# Bob Chiarelli

Roberto Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Ottawa West—Nepean. He was the Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton from 1997 to 2001 and was mayor of Ottawa from 2001 to 2006. He served in the provincial cabinets of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Chiarelli was a candidate for Mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 Ottawa municipal election.

## Background

The youngest of seven children, Chiarelli is the son of Antonia (née Lorello) and Eugenio Chiarelli, an immigrant from Cleto, Calabria, Italy, who owned a grocery store and butcher shop in Little Italy on Rochester Street. Eugenio first moved to Ottawa, before Atonia moved from Italy with their first two children. The family lived above Eugenio's store. Bob was an ice hockey player in high school and attended Clarkson University, New York, on a hockey scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, and then returned to Ottawa to attend the University of Ottawa law school. He began his legal practice in 1969. He served for seven years on the National Capital Commission. He lives in Ottawa with his partner Randi Hansen, and has five adult children and two grandchildren.

## Provincial politics

Chiarelli entered politics in 1987, where he ran as a Liberal candidate in the 1987 provincial election in the riding of Ottawa West. He defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Derek Insley by about 6,000 votes. He served as the parliamentary assistant to the Chair of the Management Board in 1987–88. Chiarelli was re-elected in the provincial elections of 1990 and 1995. Chiarelli endorsed Dalton McGuinty's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996.
He resigned his seat in 1997 in order to pursue a position in municipal politics.

### Return to provincial politics

In 2010, Chiarelli ran as the Liberal Party candidate in a by-election held in the riding of Ottawa West–Nepean to succeed Jim Watson who resigned to run for Mayor of Ottawa. He won the by-election, which was held on March 4. Chiarelli was re-elected in the 2011 and 2014 elections.
On August 18, 2010, Chiarelli was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Public Infrastructure and Renewal.
On June 7, 2018, Chiarelli was defeated in the provincial election. He placed 3rd, behind the PC and NDP local candidates. The Progressive Conservatives, led by Doug Ford, won a sizeable majority government, ending 15 consecutive years of Liberal power.

## Municipal politics

In November 1997, Chiarelli contested the position of Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton. He defeated incumbent Peter Clark. Chiarelli's win was the only Ottawa municipal contest where an incumbent was upset. For the next three years, he advocated eliminating the region's "two-tiered" government, and amalgamating the regional municipalities into a single city. The provincial government of Mike Harris did this in 2000, and Chiarelli declared himself a candidate to become the first mayor of the amalgamated city of Ottawa.
Chiarelli was elected as the first mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Ottawa on November 13, 2000 defeating former mayor of Gloucester, Ontario, Claudette Cain. He was easily re-elected in the 2003 election beating his closest rival by nearly 40,000 votes.

### 2006 election

In the 2006 election, he ran for re-election against two main opponents: former Kanata councillor Alex Munter, and businessman Larry O'Brien. Terry Kilrea, runner-up to Chiarelli in 2003, campaigned through the summer but withdrew when it seemed left-wing candidate Alex Munter had taken the lead. Kilrea decided to support Chiarelli for the remainder of the campaign.
Chiarelli's main project was the expansion of the city's light-rail system: a north-south line would run from Barrhaven to downtown Ottawa starting in 2009. His opponents in the election alleged that the project had been undertaken without sufficient consultation or communication with the public. The project was cancelled shortly after his departure of City Hall.
Chiarelli also had plans to improve the east end of the city. He introduced a 10-point revitalization plan that would include attracting more jobs and businesses east of the Rideau River in order to improve its economic development. He also planned to build new roads to improve connections between Orleans and the south end of the city. Also he promised to expand the existing bike trail system with additional trails connecting suburban and rural areas of Ottawa.
In a survey conducted by UniMarketing during the week of October 13, 2006, Chiarelli placed second with an 11-point percentage deficit on Munter but had a three-point advantage over O'Brien among the most likely to vote. In the election, he finished in third position with just over 15% of the vote and lost the mayoral position to O'Brien.

### Return to municipal politics

On December 10, 2021, Chiarelli announced his intention to return to municipal politics, declaring himself a candidate for his former job as mayor in the 2022 municipal election. He finished third with 5.08% of the vote.

