Maria McRae

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Maria McRae (born c. 1966 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. She represented the River Ward on Ottawa City Council, 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.<ref name="ottawacitizen.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She moved to Ottawa in 2000 working as a legal consultant and teaching at Algonquin College. 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. She was re-elected in 2010, but announced that she would not run again in 2014. On council, she was considered a centrist. She lives in the Hunt Club area with her husband, Paul.<ref name="ottawacitizen.com"/>

First mandateEdit

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.<ref>"Councillor Hires Predecessor for Advice: McRae pays Stewart $4,000 to Consult." The Ottawa Citizen. February 26, 2004.</ref>

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).<ref>City of Ottawa, Pesticide Vote</ref> In the period leading up to the vote, McRae was implicated in email incident.<ref>Ottawa Sun,Template:Usurped</ref> 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."<ref>Ottawa Citizen, Councillor fingered in fake email campaign Template:Webarchive</ref>

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."Template: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.<ref>The Ottawa Sun, "SHE'S SORRY: The kerfuffle over River Coun. Maria McRae using Bay Coun. Alex Cullen's e-mail address has been put to rest." December 1, 2005.</ref>

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 mandateEdit

On November 13, 2006, McRae again won in the Ottawa Municipal election, garnering over 65% of the vote<ref>City of Ottawa - 2006 election results Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref>"Community centres must display Capital Xtra: FREE SPEECH / City lawyers tell council to end censorship speculation."</ref>

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.<ref>Ottawa cun, Gift crackdown looms - Mayor demands policy rewrite, councillors call for integrity commissioner, June 14, 2007</ref> 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.<ref>Canada.com, Firefighters get big boost in fight for cancer claims Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Canada.com, Ontario eases compensation rules for firefighters with cancer, heart disease Template:Webarchive</ref>

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."<ref>The Ottawa Sun, "City Council 2007 Report Card"</ref> Her 2008 report card grade was upgraded to B, noting her hard work on several issues.<ref>Ottawa Sun, "City Council 2008 Report Card"</ref> 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.<ref>Ottawa Sun, "City Council 2009 Report Card"</ref>

Third mandateEdit

McRae was a candidate for River Ward in the 2010 Municipal Election,<ref>Ottawa Sun, "McRae runs again for River Ward councillor seat"</ref> easily winning re-election with close to 60% of the votes. .

LegacyEdit

Maria McRae did not run in the October 2014 municipal elections.

Airport Parkway Pedestrian BridgeEdit

Although the project was plagued with a variety of problems and delays, McRae remained a supporter of the project.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Community CentreEdit

McRae claims to have been proudest of her contribution to the expansion of the Hunt Club-Riverside Park Community Centre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ParksEdit

Spending on public parks sparked controversy in March 2015, after McRae's departure from office. Her successor, Riley Brockington announced that he had discovered there was no money left in an account for park upgrades because it had all been spent by McRae during her last year in office. In fact the account was $500 in deficit.

File:Signparkbench.jpg

Example of the bronze plaques affixed to park benches.

According to the city, much of the $600 000 was spent on park improvements such as play structures, but a significant portion was spent on park benches adorned with bronze plaques. The plaques, ostensibly thanking veterans for their contribution to Canada, were emblazoned with McRae's name. Both the cost of the plaques (about C$600 each) and the fact that they were signed by McRae herself were cited by councillors Riley Brockington and Jody Mitic as reasons to question the appropriateness of the expense and call for changes in the rules to prevent its recurrence.<ref name=cbcparks>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In a July 2015 report to the Planning Committee by Acting Deputy City Manager John L. Moser, several recommendations were made aiming to prevent the re-occurrence of such events. One of the recommendations is to make ineligible for funding "any items that could be perceived as promotional, including plaques or engravings containing Council members' names, pictures or likenesses."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CommitteesEdit

Prior to her retirement from office in 2014, Maria McRae was 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 represented 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

Template:Citation needed

Election resultsEdit

Ottawa municipal election, 2003Edit

River Ward (Ward 16)
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria McRae	5600	63.11
Todd Mattila-Hartman	1654	18.64
Richard Smith	1619	18.25

<ref name=2003Results>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ottawa municipal election, 2006Edit

River Ward (Ward 16)
Candidate	Votes	%
Maria McRae	9278	65.51
Blake Batson	4885	34.49

<ref name=2006Results>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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