The 2003 Ottawa municipal election was a municipal election that was held in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

to elect the city's mayor,

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, and school trustees for the city of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The vote was held on November 10, 2003. The elections were held simultaneously with most other municipalities in Ontario. The mayoral election was won by popular incumbent and former

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Provincial Parliament

Bob Chiarelli Robert Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Ottawa W ...

. His main competition was that of right-wing candidate Terry Kilrea.

Issues

The main issues of the race were a controversial

Smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor work ...

, the expansion of the

O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...

(Ottawa's light rail system), official

bilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

and the recent

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

. Chiarelli was in favour of the smoking ban, which had been implemented by the last city council. The ban was on smoking in all public places, which angered many bar and restaurant owners. Kilrea was against the smoking ban. He was also against putting money into expanding the O-Train, and official bilingualism in the city.

Controversy

One of the prominent fringe candidates for mayor was associated with

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

support. Donna Upson received contributions from the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, and she voiced support for

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

. She has also set up a Canadian branch of the

National Socialist Movement National Socialist Movement may refer to: * Nazi Party, a political movement in Germany * National Socialist Movement (UK, 1962), a British neo-Nazi group * National Socialist Movement (United Kingdom), a British neo-Nazi group active during the lat ...

. She finished in sixth place with 1,312 votes (0.71%).

Turnout

Turnout for the election was low, at 33%. The highest turnouts were in the rural areas, specifically in

Goulbourn Goulbourn Township, Ontario, was formed in 1818, roughly 20 km southwest of downtown Ottawa, with the first major settlement occurring in Richmond. Other communities in the township include Stittsville, Munster, and Ashton. Stittsville i ...

, Rideau and the highest West Carleton (45%). The lowest turnout was in

Somerset Ward Somerset (Ward 14) is a city ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It covers the neighbourhoods of Downtown Ottawa, Centretown, Lebreton Flats and most of Centretown West. It is Ottawa's smallest and most dense ward. It is represented on Ot ...

at 25% turnout.

Results for mayor

Chiarelli won all but three wards and had his most strength in the city core region. Kilrea won three wards, all in the rural south and west.

Council results

No incumbents lost any races, and only two councillors had a decrease in the popular vote percentage from the 2000 election.

Orléans Ward Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Herb Kreling 7,182 (72.89%) (+31.93%) #Louise Malloy 2,671 (27.11%) Innes Ward #

Rainer Bloess Rainer Bloess was a member of Ottawa City Council. He represents Innes Ward (Ward 2), covering some of the city's eastern suburbs. Bloess was originally a member of the city council of Gloucester, being first elected to that council in 1994 ...

5,925 (59.26%) (+7.25%) #J.-F. Claude 4,073 (40.74%) Bell-South Nepean Ward #

Jan Harder Janet Harder (born 1951 in Ottawa) is a former Ottawa City Councillor who represented the ward of Barrhaven. She was the appointed chair of the Ottawa Public Library board, which sets policy and has the ultimate say in decisions affecting the libr ...

11,678 (86.75%) (+25.86%) #John R. Palmer 1,784 (13.25%)

Kanata Ward Kanata North Ward or Ward 4 (French: ''Quartier Kanata-Nord'') is a ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The ward was created in 2006 when its predecessor, Kanata Ward, split in two main parts. The original Kanata Ward covered all of the f ...

Peggy Feltmate Peggy Feltmate is Canadian politician who was Ottawa city councillor representing Kanata South Ward from 2003 to 2010. She was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario, in 1949 and was first elected in the 2003 Ottawa election to replace outgoing councillor ...

12,260 (70.58%) #Richard Rutkowski 4,166 (23.98%) #Donald Leafloor 561 (3.23%) #Grant Johnston 384 (2.21%)

West Carleton Ward West Carleton-March Ward (Ward 5) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The ward was created for the 2000 election when West Carleton Township was amalgamated into the new city of Ottawa. At that time, the ward was called West Carleton Ward ...

Eli El-Chantiry Eli El-Chantiry (born April 23, 1957 in Kab-Elias, Lebanon) is an Ottawa City Councillor and chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board. He was born in Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic ...

2,738 (44.61%) #Adele Muldoon 2,709 (44.14%) #Daryl W. Craig 480 (7.82%) #Jim Jenkins 210 (3.42%)

Goulbourn Ward Stittsville (Ward 6) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, represented on Ottawa City Council. It consists of the community of Stittsville in suburban Ottawa. Prior to the 2006 election, the Ward was known as Goulbourn Ward which consisted ...

Janet Stavinga Janet Stavinga she was an Ottawa City Councillor. She represented the Goulbourn ward covering what was once the independent Goulbourn Township, Ontario, Goulbourn Township. Career Local councillor and mayor She was first a Goulbourn councillor an ...

