Ottawa West-Nepean will be returning a familiar face to
Queen’s Park after Bob Chiarelli captured 43 per cent of the vote on March 4.
Though there were five candidates, the election was really a
two-horse race with Chiarelli barely squeaking by conservative Beth Graham’s
showing of 39 per cent.
“It was a lot closer than I thought, they said it was going
to be a massacre,” one supporter who declined to give his name, said.
“The winds of change
are blowing,” Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod said. “We closed the gap by 15
points tonight.”
In the 2007 election, Jim Watson — whose vacated seat was
the reason for the byelection — the liberals took the riding by 50.6 per cent,
with the conservatives trailing by 18 points.
About 33 per cent of the riding’s 86,272 eligible voters
turned out for the election.
Watson said that election night made him a little nostalgic
for the post he will be leaving behind to campaign for the head seat at Ottawa city council.
“I really enjoyed my work over the last six and a half
years,” he said. “But tonight is the night for the candidates. I still live in
the riding so I am still interested in the issues.”
Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi said that March 4 was a great
day to be a liberal in Ottawa.
“Elections are so exciting from the time you get up to the time
you go to bed,” he said. “I have been working day and night on Bob’s
(Chiarelli) campaign for the last four weeks and have enjoyed every minute of
it.”
Chiarelli said he knocked on 9,000 doors and spoke to 3,000
people. He credited his win with increased spending on healthcare.
“This riding has the unique characteristic of having a high
number of seniors,” he said. “Their concerns are healthcare. Under this
administration we have built a new Royal
Ottawa Hospital
and a new Montfort and we have increased hospital budgets by 42 per cent.”
Chiarelli said he had to thank his family for supporting him
throughout his political career.
“I couldn’t have done it without their support and I think
they were happy with the results on my health as I ran about 250 kilometres of
road,” Chiarelli said.
Ontario’s
premier made an appearance at the celebrations, saying that the results proved
the liberals were on the right track.
“But I would like to thank all the candidates for running,” Dalton
McGuinty said. “It takes tremendous courage to get off the sidelines and put
your name on the sign. Dedication in communities like this reminds us that we
live in the greatest province in the best country in the world.
I had the pleasure of working with Bob (Chiarelli) at
Queen’s Park in the past and I am happy to welcome him to the liberal family.”
Chiarelli said he plans to continue the focus on education
and healthcare when he is in office.
Conservative candidate Beth Graham said she is seriously
considering a run in the 2011 general election.
“This was a victory for Beth Graham, we increased our votes
by 3.4 per cent,” she said. “I can see the next step as election 2011, possibly
as a candidate. Never say never.”
Graham went on to warn McGuinty that she thinks his number
will be up in 18 months.
“We got the message out on the impact of HST,” Ottawa
West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird said. “With 28 days, no one gave this party, no one
gave Tim Hudak, and no one gave Beth Graham a chance at winning.”
One volunteer and scrutineer, Eleanor Vorobej said that she
thought the campaign should have started sooner to have a better chance against
Chiarelli.
“We worked hard and lots of young people came out. More
young people than I’ve ever seen before,” Vorobej said.
NDP candidate and College zone Ottawa-Carleton District
School Board trustee Pam FitzGerald called the election a wakeup call to the
liberals and conservatives.
“People still care about social services,” she said. “While
we may not have won in numbers, we won in terms of raising the public awareness
on issues that are very keen to people’s personal lives. I take consolation in
that.”
FitzGerald said she was happy with the numbers which were
gained despite the announcement by the liberals on the night of the nomination
meeting that Nortel pensioners would get $1,000 per month.
The NDP and Green Party numbers were very close — with both
hovering around the 8 per cent mark.
FitzGerald said she wasn’t surprised.
“Mr. MacKenzie ran a really incredible campaign as well. He
worked very, very hard. He talked about environmental issues more. People are
looking for alternatives so they might look to the NDP or they might look to
the Green Party as well.”
FitzGerald wouldn’t talk about what’s next for her without
discussing it with her family.
“Politics is still an honourable profession. People still
want top discuss these issues and how we can find solutions to problems.”
MacKenzie said the byelections can be tough for the Green
Party as there is not as much support build up as there is in some other
parties. Despite those obstacles, he was pleased with the results.
“It was a lower turnout and we increased our percentage
significantly, so we are pleased,” he said. “We see this as the next step in
the process where we are going to engage the public in between elections. I
think a lot of people are going to wake up tomorrow (March 5) and realize, ‘Oh,
I guess I should have voted yesterday.’ When it’s a byelection a lot of people
forget to vote.”
MacKenzie did say he would run again and said the byelection
was a good barometer because the Greens typically do better during the general
elections.
“We’re thrilled that we were able to increase our percentage
by 30 or 40 per cent,” he said. “Believe me, the other parties are paying
attention to what we are doing. That was evident in this campaign. And they’ll
continue to do that because they’ll only lose more votes if they don’t.”
MacKenzie did congratulate the victor.
“We have to congratulate Mr. Chiarelli on his win and wish
him all the best in the year ahead,” he said.
-With files from Jamie Doggart and Daniel Nugent-Bowman