# Zed Chebib

Zed Chebib (Born Ziad Khoder Chebib, 1955) is a Lebanese-born Canadian limousine driver and police reform advocate who is most known for being deported from Australia despite having resided in the country with his family for over a decade. He was a candidate in the 2022 Ottawa mayoral election, finishing in last place with 0.08% or 264 votes.

## Biography

Born in Lebanon, Chebib emigrated to Canada in 1976. He resided in Calgary where he operated a limousine business named Limocab and became a naturalized citizen. While working as a cab driver, Chebib often sued various taxi companies.
He emigrated to Australia alongside his wife and four children in 1999 due to two of his siblings already living there. According to Chebib, 85 members of his extended family live in Australia. He attempted to seek permanent residency in Australia but was rejected because he was unable to meet income requirements of a business visa.
In 2006, immigration authorities informed Chebib that his initial visa had expired, however, he was granted a temporary reprieve from the Australian government. He tried to appeal to Canadian diplomats, but was rejected. While being detained at Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in 2010 he began a hunger-strike in hopes the Australian government would grant him a visa. Chebib was flown to Vancouver and then Toronto, after ending his hunger strike he claimed to suffer heart palpitations and was denied an ambulance.
On returning to Canada, Chebib protested outside of the Australian Embassy where Ottawa Police allegedly attacked and arrested him. He filed a lawsuit against the officers, claiming that they had breached his civil rights and seeking nearly 2 Million Canadian dollars in damages. After nearly nine years of trial, a judge ordered him to pay each officer $1,000 due to evidence that the arrest did not cause his injuries.

## Political campaigns
### 1988 Calgary City Council by-election

Chebib first ran for political office in September 1988, entering a by-election for the fifth ward of the Calgary City Council. The fifth ward had a large middle eastern and Indian community at the time. Chebib's campaign was oriented toward building a new high school and reforming the city transit system. He finished third out of four candidates.
1988 Calgary 5th Ward by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisanship | Yvonne Pritz | 3,327 | 53.71% |
| | Nonpartisanship | Shannon Pitts | 2,648 | 42.75% |
| | Nonpartisanship | Ziad Chebib | 127 | 2.05% |
| | Nonpartisanship | John E. Mason | 92 | 1.49% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 6,194 | 100% |

### 2022 Ottawa mayoral election

He ran for Mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 Ottawa mayoral election, campaigning on police and housing reform. Not having a campaign website, he sent a website describing solutions to homelessness to media. He finished in last place with 0.08% or 264 votes.
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 |||||||