Mark Sutcliffe (born July 14, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been the 59th mayor of Ottawa since 2022. Before entering politics, he hosted ''Ottawa Today'' on 1310News radio. Sutcliffe is the first Chinese Canadian and person from a visible minority group to serve as mayor of Ottawa.

Early life

Mark Sutcliffe was born at the Riverside Hospital on July 14, 1968, the son of John Michael Sutcliffe and Florence Ng-Yelim. Sutcliffe's maternal grandfather, Xavier, was born to a Chinese family in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

in 1902. Sutcliffe's maternal grandmother, Yolande, was French, and the two moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. The family moved to Canada during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

. John Sutcliffe was also an immigrant, coming from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. John and Florence met while working at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Sutcliffe grew up in McKellar Park in the city's west end. He graduated from St. Pius X High School, and then studied political science at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

for one year before dropping out to take a job at the CHEZ 106 radio station. At the same time, he started working as a news reader at CFRA, and then became a news reporter for the '' Ottawa Business News'', and was the first play-by-play announcer for the Ottawa Lynx baseball team. He then founded the '' Ottawa Business Journal'', where he met his wife, Ginny.

Political career

Sutcliffe was elected mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 municipal election. Described as a centrist, Sutcliffe defeated Catherine McKenney, a progressive councillor supported by many New Democratic Party and some Liberal figures. Sutcliffe was supported by many sitting Liberal and Conservative politicians. He is the first Chinese Canadian mayor of Ottawa, as well as its first mayor from a visible minority group. Despite this, Sutcliffe acknowledges that he has benefitted in his career from racial privilege, being born "visibly White" without "any Asian features." In August 2024, Sutcliffe declined to participate in Ottawa's annual pride parade and other Capital Pride events, citing a statement the organization had released that expressed solidarity with Palestinians and described Israel's actions as a genocide.

Published works

Sutcliffe is a long-distance runner and has written two books about his experiences: ''Why I Run'' and ''The Road to Boston''.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutcliffe, Mark 1968 births Living people 21st-century mayors of places in Ontario Businesspeople from Ottawa Canadian journalists of Chinese descent Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of French descent Canadian male journalists Canadian radio journalists Canadian television journalists Carleton University alumni Journalists from Ontario Mayors of Ottawa