Elisabeth Arnold was an Ottawa City Council

Ottawa City Council

The Ottawa City Council is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 23 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each of the councillors represent wards throughout the city. Council members are elected to four year terms with the...

lor who represented Somerset Ward

Somerset Ward

Somerset is a city ward in the city of Ottawa, Canada. It covers the neighbourhoods of Downtown Ottawa, Centretown, Lebreton Flats and most of Centretown West. It is Ottawa's smallest and most dense ward. It is represented on Ottawa City Council by Diane Holmes. It has an area of 6.5 km² and...

 from 1994 to 2003.. One of her accomplishments on council was spearheading the rebuilding of the Plant Recreation Centre.

Arnold graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute

Lisgar Collegiate Institute

Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Lisgar Collegiate Institute, one of the country's best regarded public schools, is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal and is only a few blocks from Canada's Parliament Hill...

 and earned Bachelor's Degree in Geography from Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...

 and a Master's in Urban Planning from Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

.

From 1979 to 1984 she was a member of the Canadian national canoe team. From 1986 to 1988 she was the coordinator for Housing Help, which provided help for people in regards to housing needs. From 1989 to 1992 she was the coordinator of the Community Development Program at the Sandy Hill

Sandy Hill

Sandy Hill is a bilingual neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario located just east of downtown. The neighbourhood is bordered on the west by the Rideau Canal and on the east by the Rideau River. To the north it stretches to Rideau Street and the Byward Market area while to the south it is bordered by...

 Community Health Centre. She also has worked with a number of volunteer groups.

During the 1993 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

, Arnold was the affirmative action

Affirmative action

Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

 coordinator for the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

.

She ran for the Ontario New Democratic Party

Ontario New Democratic Party

The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...

 in the 1999 provincial election

Ontario general election, 1999

An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 in Ottawa Centre

Ottawa Centre (provincial electoral district)

Ottawa Centre is an urban provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1968...

. She won nearly 12,000 votes, 6,000 behind winner Richard Patten

Richard Patten

Richard Andrew Patten is a politician in Ontario, Canada. Patten was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Ottawa Centre.-Biography:...

 of the Liberals.

Currently, Arnold is employed as the Director for the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Federation of Canadian Municipalities

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is a civic advocacy group representing many Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence debate and policy, as it is main national lobby group of mayors, councillors and other elected municipal...

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