5,076 (64.15%) (+19.14%) #Michael P. O'Rourke 2,837 (35.85%)

Bay Ward Bay Ward or Ward 7 (French: ''Quartier Baie'') is a municipal ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada represented on Ottawa City Council. It covers much of the western portion of the old city of Ottawa as well as some portions of what was once Nepean. Th ...

Alex Cullen Alexander Shaun Cullen is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and a former member of Ottawa City Council, representing the Bay Ward in Ottawa's west end ...

6,713 (56.74%) (+8.72%) #John Blatherwick 4,477 (37.84%) #Don Rivington 394 (3.33%) #Didar Mohamed 248 (2.10%)

Baseline Ward College Ward or Ward 8 (French: ''Quartier Collège'') is a city ward in Ottawa, Canada's west end. The ward covers the neighbourhoods of Bells Corners, Qualicum, Graham Park, Leslie Park, Redwood, Kenson Park, Parkway Park, Bel-Air Park, Bel ...

Rick Chiarelli Richard "Rick" Chiarelli (born c. 1964) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an Ottawa City Councillor, and the second cousin of former Ottawa mayor and 2022 mayoral candidate Bob Chiarelli. He represented the College Ward covering part ...

(acclaimed)

Knoxdale-Merivale Ward Knoxdale-Merivale (Ward 9) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario. Located in the city's west end, the ward is bordered to the east by the Rideau River and Fisher Avenue, the northern boundaries of the community of Barrhaven to the south, Ontario Hig ...

Gord Hunter Gordon Hunter (born January 20, 1946) was an Ottawa City Councillor. He represented Knoxdale-Merivale Ward. On January 31, 2010, he announced that he would not be running re-election to city council in 2010. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Hu ...

7,029 (84.79%) (+13.17%) #Phillip Unhola 637 (7.68%) #Al Speyers 624 (7.53%) (-20.85%) Gloucester-Southgate Ward #

Diane Deans Diane Elizabeth Deans is a member of Ottawa City Council, Canada, representing Gloucester-Southgate Ward in the city's southeast, representing more than 49,500 residents. Career A graduate of the University of Guelph, she was active in the Cana ...

6,166 (59.34%) (+10.64%) #Harold G. Keenan 3,917 (37.70%) #David Lamothe 308 (2.96%)

Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario. Located in the city's east end, the ward is bordered to the west by Blair Road from the Ottawa River to Ogilvie Road and St. Laurent Boulevard south of it, the south by the Via Rail trai ...

Michel Bellemare Michel Bellemare (born July 10, 1967) is a Canadian politician and lawyer. Bellemare was a member of the City Council in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from 1994 to 2010. He served as the acting as mayor of Ottawa, while mayor Larry O'Brien faced cha ...

4,613 (61.04%) (+3.17%) # Frank Reid 2,812 (37.21%) #Osman Abdi 132 (1.75%)

Rideau-Vanier Ward Rideau-Vanier Ward is a ward in the city of Ottawa, designated as Ward 12 and represented on Ottawa City Council. It was originally created in 1994 as a Ward on Regional Council. Prior to Ottawa's amalgamation in 2001, the Ward was partly in the ...

Georges Bédard Georges Bédard (born c. 1946 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a former member of Ottawa City Council representing the ward (politics), ward of Rideau-Vanier Ward, Rideau-Vanier. This ward covers Lower Town, Sandy Hill, Ottawa, Sandy Hill, and Vanier, Ontari ...

3,631 (41.52%) #Bruce McConville 2,355 (26.93%) #Angela Rickman 1,829 (20.91%) #Giacomo Vigna 582 (6.66%) #Abdillahi Omar Bouh 211 (2.41%) #Natasha Duckworth 137 (1.57%)

Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario. Located in the city's east end, the ward covers the neighbourhoods of New Edinburgh, Manor Park, Rockcliffe Park, Wateridge Village, Overbrook, Lindenlea, Viscount Alexander Park, Car ...

# Jacques Legendre 6,070 (79.17%) (+15.29%) #James Parker 934 (12.18%) #Michel Binda 663 (8.65%)

Diane Holmes Diane Holmes is a former Ottawa City Councillor representing Somerset Ward which consists of Centretown, Centretown West and the downtown core. She was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, and graduated from McGill University with a degree i ...

4,105 (61.62%) #Dawn Pickering 1,195 (17.94%) #David MacDonald 567 (8.51%) #William A. Ostapyk 366 (5.49%) #Steve Sweeney 189 (2.84%) #Sotos Petrides 132 (1.98%) #Bill Driver 55 (0.83%) #Mike Jung 53 (0.80%)

Kitchissippi Ward Kitchissippi Ward (Ward 15) is a city ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It gets its name from the Algonquin name for the Ottawa River, meaning ''Great River''. The ward is slightly west of downtown, and covers the neighbourhoods of Champ ...

