Tracey McCann

Tracey has left us. She died peacefully with her devoted husband, Patrick, beside her holding her hand. In addition to Patrick, she will be missed by her children, Liam and Maggie (Chris), her grandsons, Miles and Jack, her father Henri (Madeleine), her sisters Donna and Sandra (Grant) and brother Jim as well as her stepchildren, Luke and Rachel (Drew) and her step granddaughters, Zoe, Ava and Luella.

Illness made Tracey’s life shorter than it should have been, but it was a wonderful life both personally and professionally. After completing undergrad studies at McMaster University, she obtained her law degree from University of Western Ontario in 1988. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1990 and practiced criminal law defense for ten years rising to become one of the top defense counsel in Ottawa. She acted as lead counsel in several major trials all the while raising two children, attending to their schoolwork and sporting events and practices. In 2000, Tracey was recruited by the Department of Justice to assist in a complex tax litigation case managing and preparing expert evidence. She remained at DOJ for the rest of her legal career handling some major National Security files including the Arar Inquiry Part 2, the Air India inquiry.

Tracey was admired and respected by all she dealt with in her legal career including colleagues, opposing counsel and judges.

Tracey will also be missed by her many friends she has known throughout her life – some going back to grade school and many in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood where she lived with her family for over 25 years.

There will be a celebration of Tracey’s remarkable life at Beechwood Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Services (280 Beechwood Ave, Ottawa, ON K1L 8A6) on Thursday, November 12th from 4-7pm.