Ottawa Centre (federal electoral district): Difference between revisions

Ottawa Centre
Ontario electoral district
	Ottawa Centre in relation to other electoral districts in Ottawa
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Paul Dewar; New Democratic
;
District created	1966
First contested	1968
Last contested	2006
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2006)	109,336
Electors (2006)	91,958
Area (km²)	35
Pop. density (per km²)	3,123.9
Census division(s)	Ottawa
Census subdivision(s)	Ottawa

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Revision as of 14:56, 27 February 2008

For the Ottawa Centre provincial electoral district, please see Ottawa Centre (provincial electoral district).

Ottawa Centre is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968. While the riding's boundaries (mainly to the south and west as the north and east borders have remained the Ottawa River and Rideau Canal, respectively) have changed over the years to account for population changes, the riding has always comprised the central areas of Ottawa, the nation's capital.

Ottawa Centre is represented in the Canadian House of Commons by Paul Dewar from the New Democratic Party (NDP). Dewar, a teacher and the son of former Ottawa mayor, Marion Dewar, won the riding with 37 percent of ballots cast in the January 23, 2006 federal election.

History

The riding was created in 1966 from Carleton, Ottawa West and Ottawa East ridings.

The riding was won in the 1984 election by New Democrat Mike Cassidy. The riding was subsequently won by Liberal Mac Harb in the 1988 election who held it until 2003 when he was appointed to the Senate. The riding was left vacant by Prime Minister Paul Martin until the 2004 election when Ed Broadbent, a former leader of the NDP, defeated Liberal Richard Mahoney, a high-profile corporate lobbyist and long-time ally of former Prime Minister Paul Martin. The other candidates in 2004 were Mike Murphy of the Conservatives, David Chernushenko of the Greens, Louis Lang of the Marxist-Leninists, Michael Foster, Stuart Ryan of the Communists, Robert Gauthier, and Carla Marie Dancey.

Members of Parliament

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1.	George McIlraith	September 9, 1968	April 27, 1972	Liberal
2.	Hugh Poulin	January 4, 1973	April 28, 1978	Liberal
3.	Robert de Cotret	October 16, 1978	March 26, 1979	Progressive Conservative
4.	John Evans	October 9, 1979	July 9, 1984	Liberal
5.	Michael Cassidy	November 5, 1984	October 1, 1988	New Democratic Party
6.	Mac Harb	December 12, 1988	September 9, 2003	Liberal
7.	Ed Broadbent	October 4, 2004	November 29, 2005	New Democratic Party
8.	Paul Dewar	April 3, 2006		New Democratic Party

Geography

The riding covers most of downtown Ottawa, including the Parliament Buildings. From the historic Rideau Canal, the riding stretches west encompassing the neighbourhoods of Downtown, Centretown (Centretown West which includes Little Italy is usually considered a distinct neighbourhood), Lebreton Flats, Mechanicsville, Hintonburg and Westboro. The riding encompasses additional neighbourhoods south of downtown, including The Glebe, Old Ottawa South, Lees Avenue, Old Ottawa East and others.

Party support varies between different parts of the riding. The consistently best areas for the NDP are Old Ottawa South, The Glebe, and Centretown. Old Ottawa South and The Glebe are also the main Green party areas. The far south and west of the riding around Hog's Back and Carlingwood Park, the large homes near the Civic Hospital, the expensive homes and apartments by the Rideau Canal, and the more expensive downtown condos are the most strongly Liberal and Conservative areas. The major swing areas are the western portions of the riding such as Hintonburg and Westboro. While traditionally Liberal, these areas were won by both Broadbent and Dewar, winning the seat for the NDP.

In the 2006 election, the NDP performed its best in Centretown, the Glebe, Old Ottawa East, Rideau Gardens, Old Ottawa South, Centretown West, Civic Hospital, Hintonburg, Mechanicsville, Hampton Park and Highland Park. The Liberals performed their best in Downtown, Carlington, Courtland Park, Carleton Square, Rideauview, and Carleton Heights. The Conservatives performed their best in Westboro, Old Ottawa West, McKellar Park, Laurentian View, McKellar Heights and along Prince of Wales Drive.

Many public sector workers live in the riding. The northern part of the riding contains many government office buildings, including Parliament Hill. The riding also includes Carleton University and Saint Paul University's campuses and residences.

