Catherine Mary McKenna (born August 5, 1971) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, McKenna was the

minister of environment and climate change The minister of environment and climate change (french: ministre de l'environnement et du changement climatique) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio is responsible for the Environment and Climate Change Canada, a ...

from 2015 to 2019 and

minister of infrastructure and communities The Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre de l’Infrastructure et des Collectivités) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the development of Canada's infrastructure. Infrastructure ...

from 2019 to 2021. She was the

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Ottawa Centre Ottawa Centre (french: Ottawa-Centre) is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. While the riding's boundaries (mainly to the south and west as the north a ...

from 2015 to 2021. She is currently the Chair of the United Nations High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities.

Background

After graduating from École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame (her father insisted that all his children be

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

despite not knowing any French himself) McKenna attended Saint Mary Catholic Secondary School in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. After graduating from the University of Toronto, she filmed a documentary in Asia.

Career

McKenna is trained as a lawyer. In 2005, McKenna co-founded Canadian Lawyers Abroad - Avocats canadiens à l'étranger (CLA-ACE), now called Level, a

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

-based charity that helps Canadian law students and law firms do ''

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

'' legal work in developing countries. McKenna was a senior negotiator with the

United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

mission in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

which culminated in the

Timor Sea Treaty Formally known as the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia was signed between Australia and East Timor in Dili, East Timor on 20 May 2002, the day East Timor attained its independence from United ...

providing for the joint exploitation of petroleum resources in a part of the Timor Sea. McKenna has practised law at leading firms in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, focusing on international trade, competition, investment and constitutional issues. In 2002, she joined

Stikeman Elliott Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian business law firm founded in 1952 by H. Heward Stikeman and Fraser Elliott. The firm has offices located in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, New York, London and Sydney. Since 2021, the firm's cha ...

LLP A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not ...

, working in the areas of competition, trade, and constitutional law. During this time she was senior counsel on the review of Canada's military justice system, headed by

Antonio Lamer Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer (July 8, 1933 – November 24, 2007) was a Canadian lawyer, jurist and the 16th Chief Justice of Canada. Career Lamer practised in partnership at the firm of Cutler, Lamer, Bellemare and Associates and was a full ...

, former chief justice of Canada.

Charity

McKenna was, before entering politics, the

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of Level, a charity that she co-founded. Level is described as a catalyst for positive and social change. They believe that uniting the power of people, education and law will lead to a more equitable and just society.

Political career

In the 2015 federal election, McKenna defeated longtime

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP) MP

Paul Dewar Paul Wilson Dewar (January 25, 1963 – February 6, 2019) was a Canadian educator and politician from Ottawa, Ontario. He was the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Ottawa Centre. Dewar was first elected to ...

in the riding of

. McKenna said that she knocked on 100,000 doors during her 522 days as a candidate. McKenna was elected with 43 per cent of the votes compared to Dewar's 38 per cent, and had campaigned on issues such as reforming the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...

, funding for a new main branch of the

Ottawa Public Library The Ottawa Public Library (OPL; french: Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa) is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The library was founded in 1906 with a donation from the Carnegie Foundation. Services * Information and reference servi ...

, and opposing the proposed

Memorial to the Victims of Communism The Memorial to the victims of Communism ( cs, Pomník obětem komunismu) is a series of statues in Prague commemorating the victims of the communist era between 1948 and 1989. It is located at the base of Petřín hill, Újezd street in the ...

. McKenna was one of 50 women elected to the Liberal caucus in the 2015 election.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change

McKenna was appointed

Minister of Environment and Climate Change The minister of environment and climate change (french: ministre de l'environnement et du changement climatique) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio is responsible for the Environment and Climate Change Canada, a ...

in Justin Trudeau's first

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

on November 4, 2015. One of her first appearances as Minister of Environment and Climate Change was at the

2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conve ...

in Paris. In this position, she played a significant role in implementing Trudeau's Environmental policy. In December 2016, McKenna led a clean-technology sector business delegation with Canadian and Chinese companies in China. Additionally, she served as the international executive vice-chair of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development and co-chaired the council's annual general meeting with China's Minister of Environmental Protection, Minister Chen Jining. Some of McKenna's critics have derisively nicknamed her "Climate

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

", a label McKenna considers a sexist insult. Conservative MP

Gerry Ritz Gerry Ritz (born August 19, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. He served as member of the House of Commons of Canada for Battlefords—Lloydminster from 1997 until his resignation in 2017. He served as Canada's Agriculture minister from 20 ...

caused controversy in September 2017 when he tweeted a link to a news story stating no industrialized nations were on pace to meet

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...

carbon emission targets with the comment "Has anyone told our climate Barbie! " (referring to McKenna). Ritz eventually deleted the original post, afterward posted another message stating: "I apologize for the use of Barbie, it is not reflective of the role the Minister plays". Conservative leader

Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...

condemned Ritz's comment later in the day and stated he would reach out to McKenna personally to "assure the minister that this type of behavior has no place in the Conservative caucus". In November 2018, in response to the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

's decision to cancel all climate action projects supported through the federal Low Carbon Economy Fund, McKenna announced that the Government of Canada would work directly with businesses to re-invest the $200-million remaining in the province's Low Carbon Economy Fund.

Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

In November 2019, McKenna was appointed as the

Departure from politics

In late June of 2021, McKenna announced she would not seek re-election to her seat in Parliament. Following the 2021 federal election, she was succeeded as MP by

Yasir Naqvi Yasir Abbas Naqvi (born January 25, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Ottawa Centre since the 2021 federal election, sitting as a Liberal. Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Naqvi wa ...

, a Liberal who served as the

attorney general of Ontario The Attorney General of Ontario is the chief legal adviser to His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The Attorney General is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario (the cabinet) and ...

in the provincial government of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

Personal life

Born and raised in

, she is the eldest of four children of Dr. John McKenna, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

and his

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-born wife Pat McKenna, who lived in the southwest part of Hamilton. On August 14, 1999, McKenna married entrepreneur and writer

Scott Gilmore Scott Gilmore is a Canadian social entrepreneur, former Canadian foreign service officer, and writer who is known for founding the non-profit Peace Dividend Trust, Building Markets and as an advocate for capitalist expansion in the international ...

, with whom she has lived since 2002 in The Glebe, Ottawa. They have one daughter and two sons. The actor

Patrick Gilmore Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish-born American composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. While serving in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, Gilmore ...

is McKenna's brother-in-law.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website

Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Catherine 1971 births Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Canadian civil servants Canadian Ministers of the Environment Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian people of Irish descent Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario Politicians from Ottawa Alumni of the London School of Economics McGill University Faculty of Law alumni University of Toronto alumni University of Toronto faculty Women in Ontario politics 21st-century Canadian women politicians GreenPAC Endorsed Candidate