Ottawa to hold byelection to replace Darouze in Osgoode Ward

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Ottawa city council decided Wednesday to hold a byelection in Osgoode Ward to replace Coun. Geroge Darouze, who won a seat for the Carleton riding in the recent provincial election.

Council will have to wait until its next meeting on March 26 before officially declaring the seat vacant. By then, results from the provincial election should be made official. “Between now and the 26th of March, we anticipate the seat will be vacant, the result will be counted, and we can declare officially the (byelection) process is underway,” Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said.

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The city clerk was directed to present a report laying out a formal plan for a byelection, which will be tabled at the next council meeting.

Once the seat is officially declared vacant, a bylaw would be passed allowing for the byelection to officially be called. City clerk Caitlin Salter-MacDonald said from there the election day would be 75-105 days afterwards, with the city anticipating a June election.

Council have designated neighbouring councillors Catherine Kitts and David Brown to look after the ward from the time the seat is officially vacated until a new councillor is elected.

Sutcliffe said council opted for a byelection as opposed to appointing someone to the seat. “(We’re) far enough from the next election that the voters of Osgoode, the residents of Osgoode, deserve to have a voice in the decision,” he said.

Municipal governments are the only level of government that can opt to appoint someone to the seat instead of holding a byelection. “I think the default should always be a byelection unless there’s a good reason for there to be an appointment, if it’s three months, or six months before an election,” Sutcliffe said.

The next municipal general election is in October 2026, meaning whoever wins the Osgoode byelection would hold the seat for about 18 months.

Darouze was in the middle of his third term on council, having been first elected in 2014.

Running as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Carleton riding, Darouze won by a margin of 5,800 votes.

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