When Catherine McKenney lost Ottawa’s Mayoral race in 2022, they planned to move on and be done with politics. That was until the NDP candidacy came up in Ottawa Centre, and the former Somerset ward councillor realized they could work on issues they were passionate about.
Affordability, transit, housing, and climate change are what McKenney lives and breathes every day. They even co-founded a non-profit organization called CitySHAPES after leaving municipal politics to make a positive difference.
On Feb. 27, McKenney was elected to Queen’s Park with 32,483 votes, totalling 55.7 per cent of all ballots cast. Liberal candidate Thomas Simpson came in second place with 13,591 votes (23 per cent), and PC candidate Scott Healey came in third with 9,573 votes (16.41 per cent). Green candidate Simon Beckett managed to stack up 1,550 votes (2.6 per cent), and four other candidates took less than 500 votes each.
Voter turnout in the riding was 49.85 per cent.
“I feel so honoured and humbled by the trust that’s been placed on me by the voters of Ottawa Centre,” McKenney told the Kitchissippi Times after their big win. ”The type of work that I’m going to be able to do is so closely aligned with what I did as a city councillor. Now at the province, I get to have that same interaction with the community. I still can work with my former council colleagues on issues like housing and homelessness, transit, health care and education. These are all issues for everyday people.”
McKenney said their first order of business will be ending chronic homelessness.
“I also want to work on housing issues to make sure that we have good housing for people, that they’re able to stay in their rental accommodations, and that they have stability in their lives,” added McKenney. “If they want to purchase a home, they can save because they have that type of stability. I know that’s not what we have in place today, but I hope I can bring that message to Queen’s Park and do that work, even if it’s across party lines.”
This was an interesting election in Ottawa for several reasons. While no incumbents lost their seats, one riding switched parties after decades, and three new faces will be in the Ontario legislature.
McKenney takes over for the NDPs Joel Harden, who first won the riding from the Liberals in 2018. The outgoing Ottawa Centre MPP has won the federal NDP nomination for the same community and hopes to make it to Parliament Hill.
In Carleton, the strong blue riding stayed PC, with Osgoode Coun. George Darouze getting elected. And in Nepean, the Liberals Tyler Watt won the riding from the PCs for the first time since 1995.
Elsewhere in Ottawa West-Nepean, the NDP’s Chandra Pasma is returning to Queen’s Park for a second mandate, and the strong Liberal wall of Kanata-Carleton, Ottawa South, Ottawa-Vanier, and Orléans holds firm.
While both backbencher parties have promising results in Ottawa, they must review their strategies due to poor provincial results. Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie was unable to win her own Mississauga seat but regained official party status with 14 seats.
The NDP received fewer votes than the Liberals but still won more seats. McKenney said they continue to have confidence in Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles.
“We are still the official opposition and retained most of our seats,” they said. “Marit Stiles is a big part of the reason why I ran. We have to take the next four years and make sure that we are out there and talking to people about things that matter most to them.”
Spending much time in Toronto will be a big adjustment for McKenney. Still, it will be made easier because their 17-year-old daughter Avery has just been accepted to the University of Toronto.
“We won’t live together. She’s insisted that that is not going to happen. We’ll see after year one. She may want to save on rent,” McKenney joked. “My wife works as an executive director in a housing organization. She’s busy. I’ll be busy, and I’ll go back and forth. It will be somewhat of an adjustment.”