Rocco Rossi

Rocco Rossi
Rocco Rossi, 2010
Born	February 6, 1962 (1962-02-06) Toronto, Ontario
Residence	Toronto
Occupation	Businessman
Spouse	Rhonnie
Children	1
Website
www.roccorossi.com

Rocco Rossi (born February 6, 1962) is a Canadian businessman, executive and former candidate for Toronto municipal and Ontario provincial office. From 2004 to 2009 he was the CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. In 2009 he became national director of the Liberal Party of Canada. Rossi was campaign manager for John Tory's bid to become Toronto's mayor in 2003 and was an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Toronto in the 2010 municipal election.

In 2011 he became the Progressive Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Eglinton—Lawrence in the Ontario provincial election. He was defeated by Liberal incumbent Michael Colle by 8,005 votes.

Background

Rossi was born at Grace Hospital in downtown Toronto and was raised in Scarborough and East York. He is the eldest of five children and the son of Domenico and Domenica Rossi—Italian immigrants who emigrated from Anzano di Puglia, Italy in the 1950s. He grew up in a multi-generational household with family who raised chickens in the backyard and spoke mostly Italian. Rossi is outspoken on how language barriers affect newly immigrated families, describing his mother like a “prisoner in her own home" until one day offered free English classes from the United Way in Toronto.

Earning scholarships of merit, Rossi attended prestigious schools in Canada and the United States. He first won a scholarship to attend Upper Canada College (UCC), an independent elementary and secondary school in midtown Toronto. After graduating from UCC, Rossi studied on scholarship at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He later earned a scholarship to Princeton University in New Jersey, where he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Politics.

Rossi is currently a resident of midtown Toronto and has been married for 23 years to his wife Rhonnie.

Business career

After graduating from Princeton, Rossi returned to Toronto to pursue a career in the private sector with roles at Advanced Material Resources (now NeoMaterials), The Boston Consulting Group, 'Torstar', Labatt/Interbrew and MGI Software. Rossi's role at Torstar included launching Toronto's local internet portal—toronto.com. He was recruited from Torstar by Interbew and became president of beer.com, which launched at the peak of the dot-com boom.

Rossi has sat on numerous private, public and charitable boards including the United Way of Greater Toronto, AMR, the Ivey Foundation, the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada, Toronto’s 2008 Olympic Bid and the Empire Club of Canada. He is also a supporter of Rotary International, Presidents of Enterprising Organizations and the Young Presidents' Organization.

The sudden death of a colleague and close friend from overwork influenced Rossi to leave working in the private sector and pursue career opportunities in the not for profit sector, eventually leading him to join the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario in 2004 as CEO.

Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario

From November 2004 until January 2009, Rossi was Chief Executive Officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, one of the largest non-profit organizations in Canada. As CEO, Rossi was instrumental in raising funds for cardiovascular health and research, and for the purchase of automated heart defibrillators (AED’s) for placement in public spaces across Ontario. The defibrillator program has so far led to 30 lives saved and Rossi’s efforts have been honoured with his name appearing on plaques installed in various TTC stations around Toronto.

In addition to partaking in annual HSFO fundraising events such as the Ride for Heart, Rossi raised funds and awareness for heart and stroke research through the accomplishment of several athletic feats. He has kayaked 490 km solo from Toronto to Ottawa, cycled the entire 1,900 km length of Yonge Street from Rainy River, Ontario to Toronto and twice climbed Toronto’s seven tallest office towers over three days to equal the height of Mt. Everest.

