Meet five of the hopefuls in Ottawa Centre for the Oct.19 vote.
Paul Dewar
Paul Dewar, 52, has been the member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre since 2006. Most recently he’s been serving as the opposition critic for foreign affairs.
He says his reason for running a fourth term as the NDP candidate hasn’t changed since he was first elected. “To make a difference. And I fundamentally believe in the idea of public service. Both my parents were involved in public service.”
Paul’s late mother Marion Dewar is a former mayor of Ottawa, and a former MP who represented Hamilton Mountain.
Prior to federal politics, Dewar worked as an elementary school teacher in Ottawa after completing an arts degree at Carleton University, and an education degree at Queen’s University.
Over the course of his career as MP for Ottawa Centre, Dewar says he is most proud of a bill he put forward that would have changed the Patent Act to help provide medicines to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries in Africa where it’s too costly to treat every patient. The Conservatives defeated the bill, but Dewar says he still believes it can pass in the next term, “I know that this will happen, I know it’s going to happen.”
Dewar says he is also proud of his work as MP helping clean up the Ottawa River and protecting Gatineau Park from development, as well as helping the homeless, supporting the arts, and promoting cycling in the city.
In his spare time, Dewar enjoys running, pond hockey, soccer, and seeing live music.
He is married to his wife Julia. The couple have two sons, Nathaniel and Jordan.
Dean T. Harris
At 23, Dean T. Harris is the youngest candidate in the Ottawa Centre riding. He grew up in Erin, Ontario before moving to Guelph after high school. Harris is now a second year linguistics student at Carleton University.
He says his inspiration for joining the Libertarian Party is American politician Ron Paul. “He’s the catalyst that got me interested in the philosophy of Libertarianism, and Libertarian theory,” says Harris.
Prior to joining the Libertarian Party, Harris spent time working for Conservative Party candidate David Tilson, the most recent MP for the Ontario riding of Dufferin – Caledon.
Harris says his move to the Libertarian Party comes from a desire to see less government. “We are kind of all about individual empowerment, allowing individuals to direct their lives as they see fit,” he said.
And, it appears he practices what he preaches. Harris ran an independent ride service, similar to Uber in Guelph before moving to Ottawa. He admits he didn’t seek government permission to provide this service.
Harris also volunteers to raise puppies destined to be service dogs through the Lions Foundation of Canada guide dog program. During the winter, Harris hits the slopes. “I’m a ski instructor, so any chance I can get to be on the slopes, I would love to do that every day of the year if I could.”
If elected, Harris states he doesn’t want to govern, he just wants people to govern their own lives.
Damian Konstantinakos
Damian Konstantinakos was born and raised in Ottawa. After high school, Konstantinakos went on to study applied science at Queen’s University in 1993, and then in 2005 he earned a master’s of business administration from the same institution.
He has worked in the high-tech sector in this city for the past 18 years.
This is the second time Konstantinakos is running as the Conservative candidate in the Ottawa Centre riding. He was motivated to enter politics because of his concern about the economy. “First of all I’m Greek, so I see what a lot of debt and bad leadership can do.”
The 41-year-old Conservative candidate says he also takes inspiration from his former employer. “I worked for Nortel, which was a company that was destroyed by its own debt.” Konstantinakos suggests his party won’t generate an enormous debt burden for the country.
Since 2010, he has worked for Ciena, an American telecommunications networking company, as a product line manager in Ottawa.
Konstantinakos says his biggest influence over the years has been his father. “He really challenged me to open my mind, to challenge my own convictions. And my own perceptions of the world.”
Speaking of his time on the job, Konstantinakos says his ability to work with a team, his problem solving skills, and his engineering background have given him the skills to be an effective MP.
Konstantinakos also spends much of his spare time with his wife Kirsten and two children, Lysander, 3, and Kalandra, 1.
Catherine McKenna
Catherine McKenna, 44, grew up in Hamilton, Ontario where she attended grade school in French. She continued studies in French at the University of Toronto with a degree in international relations. McKenna then earned her masters in international relations at the London School of Economics. Immediately following graduate school, McKenna acquired a law degree from McGill University in Montreal in 1999.
Since becoming a lawyer, McKenna has a wide range of legal experience both locally in Ottawa, but also internationally.
She founded Canadian Lawyers Abroad in 2005 after seeing a need for legal advice while working for the United Nations in East Timor on complex treaty negotiations.
More recently, McKenna has been inspiring young people to get engaged with public policy issues in Canada through the Banff Forum.
The forum is an annual retreat held every autumn in a different location in Canada bringing together young leaders to discuss emerging ideas. McKenna has also taught graduate students as a lecturer for the Monk School for Global Affairs.
She says her desire to represent Ottawa Centre comes from her feeling that it’s, “really difficult to have the impact I wanted” while serving in non-government roles. She says she also thinks Canada has not been looking after the people in most desperate need under the recent government. “We’ve become a smaller country, a meaner country,” she says.
While not working as a lawyer, McKenna enjoys swimming recreationally. She has competed in the sport for 12 years.
McKenna is married with three children ages six, nine and 11.
Tom Milroy
Tom Milroy, 57, was born in Winnipeg where he attended public school. In 1985, he graduated with a public administration degree from the University of Winnipeg. After university, Milroy went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to work as an information technology project manager. He also initiated a union for middle managers in the late 90s. “It still exists today,” He says. “It’s the Saskatoon Civic Middle Managers Association.”
In 2003, Milroy moved to Ottawa where he married his spouse, and transitioned into the labour relations and human resources sector. His current business is looking at providing peacekeeping training in several countries in western and northern Africa.
His political experience is limited, but in 2014 Milroy worked with the Green Party’s labour relations shadow cabinet drafting several resolutions related to workers rights and collective bargaining.
Milroy says he joined the Green Party because its platform has matured with strong environmental policies, such as their opposition to the Energy East pipeline proposal.
Prior to the Green Party, Milroy spent time with the NDP in the late 90s and early 2000s. He served as an IT technical expert on several federal and provincial election campaigns.
Outside of work, he has volunteered helping people with resume writing and life skills training. Milroy also plays rugby for the Ottawa Senators Rugby Club.
And he says he’s a First World War buff, inspired by his grandfather who fought for Canada with the Fifth Canadian Infantry Battalion.