John G. Henry (born July 30, 1960) is a politician in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. He was mayor of
Oshawa
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...
from 2010 to 2018 and is currently chair of the
Regional Municipality of Durham
The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Toron ...
.
Background
Henry was born in Oshawa. The son of
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
workers, he attended
RS McLaughlin CVI High School. Henry is a graduate of
Durham College
Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Durham Region
The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto a ...
,
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...
and Panasonic's Corporate School. Henry trained as an Industrial Fire Fighter at the
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, Ice Rescue Specialist at the Rochester Police Academy, Dive Rescue Specialist, Level 1 at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. Henry represented Canada at the First International Dive Rescue Program at the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
.
He is the owner of Office Products and Services, an Oshawa company serving Durham Region and the
GTA.
City Councillor
Henry ran for the position of Oshawa councillor Ward 5 in 2003 but was defeated by incumbent Cathy Clarke by 734 votes. He tried again in 2006 this time defeating her by 349 votes. His campaign focused on city hall accountability, developing new sources of revenue and managing spending.
In 2007, Oshawa council voted to do away with the ward system that had been in place since 1985. Henry voted to return the election to a system of electing councillors at-large, which had been the historical system from 1933 to 1985. The vote was a result of a referendum held the previous year where a majority of voters preferred the old system. Henry said, "I'm not prepared to say people's vote doesn't matter...anything short of supporting this would be an insult to the residents of this city."
During his time as councillor, Henry unlike other councillors paid for his municipal expenses out of his own pocket.
Mayor of Oshawa
![Mayor John Henry IMG 2535](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Mayor_John_Henry_IMG_2535.jpg)
In 2010, Henry ran for Mayor of Oshawa. He defeated the incumbent
John Gray by 6,295 votes. There was widespread dissatisfaction with Gray's record including his decision to drive a taxpayer funded vehicle, a
2010 Camaro SS and for approving use of city funds to pay MBA education expenses for his executive assistant and another councillor. Due to Henry's expense policy for his election campaign and his previous councillor work he was dubbed "Rob Ford East" by the
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
.
On September 3, 2013, a raucous council meeting resulted in two members of the public being arrested. The issue being discussed at the meeting was a report by the city's auditor general about a real estate deal. When city security staff tried to deal with them, a struggle ensued. Undercover Durham Regional Police officers who were also sitting in the room then arrested two men and charged them with assault.
The charges against them and the security men involved were all withdrawn at a later date.
In April 2015, the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
ruled that reciting the
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
in a Quebec municipal council meeting violated that province's
Charter of Rights. While several cities outside of Quebec also decided to discontinue the practice, Henry said that it would continue in Oshawa, despite constitutional opinions that said the ruling likely also applied to the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
. Henry said, "We ask that people please join in the Lord's Prayer or take a moment of reflection... I am open to debate, but in the meantime at the next council meeting we will continue with the practice." A recent Ontario Ombudsman investigation found Henry had "illegal meetings", this "shameful" decision was well documented in all local newspapers like Oshawa this week and Oshawa express."
Legal issues
On April 25, 2018, Oshawa residents Jeff Davis and former mayoral candidate Lou DeVuono delivered documents to the DRPS downtown station highlighting what they say is evidence of criminal wrongdoing at city hall, particularly in connection to a much maligned land purchase in 2013 for a new city works depot at 199 Wentworth Street East.
An initial investigator was given a computer at city hall complete with an F Drive that contained the information and reports that would be relevant to his investigation. In a recent Freedom of Information request for the drive the city claimed the drive had been deleted.
References
Notes
Citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, John
1960 births
George Brown College alumni
Living people
Mayors of Oshawa
fr:John Henry
pl:John Henry