1991 Ottawa municipal election explained

Election Name:	1991 Ottawa mayoral election
Flag Image:	Flag of Ottawa, Ontario (1987–2000).png
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1988 Ottawa municipal election
Previous Year:	1988
Next Election:	1994 Ottawa municipal election
Next Year:	1994
Election Date:	November 12, 1991
Candidate1:	Jacquelin Holzman
Popular Vote1:	38,725
Percentage1:	39.61%
Color1:	0000ff
Color2:	00ff00
Candidate2:	Nancy Smith
Popular Vote2:	35,525
Percentage2:	36.34%
Color3:	ff0000
Candidate3:	Marc Laviolette
Popular Vote3:	21,101
Percentage3:	21.58%
Mayor
Before Election:	Marc Laviolette
After Election:	Jacquelin Holzman

The city of Ottawa, Canada held municipal elections on November 12, 1991.

Right wing Britannia Ward councillor Jacquelin Holzman defeated left wing St. George's councillor Nancy Smith and mayor Marc Laviolette. Holzman defeated Smith by just 3,022 votes. She ran on a platform to "keep a lid on city taxes".^[1]

Despite the eventual closeness of the result, and the polarization of the candidates, pundits lamented that the electorate was not interested in the election, as the candidates had not inspired the voters who were more concerned with "national issues like the constitution and the economy".^[2]

After the election, Liberal MP Mac Harb (who supported Holzman) admitted to "quietly encourag[ing]" Laviolette to enter the race to split the vote, because he "couldn't stomach (the thought of) Smith's left wing social agenda" winning.^[3]

Mayor

Candidate	Votes	%
	38,725	39.61
	35,525	36.34
Marc Laviolette (X)	21,101	21.58
Michael Bartholomew	2,417	2.47

Results by ward

Holzman's victory was propelled by winning the city's suburban wards, with her best ward being Richmond, which she had represented on council. Smith won the city's four urban wards, doing her best in St. George's, which she had represented on council. Laviolette won the city's two Francophone-influenced eastern wards.^[4]

Ward	Bartholomew	Holzman	Laviolette	Smith
By-Rideau (1)	145	1,558	3,731	2,763
St. George's (2)	102	1,367	1,036	3,401
Overbrook-Forbes (3)	156	1,076	2,736	1,425
Wellington (4)	109	1,292	758	2,431
Capital (5)	268	2,235	611	3,934
Dalhousie (6)	235	1,810	1,201	2,329
Elmdale (7)	143	2,906	1,339	2,835
Carlington-Westboro (Queensboro) (8)	180	2,519	1,276	2,159
Richmond (9)	119	5,469	787	2,433
Britannia (10)	175	2,411	1,023	2,054
Carleton (11)	170	3,574	910	1,836
Canterbury (12)	175	2,894	2,022	1,973
Alta Vista (13)	181	3,860	1,664	2,835
Billings (14)	112	2,432	1,002	1,136
River (15)	147	3,322	1,005	1,981

City council

Alta Vista Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	4,660	55.80
Stephen Amesse	2,827	33.85
Rebecca Liff	865	10.36

Britannia Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	1,859	33.13
Gregory Ross	1,558	27.77
Geoffrey Sharpe	831	14.81
Jim Jones (X)	665	11.85
Clarence S. Dungey	273	4.87
Randy McCooeye	214	3.81
Andy Sammon	211	3.76

By-Rideau Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	3,657	45.41
Pierre Bourque (X)	2,461	30.56
Maurice Pagé	1,717	21.32
Richard Beaudry	218	2.71

Capital Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	4,123	58.40
Lynn Smyth (X)	1,817	25.74
Michael Lynch	638	9.04
	482	6.83

Canterbury Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	1,530	22.37
Ed Concordia	1,435	20.98
Mireille Landry-Kennedy	1,132	16.55
Ernie Lauzon	1,041	15.22
Douglas Sears	943	13.78
Carl Langroix	340	4.97
Elaine Lindsay	288	4.21
Garry J. Fischer	132	1.93

