Jennifer O'Connell

Jennifer O'Connell, MP is a Canadian Liberal politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Pickering—Uxbridge in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election.
O'Connell attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a degree in political science. She then clerked at a law firm specializing in labour relations, and became involved in municipal politics in Pickering. In 2006, she was elected to the city council representing Ward 1. She was re-elected in 2010 and 2014, and at the time of her election to the House of Commons was serving as the city's deputy mayor. In March 2014 she had been approached by the local Liberal riding association about serving as their candidate in the upcoming federal election, and initially declined, intending to focus on her re-election at the municipal level. Following the municipal elections in October 2014, she was approached again, and agreed to seek the nomination, which she won in January 2015.
In succession to the federal election, O`Connell was found to have accepted a resignation buyout of $44,800 of from the same municipality that elected her to the federal house of commons.