Patti Starr

Patti Starr
Born	1943 (age 73–74) Toronto, Ontario
Nationality	Canadian
Other names	Patricia Starr
Occupation	Writer

Patricia "Patti" Starr (born c. 1943) is a former administrator and novelist. She was the chair of Ontario Place from 1986 to 1989. In 1989 she was implicated in a political scandal that resulted in her being convicted of fraud and breach of trust for which she spent two months in jail. In 1996 she received a full pardon. Since then she has written a book about the affair entitled, Tempting Fate: A cautionary tale of power and politics and has also written two novels. She now works as a researcher and a 'fact checker'.

Starr was born in Toronto, Ontario. Starr received her training at Ryerson University. Today, she heads her own consulting business that specializes in research and fact-checking.

In 1987 she was appointed to the chair of Ontario Place by premier David Peterson. During her tenure she achieved a substantial drop in the operating deficit, rejuvenating the fledgling park.

In February 1989, The Globe and Mail published an article that said that the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada had made contributions to political parties in contravention of the Federal Income Tax Act. The donations were made under the direction of Starr who claimed that the donation method was not covered under the act. She labelled it as a loophole or a "grey area". Gordon Murray, a director at Revenue Canada said that she was mistaken and that charities were specifically barred from contributions to partisan political causes.

In March, the national council stripped the officers of the executive, including Starr of their powers. In May Starr stepped down as president of the charity but denied it had anything to do with the investigation. In June, she resigned as chair of Ontario Place. In the same month, a leaked report listed several prominent politicians as having received donations in 1987. These included provincial Health Minister Elinor Caplan, Transportation Minister Ed Fulton, Federal Conservative MP Bill Attewell and Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton. These revelations led to a cabinet shuffle by Peterson in which five ministers who had received contributions lost their positions.

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