Mona Fortier declares victory in Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester
Article content
Fortier was first elected in a 2017 byelection after the death of longtime MP Mauril Bélanger. During the nomination race to run for the Liberals in that byelection, she beat 11 other candidates. When she won her seat, Fortier became the first woman to represent the riding.
Article content
Before she was elected, she was the chief director of communications and market development for Collège la Cité. Fortier also managed her own communications consulting firm.
Article content
She was re-elected in 2019 and chosen by then prime minister Justin Trudeau to serve as minister of middle-class prosperity. She was also re-elected in 2021 and became Treasury Board president shortly after.
Article content
Fortier was then shuffled out of that portfolio a few months after a public sector strike that saw more than 100,000 federal employees walk off the job. In 2024, she became chief government whip, a position she lost when Mark Carney became prime minister in March.
Article content
Article content
Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester's riding boundaries have significantly changed since the last election in 2021 due to population shifts over the past decade. The 2025 election was the first under the new name and the first to include the east-end community of Blackburn Hamlet.
Article content
The neighbourhood was previously part of the riding of Orléans. Wythe said the community, where the Conservatives have 'historically had a lot of support,' made little difference in eroding the Liberals' dominance of the riding.
Article content
Article content
The riding change will bring Fortier a new group of constituents with new priorities.
Article content
'They fit in a great diverse riding, and I know that we'll be working together very closely,' she said of Blackburn Hamlet in an interview on April 16.
Article content
Article content
Oliff, the NDP candidate for the riding, campaigned largely on community care and supports, including the need for a universal basic income and other housing supports.
Article content
Wythe brought a resume as a former public servant in defence, intelligence and foreign affairs roles. He campaigned on the importance of housing, cost-of-living issues and safe streets.
Article content
Article content
Christian Proulx, the Green Party candidate, most recently ran to be MPP for Ottawa-Vanier in the recent Ontario election and was also the Green candidate in the riding for the 2021 federal election. He campaigned on the importance of climate action and green investments to make life more affordable.
Article content
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Prepare for more billion-dollar boondoggles
Reports by financial watchdogs of government spending suggest there are major concerns about how public infrastructure projects will be approved Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks as he attends a tour of the Fort York Armoury in Toronto on June 9, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Cole Burston / Getty Images What happens when Prime Minister Mark Carney's promise of massive new federal spending on public infrastructure and speedy approval of 'nation building projects' runs into the fact the federal public service routinely ignores the rules for spending public money and approving such projects? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The answer, potentially, is the waste of mega-billions of public dollars on projects that are so poorly administered, some may never be completed. The issue isn't the policies themselves. Carney's Liberals and the official opposition Conservatives agree with streamlining the process for green-lighting projects such as pipelines, mines and other forms of energy infrastructure, if they are endorsed by the province and Indigenous groups where they occur. That was evidenced by their rapid approval of Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act on Friday, before Parliament adjourned for the summer. Liberals and Conservatives passed the legislation intended to boost the Canadian economy given the damage caused by President Donald Trump's tariff war and the fact the U.S. is no longer a reliable trading partner or ally of Canada. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The legislation is now headed to the Senate, scheduled to sit until June 27, for final approval before Canada Day on July 1. Read More But recent reports by Parliament's two financial watchdogs of government spending – Auditor General Karen Hogan and Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux – suggest there are major concerns about how these projects will be approved. Hogan reviewed the Liberal government's approval of the notorious ArriveCan app that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up costing about $60 million, as well as 106 other professional services contracts awarded by 31 federal departments and agencies and one Crown corporation to IT staffing firm GCStrategies Inc. from 2015 to 2024. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They totalled up to $92.7 million – of which, $64.5 million was paid out. Hogan found a widespread failure within the federal public service to follow the rules in awarding these contacts intended to ensure taxpayers get good value for money. She said the same thing happened when she examined 97 contracts awarded by 20 federal departments agencies and Crown corporations valued at $209 million, with $200 million paid out, to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, from 2011 to 2023. 