Former mayor Bob Chiarelli heads back to Queen's Park
Posted Mar 12, 2010 By Phil Ambroziak and Sheena Bolton
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Tweet ThisEMC News - The people of Ottawa West-Nepean will continue to be represented by a Liberal at Queen's Park.
Liberal candidate and former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli was victorious in the Thursday, March 4 provincial by-election, narrowly defeating his closest rival, Progressive Conservative candidate Beth Graham. As results began filtering in throughout the evening, the two remained neck-and-neck.
Shortly after 10 p.m., however, with all 285 polls reporting, it was determined that Chiarelli had indeed come out on top, defeating Graham 12,344 votes (43.5 per cent) to 11,076 votes (39 per cent). The remaining candidates - Pam FitzGerald of the NDP and the Green Party's Mark MacKenzie - both scored less than 10 per cent of the vote.
Following the news of Chiarelli's win, the successful candidate arrived at Marshy's Bar-B-Que and Grill on Centrepointe Drive where a large, exuberant crowd of supporters greeted him. The Liberals in attendance received another treat when Chiarelli arrived accompanied by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. As cheers and chants erupted from the crowd, the two took to the stage to address the evening's victory.
"I want to start off by thanking all of the candidates in this provincial by-election," McGuinty said. "It takes a lot of courage to move from the sidelines and put your name on the ballot. Whenever this happens, it strengthens democracy."
The premier also expressed his gratitude toward the people of Ottawa West-Nepean, the Chiarelli campaign team and Chiarelli himself.
"I had the honour and joy to work with Bob Chiarelli before at Queen's Park, as did my father, and I look forward to welcoming him back there again," he said.
As Chiarelli approached the lectern, he commented on how much of an honour it is for him to be introduced by the premier of Ontario.
"I am very honoured to have the level of support that my team gave me during my election campaign," Chiarelli said. "I want to thank Randi and the many members of my family who are here tonight for supporting me in every election campaign I have been in, but more so when running at this level in my career."
The new MPP also thanked the many volunteers who assisted him during the campaign and paid homage to many of the riding's past leaders and community builders.
"This was my eighth campaign and I have never been in one with such a high level of personal kindness," he said. "I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to every single one of you. You are the ones who take a stake in this community and continue to work toward a better community, a better province and a better country. We are fortunate to have the community that we have, which is something that comes from the tremendous leadership we have had in the past. My commitment to this community is to continue to help build it for the next several years."
In close second Graham held her campaign celebration at Grace O'Malley's on Merivale Road. Although she didn't win, during her speech she called the night a victory for herself and the PC party.
"I'm honoured for the number of votes received and I'm hugely proud of our campaign team and the message we delivered on behalf of the PC party," said Graham. "Today the voters of Ottawa West-Nepean made their choice, Bob Chiarelli's team ran a strong campaign and his commitment to the political process deserves our respect and thanks. I extend my congratulations to him and his victory tonight."
Now that the election is over she said she plans to rest and then think about her political future.
"This has been a really good experience that I wouldn't give up ... I enjoyed the ride of what we've done in the last four weeks and I will take my time to think about what's going to happen in the future," she said.
When asked if she would run in the next election she said, "Never say never, I really enjoy talking to people and doing things for people and I can see this going the next step, (which is) the election in 2011. I'm going to give that some serious thought."
Many issues
As for the issues at hand, Chiarelli reiterated his views of health care and ensuring that Ontario's senior citizens are well taken care of.
"This was an important issue when I first ran in 1987 and I'm seeing it more so now," he said. "During this campaign, I knocked on 9,000 doors and probably spoke to 3,000 people. Everyone agreed that we need a proper health care system and services for seniors. That's what I'm committed to and that's what I'm working toward."
Chiarelli added that the former PC government is renowned for closing hospitals and laying off nurses.
"We have invested $1 billion in hospitals and we've increased the budget of hospitals by 42 per cent," he said. "We hired more nurses and there are now more family physicians than before. We have one person in this room to thank for this and he's standing behind me, and that's Premier Dalton McGuinty."
Chiarelli concluded by reassuring voters that he would not let them down and by thanking his predecessor Jim Watson for all of his contributions as MPP of Ottawa West-Nepean. The need for a by-election arose following Watson's decision to resign from his post to run for the Ottawa mayor's chair later this year.
"I look forward to being a significant part of what we're delivering to this province," Chiarelli said.
Chiarelli, 68, earned his law degree at the University of Ottawa and set up a community-based legal practice. Always actively involved in his community, he worked to modernize the refugee claim process and to give low-income Ottawa residents better access to affordable housing.
He served as MPP for Ottawa West from 1987 to 1997, and later as regional chair of Ottawa-Carleton and mayor of the amalgamated City of Ottawa. Following his tenure in municipal politics, Chiarelli remained active in to his community serving as vice-chair of the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health, as a member of the Board of Peace Camp Ottawa and as a fundraising volunteer with Citizen Advocacy.
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