Former Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson named to Order of Ottawa

Jim Watson at Ottawa City Hall in December 2020, when he was Mayor of Ottawa. (CTV News Ottawa)

Former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has been included in the list of inductees to the Order of Ottawa this year.

The civic award, established in 2012, celebrates and recognizes “exceptional citizens who have achieved the highest level of excellence and achievement in many fields of endeavour, have brought honour and prestige to themselves and made significant contributions to the community that benefit the citizens of Ottawa,” according to the city.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced the list of recipients to the class of 2025 on Friday.

“These individuals have done truly remarkable work in our city, and it will be my absolute honour to celebrate their achievements next month at City Hall,” he said on social media.

Watson’s name was among the 15 names included in the list. The full list is:

• Patrick Newton Bondo
• Kenneth Campbell
• Holly Ellingwood, PhD
• Mike McGahan
• Michael McLellan
• Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion
• Wyatt McWilliams
• Patrick Moore
• Suzanne Obiorah
• Jo-Anne Polak
• Tahawar Rana
• Carole Saad
• Bernadette Sarazin
• Christine Trauttmansdorff
• The Honourable Jim Watson

Watson was an Ottawa city councillor from 1991 to 1997 and mayor of Ottawa from 1997 to 2000, prior to amalgamation. He was mayor of Ottawa again from 2010 to 2022. He also served as the MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean from 2003 to 2010 and was the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing under Premier Dalton McGuinty from 2007 to 2010.

Watson is not the first mayor to be inducted into the Order of Ottawa. Marianne Wilkinson, former mayor of Kanata, Dr. Roland Armitage, former mayor of the Township of West Carleton, William M. Tupper, the former mayor of Rideau Township, Brian Coburn, the former mayor of Cumberland, Guy Cousineau, the former mayor of Vanier, and Jim Durrell, the former mayor of Ottawa, were inducted in past years.

Sutcliffe also named Courtney Rego as the recipient of the Brian Kilrea Award for Excellence in Coaching.

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