| Honorific Prefix: | His Worship |
| Mark Sutcliffe | |
| Order: | 59th |
| Office: | Mayor of Ottawa |
| Term Start: | November 15, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Jim Watson |
| Alma Mater: | Carleton University (attended) |
| Birth Date: | 14 July 1968 |
| Birth Place: | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Children: | 3 |
| Father: | John Sutcliffe |
| Mother: | Florence Ng-Yelim |
| Party: | Independent |
| Residence: | Wellington Village[1] |
Mark Sutcliffe (born July 14, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been the 59th mayor of Ottawa since 2022.[2] Before entering politics, he hosted Ottawa Today on 1310News radio. Sutcliffe is the first Chinese Canadian and person from a visible minority group to serve as mayor of Ottawa.
Mark Sutcliffe was born at the Riverside Hospital on July 14, 1968, the son of John Michael Sutcliffe and Florence Ng-Yelim.[3] [4] Sutcliffe's maternal grandfather, Xavier, was born to a Chinese family in Mauritius in 1902. Sutcliffe's maternal grandmother, Yolande, was French, and the two moved to Shanghai. The family moved to Canada during the Chinese Civil War. John Sutcliffe was also an immigrant, coming from Yorkshire in England. John and Florence met while working at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.[5]
Sutcliffe grew up in McKellar Park in the city's west end. He graduated from St. Pius X High School, and then studied political science[5] at Carleton University for one year before dropping out to take a job at the CHEZ 106 radio station.[1] At the same time, he started working as a news reader at CFRA, and then became a news reporter for the Ottawa Business News, and was the first play-by-play announcer for the Ottawa Lynx baseball team. He then founded the Ottawa Business Journal, where he met his wife, Ginny.[5]
Sutcliffe was elected mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 municipal election.[6] Described as a centrist, Sutcliffe defeated Catherine McKenney, a progressive councillor supported by many New Democratic Party and some Liberal figures.[7] Sutcliffe was supported by many sitting Liberal and Conservative politicians.[8]
He is the first Chinese Canadian mayor of Ottawa, as well as its first mayor from a visible minority group. Despite this, Sutcliffe acknowledges that he has benefitted in his career from racial privilege, being born "visibly White" without "any Asian features."[9]
Sutcliffe protested the Capital Pride 2024 solidarity statement with Palestine[10] which recognizing the "ongoing Gaza Genocide", advocating for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, in addition to condemning the October 7 attacks on Israel and rising anti-semitism and Islamophobia.[11] . Sutcliffe wrote "this decision by the board, days before the start of Pride, has unfortunately created an atmosphere where many now do not feel welcome to participate." Mark claims that the solidarity statement makes "members of our community feeling excluded."[11] Capital Pride co-chair Francesco MacAllister-Caruso responded to the criticisms of the solidarity statement saying "Our movement is based on equity, justice and inclusion for everyone. And that involves us having to foster difficult but important conversations on these topics."[11] [12] . As a result, Mark said that he would boycott all events officially organized by Capital Pride until they changed the political positions.[11]