Rocco Rossi


Rocco Rossi is a Canadian lobbyist and businessman currently serving as president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and was formerly the president and CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada.
From 2004 to 2009 he was the CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. During 2009 he served as the national director of the Liberal Party of Canada. His political career included an unsuccessful bid for Toronto's mayor in the 2010 municipal election and an unsuccessful candidacy with the Progressive Conservative Party in the 2011 Ontario provincial election.

Background

Rossi attended schools in Canada and the United States. He attended Upper Canada College. After graduating from UCC, Rossi studied at McGill University in Montreal, followed by studies at Princeton University in New Jersey, where he graduated with a master's degree in politics.

Career

After graduating from Princeton, Rossi returned to Toronto to pursue a career in the private sector with roles at Advanced Material Resources, the Boston Consulting Group, Torstar, Labatt/Interbrew and MGI Software. He was recruited from Torstar by Interbew and became president of beer.com.
Rossi has sat on 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.

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.
Under Rossi's leadership the Heart and Stroke Foundation built a $130-million reserve of tax-receipted funds. While some have criticized collecting and not using millions in funds for which tax exemptions were issued, Rossi has remarked, "It's a criticism I will bear with honour... I'm proud that we built a healthy, long-term balance sheet".

Politics

Rossi was a national director of the federal Liberal Party of Canada, managed John Tory's campaign for Mayor of Toronto in the 2003 Toronto municipal election, ran for Mayor of Toronto in 2010 and was a candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the 2011 General Election.
In 2018, Rossi, acting as President of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, was one of several "business leaders" who lobbied Ontario Premier Doug Ford to repeal Bill 148, legislation implemented by the previous provincial government. Among other things, that legislation guaranteed workers paid sick days, equal pay for part-time work, and a C$1/hour raise to a minimum wage of C$15/hour, to begin on January 1, 2019. Rossi publicly celebrated when Bill 148 was repealed, cancelling the planned increase of minimum wage. On December 31, 2018, the day before the cancelled minimum wage increase was to take place, Rossi tweeted photos of caviar, Veuve Clicquot champagne and pastries, with the statement "Celebrating New Year’s the 1-percenter way! Let them eat cake:-)." Rossi was roundly criticized by other Twitter users in the replies to his tweet, and has since deleted it and apologized, claiming the tweet was "satire."