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Jennifer O'Connell

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Jennifer O'Connell
MP
Member of Parliament
for Pickering—Uxbridge
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byRiding Established
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs (Cybersecurity)
In office
2023–Incumbent
Preceded byPam Damoff
Personal details
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Political partyLiberal
ResidencePickering, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Toronto

Jennifer O'Connell MP (born 1983) 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 currently serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to Dominic Leblanc, the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions, and Intergovernmental Affairs (Cybersecurity). Since her election to the House of Commons, O'Connell has served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance (Youth Economic Opportunity) and to the Minister of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

O’Connell has also been a member of several Standing House of Commons Committees, including Finance, Health, National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, National Defence, Transport, and Public Safety and National Security.[1]

Background

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Jennifer O'Connell graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto. In 2006, she won a seat on Pickering City Council, becoming the youngest woman to be elected as a Councillor in the City’s history, defeating incumbent Kevin Ashe. She was elected in 2010 and 2014 as a Durham Region Councillor, increasing her support in each election.

At the time of her election to the House of Commons in 2015, O’Connell was serving as the Deputy Mayor of Pickering.[2]

Municipal Politics

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On Council, O’Connell developed a reputation for aggressively opposing perceived wasteful spending by the City of Pickering and the Regional Municipality of Durham.[3] In response to a Councillor’s expenses scandal, she attempted to remove him as the Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Veridian Board.[4]

O’Connell served on several boards and committees, including the Durham Region Finance and Administration Committee. She spent four years as Chair of Pickering’s Waterfront Committee and Vice-Chair of the Sustainable Pickering Advisory Committee.[5]

Federal Politics

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Following her victory in the 2014 municipal election, O’Connell was approached by the Liberal Party of Canada about running as the party’s candidate in the new riding of Pickering-Uxbridge. She won the party’s nomination and defeated Conservative Party of Canada MP, Corneliu Chisu in the 2015 Federal Election.[6]

After taking her seat in the House of Commons, O’Connell served on the House Standing Committee on Finance.[7] In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed O’Connell as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance with an additional mandate focused on Youth Economic Opportunity in advance of the 2019 federal budget.[8] When Finance Minister Bill Morneau presented the government's budget, it included a separate comprehensive document focused solely on youth economic issues entitled “Investing in the Future of Young Canadians”.[9]

The budget introduced the First Time Home Buyer Incentive, which provides eligible Canadians with the option to finance a portion of their first home purchase through a shared equity mortgage with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.[10] The budget lowered interest rates on student loans and provided an interest-free grace period for recent graduates and those facing health or family-related challenges. It also funded an expansion of work-integrated learning programs to create 40,000 new annual placements, including to the Business/Higher Education Roundtable for 44,000 additional opportunities by 2021.[11]

In 2018, she worked with Conservative MP Erin O’Toole and the Minister of Veterans Affairs, Seamus O’Regan to secure the unanimous support of the House of Commons and the Senate to erect a tribute in Parliament to Lt.-Col. Samuel Sharpe, a sitting MP who enlisted at the outbreak of the First World War.[12] Sharpe committed suicide upon his return after battling “shell shock”, now understood to be the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

After she was re-elected in the 2019 Federal Election, she was appointed to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP). At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed O’Connell as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, where she appeared on national television and answered questions from the opposition in the House of Commons on the government’s response to the global pandemic.[13]

After she was re-elected in the 2021 Federal Election, she was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, Dominic LeBlanc. When LeBlanc became the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions, and Intergovernmental Affairs in 2023, O’Connell continued as his Parliamentary Secretary, with a specific additional mandate focused on the government’s cybersecurity policy agenda.[14]

Electoral record

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2021 Canadian federal election: Pickering—Uxbridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jennifer O'Connell 27,271 46.9 -4.1 $63,374.89
Conservative Jacob Mantle 20,976 36.1 +7.0 $113,717.90
New Democratic Eileen Higdon 7,396 13.1 +1.2 $3,884.61
People's Corneliu Chisu 2,328 4.0 +2.0 $2,394.19
Total valid votes/Expense limit 58,167 – – $121,844.79
Total rejected ballots 302
Turnout 58,469 62.16
Eligible voters 94,059
Source: Elections Canada[15]
2019 Canadian federal election: Pickering—Uxbridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jennifer O'Connell 32,387 51.0 +0.7 $79,048.14
Conservative Cyma Musarat 18,462 29.1 -9.1 $56,879.42
New Democratic Eileen Higdon 7,582 11.9 +2.7 $9,433.88
Green Peter Forint 3,799 6.0 +3.7 $7,976.00
People's Corneliu Chisu 1,265 2.0 $7,989.04
Total valid votes/expense limit 63,495 100.0
Total rejected ballots 407
Turnout 63,902 68.9
Eligible voters 92,699
Liberal hold Swing +4.90
Source: Elections Canada[16]
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[17][18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "Roles - Jennifer O'Connell - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada".
  2. ^ Meet Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal.ca
  3. ^ Week, Oshawa This (2011-07-13). "Pickering council 2011 municipal report cards". DurhamRegion.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  4. ^ "Pickering councillor at odds over Code of Conduct accusations". 17 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Jennifer O'Connell". Prime Minister of Canada. 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  6. ^ "Pickering Councillor Jennifer O'Connell wins Liberal nomination". 12 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Roles - Jennifer O'Connell - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada".
  8. ^ "Jennifer O'Connell". 29 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Budget 2019: Investing in Young Canadians". 26 March 2019.
  10. ^ "First-Time Home Buyer Incentive | CMHC".
  11. ^ "Budget 2019: Investing in Young Canadians". 26 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Lt.-Col. Samuel Sharpe tribute installed in Parliament". 15 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Roles - Jennifer O'Connell - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada".
  14. ^ "Roles - Jennifer O'Connell - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada".
  15. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  17. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Pickering—Uxbridge, 30 September 2015
  18. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Jennifer O'Connell wins Pickering-Uxbridge riding for Liberals". durhamregion.com/. 19 October 2015.
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