Mario G. Racco (born May 13, 1955) 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 C ...

, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

since November 15, 2022. He was an

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2007 who represented the Greater Toronto Area riding of Thornhill.

Background

Racco has degrees in Business Administration from

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

(1977) and

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. He also received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

in 1981. Racco practiced as a Chartered Accountant, for the firms of ''Thorne Riddell'' and ''Dunwoody Chartered Accountants''. Racco is not a Chartered Accountant nor a Chartered Professional Accountant according to the CPA Ontario member directory. In 2013, ‘Racco Parkway’ in Thornhill was named after him for his dedication and public service to the city. He is married to Sandra Yeung Racco, a former city councillor in the city of Vaughan for Ward 4 (formerly held by her husband for 6 terms). They have two children, Alexander and Katrina.

Politics

Racco was elected to the city council of

, Ontario in 1982, and retained this position until his election to the Ontario legislature. He ran for the federal

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

nomination in Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville in 1993, but lost to

Jag Bhaduria Jagdish Singh (Jag) Bhaduria (also variously spelled Badauria or Bhadauria) (born January 23, 1940 in New Delhi, India) is an Indian Canadians, Indian-Canadian teacher. He served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament for the O ...

. In the 2003 provincial election, Racco defeated Susan Kadis for the Liberal nomination in Thornhill and ran against

Tina Molinari Tina R. Molinari (born October 25, 1956) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003, serving as an associate minister and member of the Cabinet i ...

, an incumbent from the Progressive Conservatives. Denominational education was a leading issue in this campaign, with Molinari supporting the extension of tax credits for religious education and Racco opposing it; some members of Thornhill's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

community supported Molinari because of this issue. Racco eventually won by 796 votes. On March 6, 2006, he was appointed as

Parliamentary Assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. Racco was a leading supporter of allowing municipalities to use red light camera technology for safety purposes. In 2004, he was the driving force behind the construction of a new statue of Pierre Trudeau in Vaughan. During the provincial election of 2007, Racco was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Shurman. In one of the most hotly contested races in the province, Shurman came out with about 1500 votes more than Racco. In a 2013 by-election and the

2014 Ontario general election The 2014 Ontario general election was held on June 12, 2014, to elect the members of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the legislature, allowing its leader, Kathleen Wynne, to continue as premier, movin ...

, Racco's wife, Sandra Yeung Racco ran for the

in Thornhill but was defeated both times by

Gila Martow Gila Deborah Gladstone-Martow ( Gladstone; born June 5, 1961) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She has represented Ward 5 on Vaughan City Council since 2022. She previously represented the electoral district of Thornhill in the Legislative ...

. On October 24, 2022 Racco was elected as one of four Local and Regional Councillors in the City of

Electoral Record

Four to be elected.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Racco, Mario 1955 births Canadian accountants Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Toronto Metropolitan University alumni York University alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians