Catherine McKenney

About

Catherine McKenney is a former Ottawa City Councillor for Somerset Ward (downtown Ottawa, including ByWard Market and Centretown), elected in 2018 and serving until 2022. McKenney ran for Mayor of Ottawa in the October 24, 2022 election, finishing second with 38 percent of the vote behind Mark Sutcliffe (51 percent). McKenney is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns; would have been the first openly non-binary mayor of any Canadian municipality if elected. Before politics they worked as a senior staffer in the Ottawa Mayor's office and as a federal Liberal staffer at Parliament Hill.