Phil McNeely

McNeely was born in Cumberland, Ontario and is bilingual. He was educated at Lisgar Collegiate and McGill University, earning a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the latter. He later earned the equivalent of a Master's Degree in engineering from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London. Before entering politics, he was the CEO of McNeely Engineering, a firm which operated in the Ottawa region. He sold this firm in 1997, claiming it had suffered under provincial cutbacks to infrastructure spending.

In 2000, McNeely was elected as a municipal councillor for the Cumberland Ward of the amalgamated City of Ottawa, defeating incumbent Robert van den Ham.[1] In 2002, he played a key role in the successful Hay West project, in which hay from eastern Canada was shipped to the drought-stricken west.[2] He was also active in opposing the creation of a hog farm in the village of Sarsfield part of the Cumberland Ward of Ottawa.[3]

In the provincial election of 2003, he defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Brian Coburn in Ottawa—Orleans by about 4500 votes.[4] He was named a government whip on October 23, 2003.[5]

In July 2006, McNeely described Israel as a "rogue state", arguing that Israel's military campaign in Lebanon was resulting in collective punishment for the Lebanese people. Dalton McGuinty expressed "serious dismay and disappointment" for these remarks, and McNeely later offered an apology for the language of his comments.[6]

He was re-elected to the provincial legislature in 2007, beating Conservative candidate Graham Fox by almost 9,000 votes.[7] In the 2011 election he was re-elected with a margin of 2,854 votes.[8]

In 2005, McNeely proposed an amendment to a no smoking bill that would ban power wall cigarette advertising from convenience stores and retail businesses. The "McNeely Amendment", which came into effect on May 31, 2008, has helped keep cigarettes out of the sight of children.[9]

During his time in office, McNeely has served as Parliamentary Assistant to a number of ministers including Minister of Transportation, Minister of Health and Long Term Care and most recently as PA to the Minister of the Environment.

In 2014, McNeely announced that he would not seek re-election in the 2014 contest.[10]

Electoral record

2011 Ontario general election: Ottawa—Orleans
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Phil McNeely	21,857	46.44	−6.42	$ 86,835.18
	Progressive Conservative	Andrew Lister	19,003	40.38	+5.97	57,251.00
	New Democratic	Doug McKercher	4,979	10.58	+4.22	1,389.28
	Green	Tanya Gutmanis	886	1.88	−2.68	0.00
	Freedom	David McGruer	183	0.39	+0.01	0.00
	Libertarian	David Paul	154	0.33		82.01
Total valid votes / Expense Limit			47,062	99.62		$ 106,791.79
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			179	0.38	−0.05
Turnout			47,241	52.65	−5.21
Eligible voters			89,726		+6.53
	Liberal hold		Swing		−6.19
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( Excel Spreadsheet). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014.

2007 Ontario general election: Ottawa—Orleans
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Phil McNeely	25,649	52.86	+2.51	$ 67,961.00
	Progressive Conservative	Graham Fox	16,695	34.41	−6.92	81,527.51
	New Democratic	Andrée Germain	3,088	6.36	+0.84	1,922.66
	Green	Akbar Manoussi	2,214	4.56	+1.77	4,719.58
	Family Coalition	Jeremy Atkinson	692	1.43		3,538.98
	Freedom	David McGruer	183	0.38		0.00
Total valid votes/Expense Limit			48,521	99.57		$ 90,965.16
Total rejected ballots			209	0.43	+0.04
Turnout			48,730	57.86	−5.53
Eligible voters			84,227		+5.85
	Liberal hold		Swing		+4.71
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "Statistical Summary – General Elections 2007" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2007 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014.

2003 Ontario general election: Ottawa—Orleans
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Phil McNeely	25,300	50.36	+9.92	$ 66,785.00
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Coburn	20,762	41.32	−13.24	73,997.09
	New Democratic	Ric Dagenais	2,778	5.53	+2.85	11,889.14
	Green	Melanie Ransom	1,402	2.79	+1.42	1,069.07
Total valid votes/expense limit			50,242	99.61		$ 76,391.04
Total rejected ballots			197	0.39	−0.21
Turnout			50,439	63.39	+2.52
Eligible voters			79,574		+11.69
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+11.58
Source(s) "General Election of October 2, 2003 – Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "General Election of October 2, 2003 – Statistical Summary". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2003 Candidate and Constituency Associations – Candidate Campaign Return (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014.

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history