Former Capital Ward councillor Clive Doucet helps a group open a portion of the Rideau River Nature Trail in 2009. Photo by John Dance
by John Dance
At the last minute, the mayoral race became a David vs. Goliath contest rather than a virtual acclamation of incumbent Jim Watson.
Clive Doucet, four-time Capital Ward councillor, filed his nomination papers just hours before the nomination period ended.
He wants to make sure there’s a good debate in the mayoral race. He’s quite aware of the challenge ahead, given his experience in 2010 when he also ran for mayor but finished a distant third behind Watson and former mayor Larry O’Brien.
Doucet has strong links to Old Ottawa East and the rest of Capital Ward. As councillor, he pushed for the OOE community design plan and his “Connecting Communities” report made a strong case for the Canal footbridge at Clegg.
He was a passionate advocate for an open competition for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park but, in the end, the suburban and rural councillors out-voted Doucet and his urban colleagues and approved what has become the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group’s vision of Lansdowne.
Besides Doucet and Watson, the other candidates for Ottawa mayor are: Hamid Alakozai, Ahmed Bouragba, Bernard Couchman, Joey Drouin, Ryan Lythall, Craig MacAulay, Bruce McConville, Michael Pastien, Moises Schachtler, and James T. Sheahan.
As for the various school board trustees, the following candidates had come forward for Capital Ward voters as of July 16: Ottawa-Carleton District School Board – Rose LaBrèche; Ottawa Catholic School Board – Auguste Banfalvi and Shelley Lawrence; Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario – Marielle Godbout; Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est – Valérie Assoi.
