Ottawa Byelections

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Cumberland Ward Rogers Debate. Trying to figure out who to vote for who's not Catherine Kitts because she's seemingly a Watson Club member in waiting, as evidence by the image below.


https://twitter.com/StephenBlais/sta...81970374119424

This debate was not very helpful. A real shit-show. It was done through Zoom but the debate format was not adapted for it.

• Video Link

CBC has a list of candidates with a quick profile for each:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...2020-1.5681894

Go to 9:20 in the YouTube video. The candidate won't even show all of his face, doesn't have any real background/platform other than let us know he wants to have all candidates disclose their funding origin before the election (I don't think that is required) and then his 'elephant in the room' is Rick Chiarelli. Not sure what that has to do with anything. Keep in mind that candidate who lives in Bells Corners has a blog in which he rants about Chiarelli and has done so for years. I'm not sure what that has to do with this area of the City. If he were to win, would he move to Cumberland?

[J.OT13]

Advance polls open in election for new Cumberland councillor

Bruce Deachman, Ottawa Sun
Sep 28, 2020



Voters in Cumberland Ward may start heading for the polls Monday and Tuesday as advance voting begins in the race for the municipal seat vacated by Stephen Blais, who held it for a decade before making the leap to provincial politics last winter.

Ten candidates are vying for the job at City Hall. They are:

Yvette Ashiri: A resident of the ward for about a decade, Ashiri is producer and host of the television show Identité́ Cultur’Elles, and executive vice-president of the Junior Chamber International Canada. She also chairs the school council of École Élémentaire Publique des Sentiers, and sits on the governance committee of the Montfort Hospital and the board of directors of Collège la Cité.



Married and a mother of two, her priorites include advocating for a local COVID-19 testing centre and establishing a federal government hub in the ward. She also opposes a merger with Osgoode ward.

Jensen Boire: Boire ran for the seat in 2018, coming in third place with 636 votes (Blais, in comparison, got 11,230). He provided no website or social media information with his nomination papers.

Bruce Faulkner: Faulkner also listed no website or social media presence on his nomination papers. He previously ran in the 2014 and 2018 Ontario elections for the Libertarian Party in Ottawa-Centre, capturing 525 and 385 votes, respectively. He also ran in the 2014 municipal election in Kanata South, where he captured nearly 12 per cent of votes and finished second to Allan Hubley, and in the 2019 byelection in Rideau-Rockcliffe. Where his 29 votes placed him last in the 12-candidate field.

Lyse-Pascale Inamuco: Inamuco describes herself as Franco-Ontarian of Burundian origin, who came to Canada seeking asylum in 2006. She graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, specializing in conflict studies and human rights.



She serves as a director with the Rotary Club of Orléans, co-chairs the Women’s March Ottawa, and is a director with 613-819 Black Hub Noir. She is active with other organizations, including the Ottawa Board of Trade and Healthy Transportation Coalition. She lists among her priorities economic development, traffic safety, public transit investment, a COVID-19 testing site and affordable housing.

Catherine Kitts: A lifelong east-end resident (currently Navan), Kitts has a degree in journalism from Carleton University, and was a reporter and editor at the Orléans Star. In 2018, she ran for a council seat in Orléans, finishing second in a 17-candidate field, only 64 votes behind winner Matthew Luloff.



Among her priorities are road safety, a COVID-19 testing centre, establishing a federal hub, protecting rural farmland and villages, and improving LRT.

Denis Labrèche: President of the Carlsbad Springs Community Association, Labrèche has worked extensively in video production and television, for Rogers, Global TV, TVOntario, and was a cameraman with TVO. Since 2006 he’s worked in IT and multimedia in the federal government. Among his priorities are improving infrastructure and roads in the ward, and attracting jobs to the area.



Craig MacAulay: MacAulay ran for the College ward seat in 2010, finishing eighth in an eight-horse race with 239 votes. Four years later, he more than quadrupled his vote tally, finishing third. In 2018, he captured almost 2,300 votes in a mayoralty race that saw him finish fourth, well behind Jim Watson. His bellscorners blog does not clearly list his priorities for Cumberland.

