Mario Racco
{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mario Racco
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = Vaughan Local and Regional Councillor
| term_start = November 15, 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = Position established
| parliament1 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start1 = October 2, 2003
| term_end1 = October 9, 2007
| predecessor1 = Tina Molinari
| successor1 = Peter Shurman
| riding1 = Thornhill
| office2 = Vaughan City Councillor
for Ward 4 Concord/Thornhill
| term_start2 = December 1, 1994
| term_end2 = October 2, 2003
| predecessor2 = Ward established
| successor2 = Sandra Yeung Racco
| party = Independent (1982-2003, 2022-present)
| otherparty = Liberal (2003-2022)
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|05|13}}
| birth_place = Siderno, Italy
| residence = Thornhill, Ontario
| occupation = Bookkeeper
| spouse = Sandra Yeung Racco
| children = 2
}}
Mario G. Racco (born May 13, 1955) is a politician in Ontario, Canada currently serving as a Local and Regional Councillor in the City of Vaughan since November 15, 2022. He was an Ontario Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2007 who represented the Greater Toronto Area riding of Thornhill.
Background
Racco has degrees in Business Administration from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (1977) and York University. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University 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.{{cite web |url= https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/2013/04/12/street_names_racco_parkway_in_vaughan.html |title= Street names: Racco Parkway in Vaughan|website= Toronto Star|date= 12 April 2013}}
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 Vaughan, 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.{{cite news |title=Candidate has tough job, opponents say |first=Theresa |last=Boyle |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=July 8, 1993 |page=NY5}}
In the 2003 provincial election, Racco defeated Susan Kadis 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 community supported Molinari because of this issue. Racco eventually won by 796 votes.{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=thornhill&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 2, 2003 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808034408/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=thornhill&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=August 8, 2014 }} On March 6, 2006, he was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour.{{cite news |title=Premier McGuinty appoints new parliamentary assistants |publisher=Canada NewsWire |location=Ottawa |date=March 6, 2006 |page=1}}
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 in Vaughan.{{cite web |title=Pierre Elliott Trudeau remembered during tree planting ceremony in Thornhill |date=October 18, 2006 |url=http://www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/release/Trees-Ontario-Foundation/18-10-06/Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau-remembered-during-tree-planting-ceremony-i/324.html |publisher=Trees Ontario Foundation}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007160233/http://www.elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 7, 2009 |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 10, 2007 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |page=15 (xxiv) }}
In a 2013 by-election and the 2014 Ontario general election, Racco's wife, Sandra Yeung Racco ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in Thornhill but was defeated both times by Gila Martow.
Return to Politics
On October 24, 2022, Racco was elected as one of four Local and Regional Councillors in the City of Vaughan.
Electoral record
Four to be elected.
| class="wikitable" | ||
| style="background:#ddf; width:200px;"| Council candidate
! style="background:#ddf; width:50px;"| Vote ! style="background:#ddf; width:30px;"| % | ||
|---|---|---|
| Linda D. Jackson (X) | 28,398 | 17.08 |
| Mario Ferri (X) | 27,937 | 16.80 |
| Gino Rosati (X) | 27,457 | 16.51 |
| Mario G. Racco | 19,564 | 11.77 |
| Nick Pinto | 18,467 | 11.11 |
| Carrie Liddy | 12,502 | 7.52 |
| Mario Di Nardo | 12,298 | 7.40 |
| John Santoro | 10,113 | 6.08 |
| Mandy Rai | 9,524 | 5.73 |
{{Canadian election result/top|ON|2003|percent=yes|change=yes}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Mario Racco| 21,419| 46.90| -0.46}}
{{CANelec|ON|PC|Tina Molinari| 20,623| 45.16| -3.05}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Laurie Orrett| 2,616| 5.73| +2.19}}
{{CANelec|ON|Green|Bridget Haworth| 705| 1.54| +0.65}}
{{CANelec|ON|Freedom|Lindsay G. King| 304| 0.67|}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|45,667 |100.00| | }}
{{end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Ontario MPP biography|id=mario-g-racco}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Racco, Mario}}
Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
Category:Toronto Metropolitan University alumni
Category:York University alumni
Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario