In 2015, Catherine McKenna was elected the first female Member of
Parliament for Ottawa Centre and appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change. In both roles, Catherine earned a reputation as a skilled negotiator and tenacious community builder.
As of October 2019, Catherine was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre and appointed as Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. As Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, she is working towards building a more resilient, cleaner, more prosperous country and creating a better future for our kids and grandkids.
As M.P. for Ottawa Centre and in her Ministerial role, Catherine led federal actions to protect the Ottawa River, make local buildings more energy-efficient, put a national price on pollution and ban single-use plastics, by 2021. Catherine previously worked as a lawyer in Canada and Indonesia, was a negotiator with the UN mission in East Timor, taught at the Munk School of Global Affairs and co-founded Level Justice, a charitable organization. She has earned degrees from the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and McGill Law.