Mark Scharfe: Scharfe served with the Ottawa Police for more than 20 years, and says that if he’s elected, he’ll work for just a dollar per year. He lists returning to weekly garbage pickup, scrapping the green bin program, and eliminating the stormwater tax on properties with their own wells or septic systems as his top three priorities. He would also push to have the LRT equipped with a diesel locomotive, paid for with the savings from getting rid of the green bin program.

Patrick Uguccioni: Uguccioni grew up in Carlsbad Springs and earned a journalism diploma from Algonquin College. He and his wife and two children live in Orléans. He is managing editor of Your Community Voice community newspaper and was a longtime city hall staffer. He was also a communications adviser for former mayor Larry O’Brien. Uguccioni lists as his priorities a commitment to better local bus service and investments in roads and pedestrian and cycling networks, as well as job growth in the area, and keeping rural Cumberland a part of Orléans.



Henry Valois: A Cumberland resident for 39 years and father of three, Valois is a volunteer firefighter who has also served on the board of the Navan Fair, and volunteered for numerous other causes and organizations. Among his priorities are road safety, reliable internet access, mental-health issues and minority rights, and more road safety. His mission, he says, is to be honest, respectful and hard-working.



Advance voting is available Mon. Sept. 28 and Tues. Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at any of these polling stations:

Bearbrook Community Hall, 8720 Russell Rd.
Carlsbad Springs Community Centre, 6020 Piperville Rd.
François Dupuis Recreation Centre, 2263 Portobello Blvd.
Navan Memorial Centre, 1295 Colonial Rd.
Redeemer Alliance Church, 4825 Innes Rd.
R.J. Kennedy Arena and Community Hall,1115 Dunning Rd.
Sarsfield Community Hall, 3585 Sarsfield Rd.
South Fallingbrook Community Centre, 998 Valin St.

The polls will also be open on from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Mon. Oct. 5.

[email protected]

https://ottawasun.com/news/local-new...new-councillor

[J.OT13]

Tierney was on the Rob Snow Show yesterday. Rob mentioned one of the Cumberland candidates (did not specify which one, but I believe it might have been Yvette Ashiri as she has Emilie Taman and Joel Harden's support) participated at an NDP caucus meeting, or something. Tierney was very unimpressed, pointing to Party politics tying municipal politician's hands and how it's better to stay independent and work with others (i.e. join the Watson Club) if you want anything done.

Yvette Ashiri also has Transit Commissioner Sarah Wright-Gilbert's support.

Funny he's not criticizing Catherine Kitts for hanging out with Blais, Marie-France Lalonde, Madelaine Meilleur and Luloff (who beat her in the last municipal election).

So much hypocrisy in politics. It's sickening.

Cumberland byelection candidates rack up endorsements from politicos

There's no shortage of endorsements — with some blasts from the past — splashed across the websites of candidates trying to win the Cumberland ward byelection next Monday.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
September 29, 2020



Candidates in a municipal byelection are lining up gobs of endorsements from politicos during the campaign, including ones from current city councillors.

Hitching a campaign to seals of approval from other politicians can be a gamble for candidates. They’re running with an assumption that voters like the endorsers and respect their opinions. Failing to read the community and trotting out off-key endorsements could be fatal for a campaign, especially when so few votes are at play.

And for sitting councillors playing in another ward’s sandbox, there’s a chance the candidates they’re backing won’t get elected, risking a frosty relationship with the winner and their new council colleague.

There’s no shortage of endorsements — with some blasts from the past — splashed across the websites of candidates trying to win the Cumberland ward byelection next Monday.

Orléans Coun. Matthew Luloff admits it’s unusual to back a former political foe during the byelection, but that’s what he’s doing in throwing his support behind Catherine Kitts. Luloff received only 264 more votes than Kitts in the 2018 municipal general election in Orléans ward.

Luloff, who noted there are some “excellent candidates” in the Cumberland byelection, said Kitts was a “formidable opponent.” He saw during the 2018 campaign that they ran on similar visions for the east-Ottawa community.

According to Luloff, it made “perfect sense to signal that this is the candidate that I would like to work with.”

