The City of Ottawa is preparing to hold a byelection to fill the soon-to-be vacant seat in the rural riding of Osgoode, with voting day expected to be in June.
Osgoode Coun. George Darouze was elected the Progressive Conservative MPP for the riding of Carleton in last Thursday’s provincial election.
Council voted Wednesday morning to direct the City Clerk’s office to draft a report for a byelection in Osgoode Ward, with the report to be tabled at the next council meeting on March 26.
Once Darouze resigns and council declares the seat vacant, expected by the next council meeting, the city will begin the process for a byelection.
City Clerk Caitlin Salter MacDonald told reporters that once the seat is declared byelection, a byelection must be held within 75 and 105 days. If Council passes a bylaw for a byelection on March 26, a byelection would be held in June.
Council has two options to fill the vacant council seat – hold a byelection or appoint a councillor.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe was asked why council decided to hold a byelection, instead of filling the seat with an appointment for the final 18 months of the term.
“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 the next election, or something like that,” Sutcliffe said.
“In this case, I think, it’s far enough from the next election, that the voters of Osgoode, the residents of Osgoode, deserve to have a voice in the decision. That seems to be the consensus and the natural direction for this kind of timeline.”
The next municipal election is in October 2026.
During the 2018-2022 term of council, Ottawa held a byelection to fill a vacant seat in Cumberland ward in February 2020 and appointed a councillor to fill a vacancy in Kanata North in 2021.
