Phil McNeely explained

Office1:Ontario MPP
Term Start1:2003
Term End1:2014
Predecessor1:Brian Coburn
Successor1:Marie-France Lalonde
Constituency1:Ottawa—Orléans
Office2:Ottawa City Councillor
Term Start2:2000
Term End2:2003
Predecessor2:Robert van den Ham
Successor2:Rob Jellett
Constituency2:Cumberland Ward
Birth Place:Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
Party:Liberal
Residence:Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Occupation:Business owner, engineer

Philip McNeely is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Ottawa—Orléans for the Ontario Liberal Party.

Background

McNeely was born in Cumberland, Ontario and is bilingual. He was educated at Lisgar Collegiate and McGill University, earning a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the latter. He later earned the equivalent of a Master's Degree in engineering from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London. Before entering politics, he was the CEO of McNeely Engineering, a firm which operated in the Ottawa region. He sold this firm in 1997, claiming it had suffered under provincial cutbacks to infrastructure spending.

Municipal politics

In 2000, McNeely was elected as a municipal councillor for the Cumberland Ward of the amalgamated City of Ottawa, defeating incumbent Robert van den Ham.[1] In 2002, he played a key role in the successful Hay West project, in which hay from eastern Canada was shipped to the drought-stricken west.[2] He was also active in opposing the creation of a hog farm in the village of Sarsfield part of the Cumberland Ward of Ottawa.[3]

Provincial politics

In the provincial election of 2003, he defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Brian Coburn in Ottawa—Orleans by about 4500 votes.[4] He was named a government whip on October 23, 2003.[5]

In July 2006, McNeely described Israel as a "rogue state", arguing that Israel's military campaign in Lebanon was resulting in collective punishment for the Lebanese people. Dalton McGuinty expressed "serious dismay and disappointment" for these remarks, and McNeely later offered an apology for the language of his comments.[6]

He was re-elected to the provincial legislature in 2007, beating Conservative candidate Graham Fox by almost 9,000 votes.[7] In the 2011 election he was re-elected with a margin of 2,854 votes.[8]

In 2005, McNeely proposed an amendment to a no smoking bill that would ban power wall cigarette advertising from convenience stores and retail businesses. The "McNeely Amendment", which came into effect on May 31, 2008, has helped keep cigarettes out of the sight of children.[9]

During his time in office, McNeely has served as Parliamentary Assistant to a number of ministers including Minister of Transportation, Minister of Health and Long Term Care and most recently as PA to the Minister of the Environment.

In 2014, McNeely announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2014 contest.[10]

Electoral record

Notes and References

  1. News: Ward 19: Cumberland: Political neophyte McNeely stuns two incumbents . Quan . Douglas . The Ottawa Citizen . November 14, 2000 . B7.
  2. News: Shipping hay west too costly: Government's $2.2M would be better spent on southern Alberta hay . Farrell . Jim . The Ottawa Citizen . August 21, 2002 . A5.
  3. News: The big stink: Canadian hog farmers are finding that, more and more, they have to go big or go out of business . Anderson . Elliott . This . 35 . 6 . May–Jun 2002 . 16–19.
  4. Web site: Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate . Elections Ontario . October 2, 2003 . 2014-03-02.
  5. News: McGuinty freezes auto premiums: Newly sworn-in premier quickly keeps election promise . April . Lindgren . The Ottawa Citizen . October 24, 2003 . A1.
  6. News: MPP calls Israel 'rogue' state . Ottawa Citizen . July 20, 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060808010539/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=15641fbd-22c3-4320-b77e-617bd78af140 . August 8, 2006 .
  7. Web site: Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate . PDF . Elections Ontario . October 10, 2007 . 2014-03-02 . 11 (xx) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091007160233/http://www.elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf . October 7, 2009 .
  8. Web site: Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate . PDF . Elections Ontario . October 6, 2011 . 2014-03-02 . 12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130330163815/http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf . March 30, 2013 .
  9. News: McNeely amendment strengthens Smoke-Free Ontario Act . Canada NewsWire . May 3, 2005 . 1.
  10. News: Two veteran Ontario politicians say they won't run in next election . The Canadian Press . February 28, 2014.