Mark Sutcliffe puts his hand over his heart as supporters chant his name as he speaks on stage with his family by his side after being elected Mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 municipal election, in Ottawa, on Oct. 24.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Voters in Ontario went to the polls Monday to elect new municipal governments and school boards for the next four years.
There were open races for the mayor’s chair in several of Ontario’s largest cities, including the nation’s capital, with long-time incumbents not standing for re-election.
Two of these races featured former leaders of Ontario political parties who resigned from their posts in June after their parties were defeated by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in the provincial election.
Here is a look at early results of some of the major mayoral races across the province.
John Tory wins third term as mayor in Toronto municipal election
Ottawa
The mayor’s chair in Canada’s capital was left open with the departure of Jim Watson, who chose not to run for re-election after serving in the role since 2010. (The last municipal election without an incumbent in Ontario’s second-largest city was 2000.)
After a hard-fought campaign, entrepreneur and former journalist Mark Sutcliffe, who talked up fiscal restraint and criticized bike lanes, handily defeated two-term councillor Catherine McKenney, who had won endorsements from a long list of progressives. In early returns, Mr. Sutcliffe had won 51 per cent of the vote, with Mx. McKenney at 38 per cent.
The two front-runners were close in the polls throughout the race, which focused on housing issues and city spending plans. The campaign played out at the same time as a public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act amid the convoy protests in Ottawa last winter.
Bob Chiarelli, past mayor and former Ottawa MPP, was a distant third.
Brampton
Incumbent Patrick Brown secured a second term as mayor of the Peel city with a large victory, despite a turbulent first term riddled with controversies, including allegations of misappropriating funds and an audit that found an “unfair advantage” was given to select companies during a study to bring a university to Brampton.
It was a high-profile race with challenger Nikki Kaur, a city planning director, who gained the support of former mayor Linda Jeffrey and former councillors. She was also supported by conservative strategist Nick Kouvalis, who has served as an adviser to Premier Doug Ford. Ms. Kaur finished in second place with about 25 per cent of the vote.
Mr. Brown had intended to run for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party but was disqualified from the race as the party found a worker was being paid for by a corporation, which is illegal under federal election laws. Two weeks after his removal from the race, Mr. Brown said he would run for re-election in Brampton.
In the neighbouring Peel city of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie handily won a third term as mayor.
Hamilton
Long-time provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath will succeed outgoing mayor Fred Eisenberger and become the first woman elected as mayor of the southern Ontario city. Ms. Horwath, who resigned her provincial post in August to run for mayor of her hometown, defeated former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Keanin Loomis in a tight race, separated by roughly one per cent of the vote. Bob Bratina, mayor of Hamilton from 2010 to 2014 and a Liberal MP representing Hamilton East-Stoney Creek from 2015 until 2021 finished a distant third.
Ms. Horwath resigned as leader of the Ontario NDP, which she steered since 2009, after her party maintained Official Opposition status in the June election, but lost nine seats. Before entering provincial politics, Ms. Horwath served on Hamilton City Council for seven years.
Vaughan
Past Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca will make the jump to municipal politics, eking out a victory over five-term councillor Sandra Yeung Racco by less than 1,000 votes in Vaughan’s open mayoral race.
After serving as transportation minister in Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government, Mr. Del Duca lost races in the riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge in two consecutive provincial elections, including as leader this June, prompting him to resign from his post.
Outgoing mayor and former Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, who had led the city north of Toronto since 2010, had endorsed Mr. Del Duca in the race.
Thunder Bay
Ken Boshcoff, who previously served as mayor from 1997 to 2003 and subsequently served two terms as MP for the region, won the election in the northern Ontario community.
Mr. Boshcoff will need to navigate the challenges plaguing Thunder Bay’s police service, which has faced many human-rights complaints, misconduct allegations and external investigations, some pertaining to its treatment of the city’s large Indigenous community. Thunder Bay Police Chief Sylvie Hauth was suspended in June and the board is currently being overseen by a provincial administrator.
There were five candidates in the race, including Gary Mack, who placed second, and Peng You, who just completed a term as an at-large city councillor and placed third.
Outgoing mayor Bill Mauro held the job for one term after representing the city as a Liberal MPP from 2003 to 2018.