Under Rossi's leadership the Heart and Stroke Foundation built a $130-million reserve of tax-receipted funds. While some have criticized saving instead of spending, Rossi has remarked, "It's a criticism I will bear with honour... I'm proud that we built a healthy, long-term balance sheet". Although the Heart and Stroke Foundation does not reveal executive salaries, Rossi has said that his pay had fallen by half at the foundation. Neither the foundation nor Rossi would disclose his salary, citing that few charities disclose salaries and that doing so, Rossi said, would "likely cause donor confusion" in the absence of comparative data. Internal revenue filings with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) during Rossi's tenure show that the five highest-compensated positions were paid $119,999 and over. Changes made to federal tax filings by the CRA in 2009 reveal that the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario compensates its top officials comparably with other large Canadian charities and that the CEO pay was between $300,000 and $350,000 during the last fiscal year that Rossi was CEO.

Political background

Rossi was a National Director of the federal Liberal Party of Canada, and managed John Tory's campaign for Toronto Mayor in the 2003 Toronto Municipal Election. He first stood for political office in 2010, when he ran for Mayor of Toronto in the 2010 Toronto Municipal Election.

On May 1, 2011, a CBC story revealed that during his time as National Director of the Liberal Party, Rocco Rossi was talking to American officials denigrating Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff:

Another cable dated October, 2009, titled "Blue Days for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff," cites conversations with then Liberal Party national director Rocco Rossi, who told U.S. Embassy officials that Ignatieff didn’t really listen to advisers. “He knows his own mind, and the only person whose opinion he really cares about is his wife Zsuzsanna,” the cable quotes Rossi as saying

—CBC News

Warren Kinsella, who had worked with both Rossi and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff during this period, criticised Rossi's actions.

In 2011 he became the Progressive Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Eglinton—Lawrence in the Ontario provincial election. He was defeated by Liberal incumbent Michael Colle by 8,005 votes.

2011 Ontario general election

Main article: Eglinton—Lawrence (provincial electoral district)

Rossi was the Ontario PC Party candidate for the riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the 2011 Ontario Provincial Election, losing to the incumbent Mike Colle.

While the PC party gained twelve seats in the 2011 election, the PCs were shut out of every major urban centre in the province, including Toronto. Election results showed a significant divide between the rural and urban vote, which is attributed to the broader Liberal strategy rather than individual candidates in the ridings. Eglinton-Lawrence, one of several urban Toronto ridings, was not immune to this sweeping trend; nonetheless, Rossi managed to post one the closest margins of votes amongst the Toronto ridings.

2010 Toronto mayoral election

Main article: Toronto mayoral election, 2010

Rossi announced his intention to run for Mayor of Toronto outside of Toronto City Hall on December 14, 2009 and made his first major campaign address to the Empire Club of Canada on January 21, 2010, where 600 supporters heard him speak about his key priorities: reducing city debt, improving public transit, reducing congestion on city streets and creating jobs by attracting new investment. These priorities became pillars of the campaign, leading to the release of Rossi’s platform and economic plan on October 5, 2010. Entitled Together We Can Bring Change to City Hall, the plan focused on fixing City finances by curbing spending, getting city costs under control, and reducing debt to allow for investment and development in infrastructure. In addition to fiscal reform, Rossi advocated for democratic reforms at City Hall such as imposing term limits for the Mayor and city councillors, introducing internet voting to increase citizen access to the democratic process, and recall legislation that would give citizens the power to recall underperforming or irresponsible politicians. Rossi's campaign was quickly derailed by a series of announcements on gridlock. The first announcement in Parkdale focusing on bridge replacement technologies and the following day at the end of the Allen Road announcing his plan to tunnel the Spadina Expressway to the Gardiner Expressway, complete with a subterranean bike lane to an undisclosed neighbourhood.

In response to his performance in recent polls, Rossi announced on October 13, 2010 that he was leaving the mayoral race. Despite his withdrawal, he received 5,012 votes, more than any other candidate apart from the remaining "big three". A favourite of the Toronto City Hall press gallery for his tongue in cheek ‘Goodfella’ campaign poster, which among others the poster hangs inside the rented space. A complaint was filed with the equity, diversity and human rights unit in the city manager’s office. According to an email synopsis from city staff, the complainant believes the campaign memorabilia to be “degrading and derogatory to people of Italian descent.”