Mario G. Racco (born May 13, 1955) is a politician in

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 ...

, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

since November 15, 2022. He was an

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 2003 to 2007 who represented the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

riding of Thornhill.

Background

Racco has degrees in Business Administration from

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

(1977) and

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. He also received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

in 1981. Racco practiced as a Chartered Accountant, for the firms of ''Thorne Riddell'' and ''Dunwoody Chartered Accountants''. Racco is not a Chartered Accountant nor a Chartered Professional Accountant according to the CPA Ontario member directory. In 2013, ‘Racco Parkway’ in Thornhill was named after him for his dedication and public service to the city. He is married to Sandra Yeung Racco, a former city councillor in the city of Vaughan for Ward 4 (formerly held by her husband for 6 terms). They have two children, Alexander and Katrina.

Politics

Racco was elected to the city council of

, Ontario in 1982, and retained this position until his election to the Ontario legislature. He ran for the federal Liberal nomination in Markham—Whitchurch—Stouffville in 1993, but lost to

Jag Bhaduria Jagdish Singh (Jag) Bhaduria (also variously spelled Badauria or Bhadauria) (born January 23, 1940, in New Delhi, India) is an Indian Canadians, Indian-Canadian teacher. He served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament for the ...

. In the 2003 provincial election, Racco defeated

Susan Kadis Susan R. Kadis (born January 11, 1953) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Thornhill in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004-08. Background Born in Toronto, Ontario, she received a Bac ...

for the Liberal nomination in Thornhill and ran against Tina Molinari, an incumbent from the Progressive Conservatives. Denominational education was a leading issue in this campaign, with Molinari supporting the extension of tax credits for religious education and Racco opposing it; some members of Thornhill's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

community supported Molinari because of this issue. Racco eventually won by 796 votes. On March 6, 2006, he was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. Racco was a leading supporter of allowing municipalities to use red light camera technology for safety purposes. In 2004, he was the driving force behind the construction of a new statue of

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

in Vaughan. During the provincial election of 2007, Racco was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Shurman. In one of the most hotly contested races in the province, Shurman came out with about 1500 votes more than Racco. In a 2013 by-election and the

2014 Ontario general election The 2014 Ontario general election was held on June 12, 2014, to elect the members of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, legislature, allowing it ...

, Racco's wife, Sandra Yeung Racco ran for the

in Thornhill but was defeated both times by

Gila Martow Gila Deborah Gladstone-Martow ( Gladstone; born June 5, 1961) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She has represented Ward 5 on Vaughan City Council since 2022. She previously represented the electoral district of Thornhill in the Legislativ ...

. Return to Politics On October 24, 2022, Racco was elected as one of four Local and Regional Councillors in the City of

Electoral Record

Four to be elected.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Racco, Mario 1955 births Canadian accountants Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Toronto Metropolitan University alumni York University alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario