Following the 2019 federal election on October 21, members of the Ottawa Centre riding voted to re-elect Liberal party candidate Catherine McKenna, the first female member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre and the former Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

According to the 2016 Census Data, Ottawa Centre has a population of over 118,000 people. In the recent election, validated results show that in total over 79,000 people voted in Ottawa Centre. McKenna won with an overwhelming 48.7 per cent of the vote followed by New Democratic Party candidate Emilie Taman in second place with over 29 per cent and Conservative candidate Carole Clemenhagan in third with 12. 6 per cent.

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“She led a very good campaign”, said Stéphanie Plante, the executive director of the International Commission of Jurists Canada, who specializes in elections and electoral processes. “She is an excellent member of parliament. They sent her throughout the election to go fundraise in other ridings and help other candidates.”

Known for her involvement in addressing issues on the environment and climate change, McKenna received overwhelming support from both volunteers and her community during the election.

“Just her name recognition and her popularity were able to catapult her in this riding,” said Plante.

In response to McKenna’s victory, the Liberal riding chair Karin McNair confirmed in a written statement that  “it is immensely satisfying to know Ottawa Centre will be represented for a second term by an MP who works extremely hard to keeps her promises and delivers for the riding, including Carleton university and students.”

For the past four years, McKenna has fulfilled several promises she made during her tenure in the Ottawa Centre riding. These include acquiring funding for a new central library, building the Flora Footbridge, providing clean transit in phase two of the Light Rail Transit project, as well as securing more summer jobs for students.

During her time as the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, she worked diligently to lead national efforts to expand awareness, introduce new initiatives and promote innovations in clean technology sectors, as well as provide more jobs for middle-class Canadians in the process. Despite her noble intentions, her efforts have incurred the wrath of several people. Some have even gone so far as to harass her with both verbal insults and even threats.

Despite these incidents, the recent election showed that not only does McKenna have support from the majority of Ottawa Centre, the number of her supporters has also increased. In the 2015 federal election, she received over 32,000 votes compared to the 38,000 on October 21.

Penny Collenette, an adjunct professor with Ottawa University’s Faculty of Law, as well as a former Liberal candidate for Ottawa Centre in 2008, said that McKenna has gone above and beyond since she was first elected in 2015. “She has done so much for the riding as a constituency person, while also representing Canada on the international stage and that is not an easy thing to do when you are a first-time member.”

While voter turnout in Ottawa exceeded the national average, Ottawa Centre fell short of the 82 per cent voter turnout it achieved in 2015 – the highest in the country at the time – with only 76.2 per cent in 2019. On the other hand, preliminary estimates from Elections Canada show that Ottawa Centre was the third-highest riding in Ottawa in terms of local voter turnout at advance polls with nearly 23,000 votes.

During her victory speech, McKenna said that she is “humbled” that the residents of Ottawa Centre have chosen to once more trust her as a member of Parliament.

“It’s been a tough campaign for Ottawa Centre. It’s also been a tough campaign for the entire country. I think one of the lessons that is emerging from today’s results, is the need for a more positive political culture in our country.”

On November 20, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the members of Cabinet to which he appointed McKenna as the new Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.