# Shawn Little 2,907 (27.12%) (-19.92%) #Kris Klein 2,330 (21.74%) #

Gary Ludington The 2006 Ottawa municipal election was held on November 13, 2006, in Ottawa, Canada, to elect the mayor of Ottawa, Ottawa City Council and the Ottawa-Carleton Public and Catholic School Boards. The election was one of many races across the provi ...

2,217 (20.68%) #Linda Davis 1,540 (14.37%) (-26.07%) #Daniel Stringer 1,058 (9.87%) #David McConnell 625 (5.83%) #Les Gangé 42 (0.39%)

River Ward River Ward or Ward 16 (French: ''Quartier Rivière'') is a municipal ward located in Ottawa, Ontario. It is located in the south central portion of the city, and includes the communities of Carlington, Central Park, Carleton Heights, Mooney's Bay ...

# Maria McRae 5,600 (63.11%) #Todd Mattila-Hartman 1,654 (18.64%) #Richard Smith 1,619 (18.25%)

Capital Ward Capital Ward or Ward 17 (French: ''Quartier Capitale'') is a city ward located in the centre of Ottawa, Ontario. Situated just south of downtown Ottawa, the ward includes the communities of Old Ottawa East, Old Ottawa South, the Glebe, Heron Park, ...

Clive Doucet Clive Doucet (born 1946) is a Canadian writer and politician. He served as the Ottawa City Councillor for Capital Ward from 1997 to 2010 and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Ottawa in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election, finishing third with 15 pe ...

5,785 (80.06%) (+9.67%) #C.R.L. Erickson 1,024 (14.17%) #Mike Salmon 417 (5.77%)

Alta Vista Ward Alta Vista Ward (Ward 18) is a city ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada represented on Ottawa City Council. Alta Vista Ward was created prior to the 1966 election when Gloucester Ward was split in half due to population growth in the Alta ...

# Peter Hume (acclaimed)

Cumberland Ward Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

# Rob Jellett 2,957 (54.37%) #Garry Lowe 1,871 (34.40%) #Pierre E. Doucette 552 (10.15%) #David Whissell 59 (1.08%)

Osgoode Ward *Osgoode Hall, building in Toronto, Canada *Osgoode Hall Law School *Osgoode Station, rapid transit station in Toronto *Osgoode, Ontario *Osgoode Township, Ontario, ward in Ottawa *William Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Upper Canada The Pro ...

Doug Thompson Douglas Thompson was a councillor in the city of Ottawa for the Osgoode Ward. Thompson was also the former mayor of Osgoode Township prior to the amalgamation with the new City of Ottawa. Prior to being mayor of Osgoode, Thompson was a municipal ...

(acclaimed) Rideau Ward # Glenn Brooks 2,765 (62.68%) (-2.42%) #Paul Paton 1,646 (37.32%)

School trustee races

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustees

Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board Trustees

Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est Trustees

Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario Trustees

Information on the candidates

*Giacomo Vigna (Rideau-Vanier ward) is a lawyer with the

Canadian Human Rights Commission The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' to investigate and to try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the pro ...

. He was a candidate in the 1991 Ottawa municipal election, though he withdrew from the contest before election day. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he ran for a seat on the Saint-Leonard city council in suburban

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and narrowly lost to incumbent Robert Zambito. In the 2003 election, he focused on economic development issues and called for an expansion of the

Ottawa Congress Centre The Shaw Centre (formerly the Ottawa Convention Centre) is a convention centre located in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened in April 2011. The Centre replaces the Ottawa Congress Centre, which opened in 1983 and is built on t ...

. Vigna has argued cases before the

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (french: Tribunal canadien des droits de la personne, link=no) is an administrative tribunal established in 1977 through the ''Canadian Human Rights Act''. It is directly funded by the Parliament of Canada and i ...

against persons accused of

online hate speech Online hate speech is a type of speech that takes place online with the purpose of attacking a person or a group based on their race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, and/or gender. Online hate speech is not easily defin ...

. In 2010, he won a libel suit against right-wing pundit

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The'' Western Standard''. ...

; a judge ruled that Levant had libelled Vigna with "reckless indifference" to the truth in various blog posts.Joseph Brean, "Judge orders Ezra Levant to pay $25,000; Charged with defaming human rights lawyer," ''Montreal Gazette'', 20 November 2010, p. 5.

References

External links

2003 Municipal Election Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottawa Municipal Election, 2003 Municipal elections in Ottawa 2003 Ontario municipal elections election, 2003