Carleton Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
Tim Kehoe (X)	3,442	54.93
Jim Bonner	2,824	45.07

Carlington-Westboro Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
Mark Maloney (X)	5,011	81.85
Lynda Flowers	1,111	18.15

Dalhousie Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	2,807	48.89
	2,602	45.32
Andy Haydon, Jr.	333	5.80

Elmdale Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	3,383	47.60
Jamie Fisher (X)	3,194	44.94
Steve Rimek	530	7.46

Overbrook-Forbes Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	1,945	36.56
George Kelly (X)	1,758	33.05
Eve Elliott	918	17.26
Michael Green	699	13.14

Richmond Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	3,268	37.91
Ron Kolbus	2,922	33.90
Daniel Stringer	2,430	28.19

Riverside Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
George Brown (X)	4,140	67.88
John Ross	1,959	32.12

St. George's Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
	2,499	42.86
Gordon Brownlee	938	16.09
Ed Barter	921	15.79
Geoff Nimmo	780	13.38
Maurice Dumoulin	543	9.31
Paul Kerston	114	1.96
George Ibrahim	36	0.62

Wellington Ward
Candidate	Votes	%
Diane Holmes (X)	3,579	78.09
Keith Shirreffs	709	15.47
M. Ross Taylor	295	6.44

Ottawa Board of Education Trustees

Zone 1 (Vanier, Rockcliffe Park, By-Rideau, St. George's, Overbrook-Forbes) 3 to be elected (98% of polls reporting)	Vote	%
Jane Dobell (X)	5,175
Cynthia Bled (X)	4,294
Harriet Lang (X)	3,927
Debbie Morey	2,546
Donna Silver	2,047
Jeannine Denis-Ladouceur	1,733

Zone 2 (Capital, Wellington) 2 to be elected	Vote	%
Anne Scotton (X)	5,928	44.33
Brian McGarry (X)	5,737	42.90
Rick Alexanderson	1,708	12.77

Zone 3 (Dalhousie, Riverside, Elmdale) 4 to be elected (98% of polls reporting)	Vote	%
Marian Lothian (X)	6,720
Mary Lou Fleming (X)	5,891
Elda M. Allen (X)	5,843
Ted Best (X)	3,806
Walter Robinson	3,644
William J. Taylor	3,253
Bill Pugsley	3,253
John Dodson	2,402

Zone 4 (Britannia, Richmond) 2 to be elected (95% of polls reporting)	Vote	%
Margaret Lange (X)	4,977
Bill Gowling (X)	3,376
Sandra Bertrand	2,976
Sandra R. Goldstein	2,351
Irma Cohen	1,752
Christopher Assad	688
Ed Halla	408

Zone 5 (Carleton, Carlington-Westboro) 3 to be elected	Vote	%
Brian Mackey (X)	5,235	27.15
Kathy Yach (X)	4,161	21.58
Linda Hunter (X)	4,018	20.83
Shawn Marmer	3,126	16.21
John M. Wright	2,742	14.22

Zone 6 (Alta Vista, Billings, Canterbury) 4 to be elected (99% of polls reporting)	Vote	%
Margaret Woodley	6,607
John Sutherland (X)	6,216
Marjorie Loughrey (X)	6,210
Russ Jackson (X)	6,115
Sue Mack	5,047
Roy Bushfield (X)	4,453
Wayne Mannion	1,271
Henry Assad	1,111

References

Ottawa Citizen, November 13, 1991

Notes and References

Ottawa Citizen, Nov 13, 1991, pg A1, "It's Mayor Holzman"
News: Race stuck in neutral. November 9, 1991. 1. Ottawa Citizen. June 24, 2023.
News: Split vote kept left wing from winning, Harb boasts. November 30, 1991. 1. Ottawa Citizen. June 24, 2023.
Election 1991; Mayor; Summary (Available, Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch, Ottawa Room)