian lifestyles. By April 2007, the City of Ottawa's legal counsel produced a legal brief concluding that restricting distribution of the paper in city facilities was tantamount to censorship and restricting freedom of expression—as guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.^[7]

Maria McRae was criticized, along with several other councillors and city staff, for the appearance of a conflict of interest for having accepted a free corporate box seat at the 2007 Stanley Cup NHL hockey playoff game (Senators v.s. Anaheim Ducks) at Scotiabank Place from Waste Management Services—a company that the City does business with.^[8] McRae was involved in the cause of firefighters that contracted cancer in the line of duty. Her motion passed unanimously by Ottawa City Council and led to other municipalities passing similar motions. McRae joined the firefighters as they went to Queen's Park to make their case. Subsequently, the Ontario government amended the law to provide firefighters and their families with enhanced benefits.^[9][10]

On September 27, 2007, the Sawmill Creek Constructed Wetland officially opened. McRae lobbied for the funding to finish this project which provides an environmental benefit by filtering out sediment and pollutants, reducing downstream erosion, and controlling flood waters during heavy rains.

The Ottawa Sun's "City Council 2007 Report Card" gave Maria McRae a D, citing among other things that "McRae has to learn that shoving her colleagues aside in the rush for the camera really isn't very becoming."^[11] Her 2008 report card grade was upgraded to B, noting her hard work on several issues.^[12] Describing McRae as a "tireless worker", her grade improved to a B+ in 2009, due in part to her improved relations with her fellow councillors.^[13]

Third mandate

McRae was a candidate for River Ward in the 2010 Municipal Election,^[14] easily winning re-election with close to 60% of the votes. .

Committees

Maria McRae is a member of the following standing committees of Ottawa City Council:

• Emergency and Protective Services Committee
• License Committee (quasi-judicial, administrative tribunal)
• Long Range Financial Plan Committee
• Transportation Committee (chair)
• Member Services Committee
• Ottawa Police Services Board

She also represents Ottawa City Council as a member of the following board of directors and committees:

• Commonwealth Games 2014 Bid Committee
• Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee
• Ottawa Public Library Board
• Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority
• Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
• Rural Summit Steering Committee
• Rural Summit Task Force

^{[citation needed]}

Election results

Ottawa municipal election, 2003

Ottawa municipal election, 2006

References

External links

• Personal webpage
• Official city hall site
• Election webpage