## Electoral record

2022 Ottawa municipal election: Mayor :
| Candidate | Candidate | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote | Expenditures | Expenditures |
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | Expenditures |
| | Mark Sutcliffe | 161,679 | 51.37 | – | $537,834.79 |
| | Catherine McKenney | 119,241 | 37.88 | – | $542,847.97 |
| | Bob Chiarelli | 15,998 | 5.08 | – | $96,844.84 |
| | Nour Kadri | 7,496 | 2.38 | – | $71,062.45 |
| | Mike Maguire | 2,775 | 0.88 | – | $5,500.00 |
| | Graham MacDonald | 1,629 | 0.52 | – | $5,334.50 |
| | Brandon Bay | 1,512 | 0.48 | – | $9,478.02 |
| | Param Singh | 1,176 | 0.37 | – | $13,650.40 |
| | Celine Debassige | 867 | 0.28 | – | none listed |
| | Ade Olumide | 636 | 0.20 | – | $1,966.25 |
| | Gregory Jreg Guevara | 584 | 0.19 | – | $2,349.61 |
| | Bernard Couchman | 471 | 0.15 | -0.21 | none listed |
| | Jacob Solomon | 432 | 0.14 | – | none listed |
| | Zed Chebib | 264 | 0.08 | – | none listed |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 314,760 | 99.53 | | |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | 1,500 | 0.47 | -0.92 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | 316,260 | 43.79 | +1.24 | |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 722,227 | | | |
| Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. ||||||
| Sources: City of Ottawa |||||||
vte2018 Ontario general election: Ottawa West—Nepean :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Jeremy Roberts | 16,590 | 32.82 | −1.06 |
| | New Democratic | Chandra Pasma | 16,415 | 32.48 | +18.06 |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 14,810 | 29.30 | −15.54 |
| | Green | Pat Freel | 1,937 | 3.83 | −2.35 |
| | None of the Above | Colin A. Pritchard | 542 | 1.07 | |
| | Libertarian | Nicholas Paliga | 251 | 0.50 | -0.18 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 50,545 | 98.92 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 552 | 1.08 | -0.43 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,097 | 57.04 | +1.10 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 89,575 |
| | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | +7.24 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
vte2014 Ontario general election: Ottawa West—Nepean :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 21,035 | 44.84 | +4.06 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Randall Denley | 15,895 | 33.89 | −6.06 |
| | New Democratic | Alex Cullen | 6,760 | 14.41 | −0.51 |
| | Green | Alex Hill | 2,899 | 6.18 | +2.67 |
| | Libertarian | Matthew Brooks | 318 | 0.68 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 46,907 | 98.49 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 719 | 1.51 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,626 | 55.95 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 85,125 | |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +5.06 |
| Source(s) "General Election Results by District, 066 Ottawa West—Nepean". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014. |||||||
vte2011 Ontario general election: Ottawa West—Nepean :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 18,492 | 41.62 | −1.83 | $ 93,241.85 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Randall Denley | 17,483 | 39.35 | +0.36 | 80,950.00 |
| | New Democratic | Wendy Byrne | 6,576 | 14.80 | +6.35 | 13,936.09 |
| | Green | Alex Hill | 1,485 | 3.34 | −4.96 | 3,113.29 |
| | Family Coalition | John Pacheco | 396 | 0.89 | | 8,382.66 |
| Total valid votes / expense limit | Total valid votes / expense limit | Total valid votes / expense limit | 44,432 | 100.00 | +56.27 | $ 97,809.67 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 174 | 0.39 | −0.18 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,606 | 54.27 | +21.33 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 82,187 | | −5.32 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | −1.10 |
| Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF)."Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( XLS Spreadsheet (71KB)). Elections Ontario."2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved May 31, 2014. |||||||
vteOntario provincial by-election, March 4, 2010: Ottawa West—Nepean Resignation of Jim Watson :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 12,353 | 43.45 | −7.19 | $ 100,242.09 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Beth Graham | 11,086 | 38.99 | +7.19 | 98,437.24 |
| | New Democratic | Pam Fitzgerald | 2,404 | 8.45 | −1.24 | 20,689.04 |
| | Green | Mark Mackenzie | 2,359 | 8.30 | +2.13 | 16,707.36 |
