MCpl (ret.) Jody Mitic () CD (born January 3, 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician and retired soldier. He served as an

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

lor, representing

Innes Ward Innes () is a habitational surname of Scottish origin, derived from Innes in Moray. In some cases it may have originated as a shortening of MacInnes. Surname Finance * Chris Innes (born 1970), businessperson, former Global Head of Equities and ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

's east end, from

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

until

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Background

Mitic was born in Kitchener,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He moved with his family to Winnipeg when he was five where his father worked for the Canadian Auto Workers union. The family later moved to Brampton, Ontario. While still in high school Mitic joined his local reserve regiment the Lorne Scots. After graduating Mitic worked for a year at an auto parts factory before joining the

Royal Canadian Regiment The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadi ...

of the regular

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

. Mitic did a tour of duty in Bosnia and was on his second tour in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

as a sniper when he lost both of his legs in a

landmine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whi ...

incident in 2007. During his recovery, Mitic worked through some of his psychological issues with a computer program named Ellie, which tracks facial expressions and speech patterns to diagnose

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

and depression. As part of his physical rehabilitation, Mitic successfully recovered and ran in an Achilles Canada 5-km run with

prosthetic leg In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...

s. Mitic says he became addicted to pain killers after his treatment but eventually managed to quit. In 2013, he and his brother Cory competed on '' The Amazing Race Canada 1'', finishing in 2nd place. Following his appearance on ''

The Amazing Race Canada ''The Amazing Race Canada'' is a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race''. Following the premise of other versions in the ''Amazing Race'' franchise, the show follows teams of two as they race across C ...

'', Mitic became a motivational speaker and an advocate for wounded veterans and people with disabilities. In 2016, he appeared on the

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

podcast episode 15 to talk about his book, ''Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper''.

Politics

Mitic was elected following the departure of long-time city councillor

Rainer Bloess Rainer Bloess was a member of Ottawa City Council. He represents Innes Ward (Ward 2), covering some of the city's eastern suburbs. Bloess was originally a member of the city council of Gloucester, being first elected to that council in 1994 ...

. He won with close to one third of the vote, about 1,800 votes ahead of his nearest competitor,

Laura Dudas Laura Lee Dudas ( Czekaj; born November 3, 1978) is a Canadian politician and journalist who was elected to Ottawa City Council in the 2018 Ottawa municipal election representing Innes Ward. She was re-elected in the 2022 Ottawa municipal electi ...

. During the 2017 Conservative Party leadership contest, Mitic contributed to former Minister of Veterans Affairs Erin O'Toole's campaign. Mitic announced on March 31, 2018, that he would not be running for re-election, citing wanting to spend more time with his family, and both mental and physical health issues. After months of absenteeism, Ottawa City Council voted June 13, 2018 to authorize an indefinite leave of absence for him, as the body had done in 2013 to facilitate Councillor Stephen Blais' recovery from a heart attack.

Personal life

He is separated from his former wife, Alannah Gilmore. He has two daughters with his ex-wife. Gilmore had been one of the medics who treated him after his injury in Afghanistan. Mitic wrote a book about his experience in Afghanistan in a memoir titled '' Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper''.

Election results

References

External links

Campaign BiographyCity Council Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitic, Jody 1977 births Living people Canadian Army soldiers Canadian military snipers Canadian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Canadian amputees Ottawa city councillors Writers from Ottawa Writers from Kitchener, Ontario Canadian people of Serbian descent Canadian politicians with disabilities 21st-century Canadian memoirists Canadian male non-fiction writers Politicians from Winnipeg Writers from Winnipeg Politicians from Brampton 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors