Jennifer O'Connell

Jennifer O'Connell MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Pickering—Uxbridge
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Riding Established
Pickering City and Regional Councilor
In office 2010–2015
Preceded by	Bonnie Littley
Succeeded by	Kevin Ashe
Constituency	Ward 1
Pickering City Councillor
In office 2006–2010
Preceded by	Kevin Ashe
Succeeded by	Kevin Ashe
Constituency	Ward 1
Personal details
Born	c. 1983
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Pickering, Ontario
Alma mater	University of Toronto

Jennifer O'Connell MP is a Canadian Liberal politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Pickering—Uxbridge in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.

O'Connell attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a degree in political science. She then clerked at a law firm specializing in labour relations, and became involved in municipal politics in Pickering. In 2006, she was elected to the city council representing Ward 1. She was re-elected in 2010 and 2014, and at the time of her election to the House of Commons was serving as the city's deputy mayor. In March 2014 she had been approached by the local Liberal riding association about serving as their candidate in the upcoming federal election, and initially declined, intending to focus on her re-election at the municipal level. Following the municipal elections in October 2014, she was approached again, and agreed to seek the nomination, which she won in January 2015.

During her time on Pickering and Durham Region Council, O'Connell was a member of the Durham Region Finance and Administration Committee, as well as the Chair of the Waterfront Committee and Vice-Chair of the Sustainable Pickering Committee. She supported and participated in the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, a six-day cycling ride that spans 475 kilometers, 7 regions and 27 communities from Northumberland to Niagara.

O'Connell was also a volunteer board member at the Durham Association for Family Respite Services (DAFRS), a local organization that provides support to families with a member who has an intellectual disability or a child with a physical disability.

After her victory in the 2015 Federal Election Campaign, O'Connell became a Member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Through her role on the committee, O'Connell works on a number of important financial issues affecting her constituents. After the release of the Panama Papers, O'Connell aggressively questioned KPMG and Canada Revenue Agency officials on their roles concerning tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance schemes.

She claims her concerns focused on the treatment of taxpayers by CRA officials while corporations and wealthy individuals like Stephen Bronfman set up schemes to avoid paying taxes, O'Connell cited her constituents who find themselves in long and costly disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency over a relatively smaller amount of owed taxes.

On the Finance Committee, O'Connell also focuses on affordable housing, infrastructure and accessibility issues, continuing her priorities and passions from her time on Pickering Council.

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Pickering—Uxbridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Jennifer O'Connell	32,387	51.0	+0.7
	Conservative	Cyma Musarat	18,462	29.1	-9.1
	New Democratic	Eileen Higdon	7,582	11.9	+2.7
	Green	Peter Forint	3,799	6.0	+3.7
	People's	Corneliu Chisu	1,265	2.0
Total valid votes/Expense limit			63,495	100.0
Total rejected ballots			407
Turnout			63,902	68.9
Eligible voters			92,699
Source: Elections Canada

2015 Canadian federal election: Pickering—Uxbridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Jennifer O'Connell	29,757	50.1%	+16.5	–
	Conservative	Corneliu Chisu	22,591	38.2%	-7.8	–
	New Democratic	Pamela Downward	5,446	9.1%	-6.6	–
	Green	Anthony Jordan Navarro	1,365	2.2%	-2.3	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			59,159	100.0		$223,459.17
Total rejected ballots			222	0.3%	–
Turnout			59,381	–	–
Eligible voters			85,794
Source: Elections Canada

External links

• Official Website