It wasn’t exactly the way one might expect to find one of Ottawa’s newest city councillors making her victory speech.
Perched on a chair in a pair of pumps, Joanne Chianello looked out over a sea of supporters packed shoulder to shoulder inside Newport Restaurant on Oct. 26 with happy tears in her eyes. Trays of Moe’s famous pizza were being served.
When polls closed at 8 p.m., eyes turned anxiously towards the television screens as supporters waited for the results to come in.
Chianello captured 65.2 per cent of the vote, receiving 10,722 ballots. Her closest challenger, Subhir Uppal, finished with 16.5 per cent, followed by Brian Innes with 16.1 per cent and Xavier Commerford with 2.2 per cent, according to unofficial results.
Chianello will be one of just three new faces around Ottawa’s council table. In Stittsville, Chelsea Walton won the open seat vacated by Glen Gower, while Erin Coffin defeated longtime incumbent Allan Hubley in Kanata South, ending his 16-year tenure at city hall.
The election also marked a historic milestone for women in municipal politics. For the first time since amalgamation in 2001, women will hold a majority of seats on Ottawa city council, with 13 women and 12 men, including Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.
As she addressed supporters, Chianello became emotional while thanking the volunteers, friends and family members who had helped carry her campaign to victory. Among them were her parents, Mario and Rita, who had travelled from Toronto for the occasion. Rita even made her homemade pasta for the campaign team.
When the Kitchissippi Times met Chianello for coffee at Bridgehead in Wellington West the following afternoon, she was still fielding calls and texts from supporters offering their well wishes. Some even stopped by her table to congratulate her in person.
“I am extremely excited and a little bit tired and wired on this first day. I’m nervous too, but in a good way, though, because I really feel the weight of the responsibility that I was entrusted by the people of Kitchissippi,” she said.
Hitting the ground running
With the celebrations behind her, Chianello is already looking towards the challenges facing Kitchissippi. Among the most pressing is intensification, which she said dominated conversations with residents throughout the campaign.
While the ward continues to welcome new housing, Chianello believes governments have not adequately addressed the pressures that accompany increased density, including traffic congestion, parking, pedestrian safety, and demand for community services.
“There seems to be little acknowledgement by government officials that bringing more housing to Kitchissippi also brings other challenges, like traffic and cars parked all over the place that are making streets more congested,” she said.
Chianello wants to bring community associations, residents and city staff together to identify traffic concerns across the ward and establish a list of priorities.
She also intends to maintain some of the practices established by Leiper during his 12 years in office, including regular newsletters and informal coffee meetings with residents. Chianello hopes to offer some of those gatherings in the evenings and on weekends to accommodate people who work during the day.
Another major file will be the future of Bayview Yards, one of the few remaining large city-owned properties in Ottawa’s urban core. Located near the intersection of two LRT lines, the property sits beside the redeveloping Bayview area and across from Tom Brown Arena.
Chianello sees an opportunity to explore affordable housing, recreation and other community amenities, but says residents must have a meaningful role in shaping its future.
“That full node is a huge opportunity to build something really great, something new and something that this community can be part of on the ground floor and be proud of, something for generations to come,” she said.
Chianello’s background covering municipal politics gives her considerable familiarity with the inner workings of city hall as she prepares to take her seat around the council table.
During a journalism career spanning three decades, including time at the Ottawa Citizen and CBC, she became known for her investigative reporting and willingness to scrutinize decisions made by elected officials.
Her reporting helped uncover problems surrounding Ottawa’s troubled light-rail system, including revelations about concerns raised by senior transit officials before the Confederation Line opened in 2019. She also broke the story of sexual misconduct allegations against former College Ward Coun. Rick Chiarelli, which led to investigations and raised questions about accountability at city hall.
Those experiences gave Chianello an understanding of municipal procedures, budgets and the challenges facing Ottawa, although she acknowledges that serving as an elected official will be a different experience.
Her first major responsibility at city hall will be the municipal budget, a process she knows well from years of reporting but has never experienced from the other side of the council table.
As for whether her reputation as a journalist willing to ask difficult questions will follow her into elected office, Chianello said residents can expect an independent voice — but not someone looking for confrontation.
“I’m not going to come out guns blazing, right? I’m here to get things done for our community and also our city,” she said. “I think you can be independent and collaborative. I will ask tough questions when they need to be asked.”