Of the 10 candidates running in the Cumberland byelection, four have collected endorsements from a variety of current and former politicians in the three levels of government, based on the information posted on their websites and social media.

KItts also showcases endorsements from Orléans Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde, former Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MPP Madeleine Meilleur and former Ottawa-Orléans Liberal MPP and councillor Phil McNeely. She also has Orléans Liberal MPP Stephen Blais, the previous Cumberland councillor, on her side.

Not to be outdone, Patrick Uguccioni has won endorsements from former mayor Larry O’Brien, former mayor and Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal MPP Bob Chiarelli, former Cumberland mayor and Carleton-Gloucester Progressive Conservative MPP Brian Coburn and former Osgoode councillor Doug Thompson. West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry has also been campaigning with Uguccioni.

Lyse-Pascale Inamuco lists on her website endorsements from Hull-Aylmer Liberal MP Greg Fergus and former Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers.

Yvette Ashiri is receiving support from Capital Coun. Shawn Menard, Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper and Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden.

[rocketphish]

Catherine Kitts takes Cumberland with more than 50% of byelection vote
Kitts faced 9 others on the ballot in the Cumberland byelection

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Oct 05, 2020 9:34 PM ET | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago



Catherine Kitts will take a virtual seat on Ottawa's city council next week as the new representative for the Cumberland ward.

After finishing a close second in 2018 in a packed race for Orléans during the last election, she jumped straight into first place Monday as votes were tabulated in the byelection for the neighbouring Cumberland, where she now lives.

According to unofficial results, Kitts received 54 per cent of the vote, more than double that of her nearest competitor, Yvette Ashiri. About 24 per cent of the 33,500 registered on the electoral roll for the Cumberland neighbourhood voted Monday.

"I feel great," Kitts told CBC News after the results came in. "It was really the hard work of an amazing volunteer team that stood behind me the whole way, so we're all pretty happy tonight for sure."

Kitts faced nine other contenders in the race for the eastern ward, and is set to become the eighth woman on the 24-person council.

A communications specialist and former editor of the Orléans Star, Kitts campaigned with the support of her predecessor Stephen Blais, other local Liberals, as well as Coun. Matthew Luloff, to whom she lost two years ago.

The Cumberland seat has been vacant since March, when Blais, who occupied it for a decade, became MPP for Orléans.

Council decided to delay calling a byelection during the height of the COVID-19 shutdowns this past spring, then the city clerk only recommended it was safe to hold the vote after the province and city eased restrictions early summer.

The pandemic made the byelection an unusual one.

The city held an extra day of advance voting and a special mail-in ballot. At voting locations, the city took precautions such as installing acrylic barriers and not reusing stationery or pens. The extra measures were expected to cost nearly $150,000 more than the usual $375,000 to run a byelection.

Candidates, meanwhile, wore face masks to knock on doors and had to rely on social media more than in a typical campaign. There were no in-person debates.

The city clerk is expected to make the voting results official Wednesday, and Kitts is expected to take the declaration of office that same day.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ults-1.5751175

[J.OT13]

I'm shocked.

[kwoldtimer]

Team Watson?

[ars]

I know Catherine from my time at Carleton, she's pretty smart and driven, expecting her to do a great job.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by ars

I know Catherine from my time at Carleton, she's pretty smart and driven, expecting her to do a great job.

To be clear, I may not have voted for her, but I'm ok with the results of the election. Had it been a ranked ballot, she probably would have been in my top 3. I'm sure she will be an effective representative for Cumberland Ward.

I am surprised how lopsided the results were, with Catherine Kitts taking 54%, Yvette Ashiri a little over 20% and the rest sharing the scraps.

Voter turnout 23.9%. That is pretty bad, but expected during a pandemic.


https://twitter.com/KatePorterCBC/st...91574797692928

I was sure Uguccioni would do better. In a ranked ballot system, he would have been bottom 3 for me personally.

[Tesladom]

We need to reform how we do elections, $500k+ for a byelection?
We should try by mail-in ballots next time, a postmarked ballot would be a check of a lot cheaper.
It cost around $60 per vote!!! Crazy!!