Zainab Alsalihiy was unsure about running for city council.
The 39-year-old public servant and single mother of two had already gathered the 25 signatures needed, but it wasn’t until Friday afternoon at 1:26 p.m., sitting at her home in Findlay Creek, that she decided to go.
“I looked at the GPS, and it said I’ll be there at 1:59 and I’m like, I still have time,” Alsalihiy said.
The deadline was 2pm
In fact, Alsalihiy walked into the city office on Cyrville Road just as election official Michèle Rochette pulled out into the parking lot, yelling to anyone within earshot that nominations were about to close. And once the doors were closed, no one who left the building could re-enter.
This caused a momentary panic for Alsalihiy, who thought he had left his identification in the car, but somehow ended up having the required documents. He said people just need to “trust the universe” and themselves. She is now a candidate for Riverside South-Findlay Creek.
Zainab Alsalihiy left her home in Findlay Creek at 1:26 p.m. Friday and was the last person to reach the 2 p.m. deadline to register for the fall election. (Kate Porter/CBC)
Alsalihiy was the last person to register to run in this fall’s municipal elections, but hardly the only one to leave that decision to the last minute. Two dozen people came through the doors of the election office in Ottawa on Friday.
Nineteen-year-old Jacob Solomon signed up to run for mayor, bringing the total race for the job to 14.
This long list of candidates means that, for the first time, municipal election ballots will have to be printed on legal-length paper.
Josh Rachlis had his required 25 signatures ready, but he didn’t know what position he wanted to run for. He decided as a trustee of the school board, as he sat in the waiting area of the election office.
And then there’s Kim Leclerc. He has worked in federal politics for years and wanted to run for office, but wasn’t sure the time was right for his young family. In fact, his wife had a baby earlier this week, but she insisted he sign up because he was always talking about how he wanted to make a difference.
So after this morning’s postpartum doctor’s visit, Leclerc ran to get the rest of the signatures he needed and collected his paperwork, before arriving at the office after lunch.
“It was a crazy day,” he said.
Leclerc is now the 10th person running in Rideau-Vanier, the most of any ward.
In the end, 210 people registered to run in the October 24 election: 14 for mayor, 106 for councilors and 90 for school counselor positions. Eight candidates have been announced for the two French-language school boards.
1st open mayoral race in a decade
This will be the first election in over a decade where Jim Watson’s name will not appear on the ballot. But other familiar names will be.
Former mayor Bob Chiarelli, current councilman. Catherine McKenney and local broadcaster Mark Sutcliffe are among the 14 mayoral candidates. (From the campaign websites of Bob Chiarelli, Catherine McKenney and Mark Sutcliffe)
Former mayor and Liberal minister Bob Chiarelli registered to run on the first day nominations opened, May 2. He has since pledged to freeze property taxes and spending by 2023 if elected.
Current County of the Borough of Somerset. Catherine McKenney (who uses the pronoun they/them) has spent the summer campaigning to make Ottawa the greenest, healthiest and “most connected” city in Canada, “where everyone has a home.” Its full platform is expected after Labor Day.
well known broadcaster and entrepreneur Mark Sutcliffe entered the race just before Canada Day. He promises a safer city by providing “adequate” funding for police, fire and paramedics, and being “tough on the causes of crime”. He also promises to keep taxes and recreation fees “as low as possible”.
They are also enrolled in the race for mayor Brandon BrayZed Chebib, Bernard Couchman, Celine Debassige, Gregory Guevara, Noor Kadri, Graham MacDonald, Mike Maguire, Ade Olumide, Param Singh and before mentioned Solomon.
Rick Chiarelli is not showing up for college
In 2020, the city council and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, called for the resignation of Rick Chiarelli, but he refused. Now, for the first time in nearly four decades, Chiarelli will not run for public office. .
Ottawa councilors vote unanimously to call for Chiarelli’s resignation
Councilors expressed dismay and regret Wednesday at reports from Coun. Rick Chiarelli’s conduct toward former employees before unanimously voting to impose the harshest penalties available to punish him.
Through a press release from his office in June, Chiarelli said he expected to run for re-election and had made an appointment for Thursday at the last minute. But he didn’t show up for that appointment, and he didn’t register on the last day of registration either.
In 2020, Chiarelli’s pay was suspended for 450 days for behavior that the city’s then-integrity commissioner deemed to be sexual harassment.
Since then, the school councilor has done have faced new shocking allegations, but as the current integrity commissioner’s investigation was not completed on Friday, it must be suspended for the duration of the election campaign. And since Chiarelli is a no-show, it’s unclear whether it will be completed.
At least 12 new faces
That someone new will replace Watson, Ottawa’s longest-serving mayor, makes this race one of the most important the biggest in over a decade. But when you consider that almost half of the faces around the council table will be different, 2022 is shaping up to be a real election for change.
Of the 25 seats that will make up the council next term — the Barrhaven East ward is being added to represent the fast-growing community — at least 12 will be newcomers.
Incumbents not running again, in addition to Chiarelli, include Rideau-Vanier’s Mathieu FleuryEli El-Chantiry at West-Carleton March, Diane Deans Gloucester-Southgate, Jan Harder in what will be called Barrhaven West, Keith Egli of Knoxdale-Merivale, Scott Moffatt of the neighborhood of Rideau Jock and John Cloutier in Alta Vista.
With McKenney running for mayor, Somerset will also elect a new representative. And one-term councilor Carol Anne Meehan had initially planned to run again in Gloucester-South Nepean, but it was withdrawn at the end of last monthsaying it was time to check off the items on his ‘wish list’.
Town Clerk Rick O’Connor, left, and Electoral Program Director Rhiannon Power check the 210 nomination applications. The clerk certified them all Friday evening, meaning those names will be on the ballot even if the candidates change their minds. (Kate Porter/CBC)
Lame ducks and mail-in ballots
City Clerk Rick O’Connor was able to certify all 210 nomination forms Friday evening, meaning all of those names will appear on the ballot in the fall, even if the candidates change their minds about wanting the job.
O’Connor also sent a memo Friday evening to remind the council that they are now operating under the so-called “lame duck” provisions. Because so many holders don’t return, the council can’t make any new spending or sell land worth more than $50,000.
Some of the ward boundaries will change for the 2022 election and Rochette recommends that residents check which ward they live in by entering their address through Elections Ottawa.”Who’s running in my room?” online tool.
For the first time, voters in Ottawa will be able to vote by mail. The city first tested it during the 2020 Cumberland by-election and is rolling it out citywide this year. Residents will have to request a special vote, which they can do between September 1 and 16 after the list of voters is finalized.
For those voting in person, there will be six days of early voting starting in September, in addition to Election Day on October 24.