| | Independent | John Turmel | 230 | 0.81 | | 0.00 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 28,432 | 100.0 | −39.61 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 163 | 0.57 | −0.07 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,595 | 32.94 | −24.57 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 86,809 | | +5.35 |
| Source(s) "Ottawa West-Nepean By-Election – March 4, 2010". Elections Ontario. Retrieved June 1, 2014."2010 By-Election Returns – Ottawa West-Nepean – Candidate (CR-1) & Association (CR-3) Returns"."MPP Watson to run for Ottawa mayor". CBC News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. |||||||
vte2006 Ottawa municipal election: Mayor :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Larry O'Brien | 141,262 | 47.08 | - |
| | Independent | Alex Munter | 108,752 | 36.25 | - |
| | Independent | Bob Chiarelli | 46,697 | 15.56 | -40.97 |
| | Independent | Jane Scharf | 1,467 | 0.49 | - |
| | Independent | Piotr Anweiler | 762 | 0.25 | - |
| | Independent | Robert Larter | 667 | 0.22 | - |
| | Independent | Barkley Pollock | 432 | 0.14 | - |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 300,039 |
vte2003 Ottawa municipal election: Mayor :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Bob Chiarelli | 104,595 | 56.53 | +0.21 |
| | Independent | Terry Kilrea | 66,634 | 36.02 | - |
| | Independent | Ike Awgu | 5,394 | 2.92 | - |
| | Independent | Ron Burke | 2,698 | 1.46 | - |
| | Independent | John A. Bell | 2,027 | 1.10 | - |
| | Independent | Donna Upson | 1,312 | 0.71 | - |
| | Independent | Paula Nemchin | 1,191 | 0.64 | +0.36 |
| | Independent | John Turmel | 1,166 | 0.63 | +0.36 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 185,017 |
vte2000 Ottawa municipal election: Mayor :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Bob Chiarelli | 142,972 | 56.32 | +6.72 |
| | Independent | Claudette Cain | 102,940 | 40.55 | - |
| | Independent | George Saadé | 2,597 | 1.02 | - |
| | Independent | Marc-André Bélair | 1,846 | 0.73 | - |
| | Independent | James A. Hall | 843 | 0.33 | - |
| | Independent | Ken Mills | 773 | 0.30 | - |
| | Independent | Paula Nemchin | 702 | 0.28 | - |
| | Independent | John Turmel | 677 | 0.27 | -2.23 |
| | Independent | Morteza Naini | 516 | 0.20 | - |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 253,866 |
* 1 2 Results taken from 1997 regional election.
vte1997 Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton election: Regional Chair :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Bob Chiarelli | 82,165 | 49.54 | - |
| | Independent | Peter Clark | 79,407 | 47.88 | -7.12 |
| | Independent | John Turmel | 4,129 | 2.49 | +0.14 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 165,845 |
| Source:Official Results, City of Ottawa Archives |||||||
vte1995 Ontario general election: Ottawa West :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 14,516 | 45.48 | +3.87 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Greg Joy | 12,898 | 40.41 | +13.28 |
| | New Democratic | Karim Ismaili | 3,718 | 11.64 | −13.47 |
| | Green | Stephen Johns | 448 | 1.40 | −1.60 |
| | Independent | Andy Sammon | 241 | 0.75 | − |
| | Natural Law | Stan Lamothe | 96 | 0.30 | − |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 31,917 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 433 | 1.34 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,234 | 64.43 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 51,542 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | |
vte1990 Ontario general election: Ottawa West :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 13,908 | 41.61 | −8.85 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Brian Mackey | 9,068 | 27.13 | −3.59 |
| | New Democratic | Allan Edwards | 8,391 | 25.11 | +11.51 |
| | Confederation of Regions | David Boyd | 1,044 | 3.14 | − |
| | Green | Ian Whyte | 1,011 | 3.00 | − |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 33,422 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 433 | 1.28 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,855 | 65.68 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 51,542 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | |
vte1987 Ontario general election: Ottawa West :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bob Chiarelli | 16,343 | 50.46 | +12.94 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Derek Insley | 9,951 | 30.72 | −15.91 |
| | New Democratic | Paul Weinzweig | 4,403 | 13.60 | −0.08 |
| | Family Coalition | Lynn McPherson | 1,689 | 5.21 | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 32,386 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 251 | 0.77 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,637 | 61.61 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 52,977 |
| | Liberal gain | Liberal gain | Swing | Swing | |