Demographics

Average family income: $84,956[1] (2001)
Median household income: $50,069[2]
Unemployment: 6.8%
Language, Mother Tongue: English 68%, French 10%, Other 22%
Religion: Catholic 35%, Protestant 26%, Muslim 5%, Orthodox Christian 2%, Buddhist 2%, Jewish 2%, Other Christian 2%, Hindu 1%, Other 1%, No Religious Affiliation 24%. [3]
Visible Minority: Chinese 5%, Black 4%, South Asian 3%, Southeast Asian 2%, Arab 2%, Latin American 1%, Filipino 1%, West Asian 1%, Others 1%

Election results

2006 federal election

Broadbent announced in 2005 that he would not run for re-election so he could devote more time to care for his ailing wife, Lucille. Richard Mahoney was again the Liberal candidate, hoping that, without an opposing star candidate, such as Broadbent, he would be elected this time. The NDP nominated Paul Dewar, a teacher and son of former mayor Marion Dewar. In November 2005, The Ottawa Citizen reported that Mahoney had been caught illegally lobbying, an important concern in an election campaign focused on Liberal corruption and ethic violations. As the Liberal national numbers declined over the course of the campaign, it seemed more likely that the NDP could retain the seat. Mahoney went on the offensive late in the campaign, claiming a vote for Paul Dewar would help the Conservatives and threatening a lawsuit against his opponent two days before the election. Dewar retained most of Broadbent's voters and won by over 5000 votes. The riding also gave the Green Party of Canada one of its best performances nationwide with over 6,500 votes, over 10%.

Canadian federal election, 2006

Candidate	Paul Dewar	Richard Mahoney	Keith Fountain	David Chernushenko	John Akpata	Anwar Syed	Stuart Ryan	Christian Legeais
Party	New Democrat	Liberal	Conservative	Green	Marijuana	Independent	Communist	Marxist- Leninist
Votes	24,611	19,458	15,126	6,766	386	121	102	68
%	36.9	29.2	22.7	10.2	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.1
+/-	-4.2	-1.9	+3.7	+2.7	-0.1	-	+0.1	0.0
Residence
Expenditures	$77,670	$N/A	$60,610	$31,559	$0	$13	$987	$0

2006 nomination contests

Candidate	Residence	June 22, 2005
New Democratic Party
Tiffani Murray	Ottawa
Jamey Heath	Ottawa
Paul Dewar	Ottawa	X
Shannon Lee Mannion	Ottawa

Candidate	Residence	May 17, 2005
Liberal Party of Canada
Richard Mahoney	Ottawa	X

Candidate	Residence	May 15, 2005
Conservative Party of Canada
Keith A. Fountain	Ottawa	X
Guy Dufort	Ottawa
Idris Ben-Tahir	Ottawa

2004 federal election

The 2004 election was an unusual campaign in Ottawa Centre. The seat was vacated in September 2003 when Liberal incumbent Mac Harb received his long-awaited patronage appointment to the Canadian Senate from outgoing Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. [4] Paul Martin loyalist Richard Mahoney won the Liberal nomination (after long-time Chretien supporter Penny Collenette withdrew [5]) and expected to win the riding.

Former NDP leader and widely respected statesman Ed Broadbent came out of political retirement to win the NDP nomination in January. As the seat was vacant, a by-election was expected to fill the seat and campaigning began in early 2004. However, Prime Minister Paul Martin delayed calling the by-election, leaving Ottawa Centre without representation in the House of Commons for nearly a year.

In May 2004, a federal election was called, pre-empting the by-election. The by-election campaigns became general election efforts. Broadbent was increasingly favoured to win, a mid-campaign poll showed him ahead. In addition to Broadbent's personal popularity, the NDP under new leader Jack Layton had greatly increased its popularity, especially in urban Ontario. The campaign was still hard-fought. The most controversial event was a misleading last-minute "phone blast" (mass automated recorded voice mail message) sent by the Mahoney Liberal campaign on election day alleging that Broadbent was not planning to serve as MP and would instead give up his seat to Jack Layton.[6] This was untrue and, in the end, Broadbent won a strong victory and served the full term as MP.

Template:Canadian federal election, 2004/Electoral District/Ottawa Centre 2004 nomination contests

Candidate	Residence	January 20, 2004
New Democratic Party
Ed Broadbent	Ottawa	X
Paul Dewar	Ottawa

Candidate	Residence	March 29, 2004
Conservative Party of Canada
Mark P. Donnelly	Ottawa
Michael J. Murphy	Ottawa	X

Previous elections

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Template:Canadian elections/Progressive Conservatives

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on October 16, 1978 by-election
Robert de Cotret	12,078 Template:Canadian elections/NDP	Stephen Langdon	7,470 Template:Canadian elections/Liberal	Bryce Mackasey	7,361 Template:Canadian elections/Independent	Michael John Houlton	254

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External links

Riding history from the Library of Parliament

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 ==External links==
 *[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=520 Riding history from the] [[Library of Parliament]]
+*[http://www.xeonsoftware.com XeoN Software Teknoloji Portalı]
+*[http://www.bilgikare.com Bilgikare Kitap Satış]
 {{Ridings in Ottawa}}{{Ridings in Ontario}}