Laine wins

Huge victory! How Laine won.

Team Laine celebrates.

Pat’s campaign: lots of money and connections but few community volunteers.

How Bells Corners voted in 2022. Rick and the old monied guard endorsed Pat.

How Bells Corners voted in 2018.

Pat cleaned up in retirement homes but captured only one regular poll. Laine won everywhere else.

Thanks Laine Johnson and her team of almost 200 volunteers!

College ward results: Laine Johnson will be first new face in the ward in 20 years Ottawa Citizen

“Busy people get things done,” said the mother of two kids under four years old.

For the first time in more than two decades, College Ward residents will have a new face representing them on Ottawa city council.

Laine Johnson, a married mother of two young children, was elected Monday night, besting her challenger, Pat McGarry, by more than 3,000 votes in unofficial election results.

“We have a lot to live up to and a lot to defend,” Johnson told cheering supporters gathered to watch the election results at Sonny’s Bar & Grill on Baxter Road. 

“People care deeply about where they live and they care deeply about their neighbours and we don’t always invite them in in in the right way, especially here in College Ward.”

Though some have questioned whether her family commitments will be a challenge — Johnson’s kids are 3 1/2 and 20 months — “Busy people get things done,” she said.

She described the room full of supporters who came to cheer her victory as “my new family.”

Though the incumbent, Rick Chiarelli, chose not to run in the election, his presence loomed over the race from the beginning.

A fixture at City Hall since 2000, Chiarelli’s spent much of the last term on suspension, shunned by his fellow councillors after allegations emerged of sexual harassment and the mistreatment of staff.

Johnson’s victory was particularly sweet for the women who came forward with the allegations against the incumbent. Originally, Johnson planned to get involved with the campaign as a volunteer, but was encouraged early on to run herself.

“There was a groundswell of support even at that early stage and it was because people were feeling disappointment after the 2018 election,” she said. “They knew there was a different way of fighting for College Ward.”

Johnson will take her seat at a council awash in rookies and with a mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, who has never held public office before. 

But Johnson knows Sutcliffe from his work with the Great Canadian Theatre Company where she worked from eight years.

Johnson said she had both of the mayoral frontrunners, Catherine McKenney and Sutcliffe, “on my phone.”

“Catherine ran a formidable campaign and I was inspired by their work,” she said. “But I’ve seen Mark run a boardroom table and I’m encouraged by what this next chapter will bring for all of us.”

Businessman and philanthropist Patrick McGarry finished second in the race.

Johnson, a senior leader at the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, a non-profit housing group was backed in the election by the progressive camp, netting the endorsements of Horizon Ottawa, outgoing councillor Diane Deans and former Liberal strategist Penny Collenette, amongst others.

McGarry, meanwhile, won the support of the area’s old guard, winning endorsements from ex-Ottawa mayors Jim Durrell and Jacquelin Holzman, ex-Nepean mayor Mary Pitt and former regional chair Andrew Haydon.

Rounding out the race were Wendy Davidson, finishing third in early unofficial results, followed by Granda Kopytko, a senior official with the federal employees union CAPE, and Vilteau Delvas.

College ward is located in the city’s suburban west end, stretching from Centrepointe to Bell’s Corners, and including the campus of Algonquin College. The ward is home to several large apartment and rental complexes close to Algonquin and along Baseline, and in Bell’s Corners, while other areas are mostly populated by single-family housing.

Free bike-taxi ride from FreshCo to Priam Way for some Halloween Horror.

Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen: Laine Johnson started knocking on doors even before she declared her intention to run for councillor in College ward in March.

“Every one of those interactions was an opportunity to connect with someone,” she said. “I worked hard knocking on doors. I get energy from meeting other people. I get a boost.”

That effort paid off. In a crowded field of five candidates, Johnson won more than 52 per cent of the vote on Monday.

The past four years have been a difficult time for College ward.

Beleaguered incumbent Rick Chiarelli was the subject of two investigations by the city’s integrity commissioner in response to allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour. His salary was suspended, which he challenged in court. He had heart surgery in December 2019 and suffered from complications.

Chiarelli was frequently absent from council, drawing complaints from community groups and residents who felt they had lost their voice at city hall. It wasn’t clear until the very last day for would-be councillors to declare their candidacy, but he did not seek re-election.

With her long and energetic campaign, which attracted 170 volunteers, Johnson wanted to show she can go the distance.

Johnson was born in Ottawa and grew up in a co-op housing enclave near the Hog’s Back Bridge. She went to the Canterbury High School, where she specialized in drama, did an undergraduate degree in psychology at Carleton University, where she later completed a master’s degree in philanthropy and non-profit leadership.

That led to a career in the non-profit sector, focused on the municipal level.

Johnson was a leader with Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, a non-profit housing organization founded in 1974 that develops and maintains affordable housing as well as Synapcity, a non-profit dedicated to civic engagement and the Ottawa Community Land Trust, which stewards land assets, allowing non-profits to use the value of the land as an asset to produce affordable housing.

She has been making connections with people at the municipal level throughout her career, and says these connections will be valuable in her new role as councillor.

“These skills I have in bringing people together, I thought it would be the missing piece of the puzzle in College ward,” said Johnson. “That invitation to participate and have connection would heal a lot of mistrust.”

Preserving the tree canopy, public health and housing are among the concerns she has heard at the door, along with the need for safe streets.

“We’re very car-friendly. We don’t have a lot of infrastructure for people who want to walk. We need to understand that this transition is upon us. Safety concerns are very real.

Johnson and her husband are the parents of two preschoolers, 3 1/2 and 20 months old.

“I can hardly wait until my children start sleeping through the night,” said Johnson.  “Then I will really be on fire.”

New sidewalks and asphalt in Lynwood Village.

Seeing Bells Corners through Japanese eyes.