Career
He has been an Master in Public Policy since 2011. He was mayor of the township of South Glengarry, Ontario from 2003 to 2011. McDonell was born and raised on a dairy farm in South Glengarry, Ontario.
He attended Queen"s University where he earned a degree in Engineering.
He worked for Bell Canada for over 30 years in a number of roles. In 2000, McDonell was elected as a councillor for the township of South Glengarry.
In 2003 he was elected as mayor of the township. In the 2011 provincial election he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry.
He defeated Liberal candidate Mark MacDonald by 13,050 votes.
He was easily re-elected in the 2014 election.
