Longtime Kitchissippi city councillor Jeff Leiper took a big leap of faith running against incumbent Mark Sutcliffe. Now, his once comfortable seat as councillor of the west-end ward and his dreams of becoming Ottawa’s mayor are both lost.
Instead, incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe cruised towards a second term for the city’s top job.
“This isn’t the outcome that we worked so hard for,” Leiper said addressing a room full of his supporters at Beyond The Pale on City Centre Avenue.
Earlier in the night, the bar — once pulsing with energy as clusters of Leiper’s supporters flowed in shortly after 8 p.m. with their eyes firmly planted on an overhead projector — soon fell silent when CBC News Ottawa projected the Sutcliffe victory shortly before 9 p.m.
Some in the crowd immediately started to boo.
When Leiper took to the stage at 9:51 p.m., his post-mortem speech was a window into the close relationships he had fostered throughout his campaign, with a special thank you at the end to his wife, Natalie.
“I can’t believe you did this with me again,” he said, as the crowd erupted in laughter. “You have me back now, I love you so much. Thank you, lover.”
Monday night’s results marked a double-edged loss for supporters like Barbara Long, 76, who sat with her back against the wall, and said supporters like her also lost a reliable leader for their ward.
Newly-elected Kitchissippi councillor and former journalist Joanne Chianello will be filling Leiper’s shoes . Though, Long says they will be big ones to fill.
“He has always engaged in the community and he’s always very passionate about municipal politics (and) he knows how important it is for people to understand the issues,” she says. “I’m disappointed.”
Sutcliffe won with 45 per cent of the vote while Leiper was in second in a field of 14 candidates amassing 34 per cent, according to the unofficial final results.
“The election wasn’t what we were looking for tonight but what I am convinced of is that more and more people share the vision that I have for Ottawa,” Leiper said.
In his Election Night speech, Leiper also thanked Mark Sutcliffe and fellow mayoral candidate Alex Lawson for putting their name forward. There was no mention in his speech of Neil Saravanamuttoo — who finished third with 11 per cent of the vote — and was a candidate many Leiper supporters worried would splinter the progressive vote and the anti-Sutcliffe vote.
Leiper had previously told the Ottawa Citizen that he put his name forward for mayor on the premise that he had serious concerns about the direction in which the city was going, including the affordability and reliability of transit, deteriorating city-provided services.
Leiper had spent much of his time canvassing university campuses and train stations, appealing to the younger demographic of Ottawa.
“It will be very different not going into city hall,” Leiper told reporters. “But it is absolutely time for new blood and new energy.”
As for what comes next for Leiper, he isn’t quite sure.
“I know I’m going to take a bit of a rest,” he said. “Kitchissippi ward is a very busy ward and I’ve been doing it for 12 years.
“We’ll see what the future brings.”
As the party was wrapping up, one supporter approached Leiper and gave him a hug, saying if he ever decides to run again, he already has one vote.
