Three women will take their seats at city hall next month, helping to make history as Ottawa sets to swear in its first city council with more women than men. Erin Coffin, Chelsea Walton and Joanne Chianello will each bring a new perspective to council after winning their respective wards in Monday’s municipal election. A total of 13 women and 12 men, including the mayor, will surround the new council table when councillors are sworn in next month. Their priorities range from keeping pace with suburban growth and improving access to services, addressing transit and neighbourhood safety. Coffin defeated 16-year incumbent Allan Hubley in Kanata South, while Walton won the seat being vacated by Stittsville councillor Glen Gower. Chianello will represent Kitchissippi after winning the seat held by Jeff Leiper, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor. For Coffin, a longtime Kanata South resident, community volunteer and president of the Bridlewood Community Association, the result reflects a desire for change. “We reached 15,000 doors this campaign. We were getting a feeling that people were looking for a change and just hoping that they believed in me enough to be that change,” said Coffin. Coffin has lived in Kanata South since 1990, and her work in the community has included volunteering and helping residents access food, including a push for the Kanata Food Cupboard to raise more than 100,000 pounds of food over three years. It’s those efforts she says she wants to continue in her new role. “Doing that kind of work really sustains me and fills my cup but also brings so much satisfaction to the community and to being able to also fill their own cup and be able to be part of the community,” said Coffin. In neighbouring Stittsville, Walton will take over a ward that has seen significant growth in recent years. The social worker says conversations with residents and business owners helped shape her priorities, which include ensuring services keep pace with the expanding community. “We got to 15,000 doors knocked in the community,” Walton says, describing the campaign effort as a team achievement supported by volunteers. “But I think the real work starts in two days with orientation. After that, the biggest thing I want to focus on right away is the Carp Road widening project. That project has been long delayed, and we want to make sure that it moves forward in the spring.” Other priorities include improving access to primary care, including pursuing a west end health hub, to examine recreation programming, and expand social supports to better serve residents. In Kitchissippi, Chianello will replace Leiper, who sought the mayor’s office after representing the inner-city ward. A veteran city hall journalist, Chianello says she recognizes the responsibility that comes with the job and intends to work hard to earn residents’ trust. “It’s so overwhelming and it’s so exciting. And it’s also a huge responsibility,” she said. “We have a lot of challenges that are facing the inner core, whether it comes from intensification, transit, which affects many people, and also the very specific issues here like the intersections that are dangerous. People are concerned about their kids being able to walk to school safely.” Chianello says she also plans to bring a citywide perspective to council, with an emphasis on making transit more reliable and finding long-term solutions. While Leiper did not win his bid for mayor, he says he was encouraged by the campaign and the engagement of younger voters. “I and the whole team have got our heads held high,” Leiper said. “I think the younger people in Ottawa are going to elect their mayor in 2030. I’ve told students in particular for several years now, if we built the kind of city that you’re asking us to build, it would be a better city, better transit, more affordable housing, a more vibrant city, and that’s what my platform offered to them, and they came on board in droves.” Leiper says he has known Chianello for a long time and has confidence in her ability to represent the ward. “From day one, she is going to be a natural leader at the council table,” Leiper said. Ottawa isn’t the only one to break gender barriers. Voters in Merrickville-Wolford, a municipality 85 kilometres south of downtown, elected an all female-council on Monday night. In Pembroke, Stephanie LeMay was elected the first female mayor of the Ottawa Valley city. The three new Ottawa councillors are scheduled to begin orientation in the coming days and into next week ahead of the new term of council, which begins Nov. 15.