'I said it back then and I'll repeat it now – I have no reason to believe this is unique to two vendors and that's why I believe the government needs to take a step back and look at why this is happening,' Hogan warned. Hogan took the unusual step of not making any recommendations on her findings, saying the problem isn't a lack of rules but the federal bureaucracy ignoring them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a separate report, Hogan estimated the cost of replacing Canada's aging fleet of CF-18 fighter jets with 88 new F-35s, increased by almost 50% within two years – from $19 billion in 2022 to $27.7 billion in 2024. In addition, another $5.5 billion will be needed for infrastructure needed to make the new jet fighters fully operational, because the government relied on outdated data and failed to develop contingency plans for managing financial risks associated with the project. She also noted a long-standing shortage of trained fighter pilots. In a report released Thursday, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux said because Carney has delayed the federal budget until fall, he can't determine whether his claim he will balance the federal operating budget by 2028-29 is credible. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Nor can he determine whether Carney will achieve his commitment to increase federal spending on defence to the NATO target of 2% of GDP this fiscal year, and whether the government's overall financial plan is fiscally sustainable. In his election platform Carney's outlined $130 billion in new spending over four years with total deficit spending of $224.8 billion. That's 71% higher than the $131.4 billion in deficit spending the Trudeau government predicted during the same period last December. The problem, Giroux said, is that Carney is claiming he can balance the operating budget, the cost of running the government, within three years, while financing new capital spending on infrastructure with more public debt. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'There is no commonly accepted definition of what is defined as 'operating' or 'non-operating capital' spending,' Giroux wrote, meaning he 'is unable to assess whether the government's recent policy initiatives presented in Parliament … are consistent with achieving its new fiscal objective … This means the government could achieve its fiscal objective and yet be fiscally unsustainable.' Unless the federal government addresses the concerns of the auditor general and parliamentary budget officer, expect for more billion-dollar boondoggles of the type we've seen so often in the past. lgoldstein@ Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Edmonton Journal
Bell: Carney gets Bill C-5 win but will Danielle Smith get schooled by the PM?
Article content Question for premier But a big question remains. Did Alberta Premier Danielle Smith get what she wanted? Did Alberta get what it wanted? Unlike Carney, both Smith and Alberta will have to wait for the big win, if there is one. Carney is asked the big question after his big win. Will the first projects to be fast-tracked be in the energy field? Will those projects be considered initially? The reporter mentions Premier Smith and pipelines. Smith wants a bitumen pipeline to the B.C. port of Prince Rupert. Smith backed Carney on Bill C-5. 'Well, that's a very good question,' says Carney. You know when someone says it's a very good question you might not get a very good answer. 'It depends. To be perfectly honest that's the only answer,' continues the prime minister. Carney says there are transmission line projects and there are a number of possible pipeline projects, gas pipelines or oil pipelines. Article content Article content But …. 'At the same time there are major projects that are very attractive. For example, a project in Quebec that's very attractive,' he says, in French. Sinking feeling Carney mentions a potential energy corridor at Grays Point in Nunavut. There is a potential project in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as far as Churchill. 'Those are projects that could lead to the development of other projects involving critical minerals.' If you're experiencing a sinking feeling it's not the pizza you ate last night. Carney says there are other projects not on the list put forward by the provinces 'in terms of AI infrastructure.' The prime minister talks about what a project has to have in order to be picked for the express lane of approval. 'It has to be in the national interest,' says Carney. 'There has to be some probability they can actually move forward. Article content 'We have to have the agreement of the Indigenous peoples.' Here is a line for you. 'They also have to be consistent with our climate goals in Canada.' When will the first so-called nation-building projects be picked? 'We'll see,' says Carney. Premier Smith has already said she wants Carney and the Liberals to be dealing with her demand to scrap nine anti-oil and gas and anti-development Liberal laws by the fall. You know, getting rid of the oil and gas emissions cap, the tanker ban, rewriting or scrapping the No More Pipelines law, tossing the net-zero power regulations, to name the ones that always come up. A few days ago, Smith backed Carney in the hopes of getting the pipeline built as a first step. Then with her pipeline on the prime minister's VIP list, the Very Important Project list, Carney could then take the hatchet to the bad for Alberta laws cooked up in the 10 years of Trudeau. Article content But, just saying, what happens if Carney doesn't come through with Smith's bitumen pipeline? What happens if Carney doesn't deal with most of Smith's demands? One of the premier's demands is for Carney to scrap the Liberal goal of having no new gas vehicles sold in 10 years. Carney is not changing course on that one. Meanwhile, the federal Conservatives also backed Carney. They also wanted the nasty Liberal laws holding up development to be scrapped. They campaigned on it in the last election campaign. They voted with Carney on Bill C-5 since something was better than nothing. They didn't want to be seen as standing in the way of something moving forward. When the vote was over Carney went over and shook some Conservative hands. It is easy to shake hands when you won the game. Devin Dreeshen, Smith's point man on transportation and economic corridors who is hoping real hard for that bitumen pipeline, weighs in on a worst-case scenario. 'If the kind words from the Carney government ring hollow because there are no projects in Alberta being fast-tracked we are right back to Square 1 where we have a federal government that says it is Team Canada but is doing everything to not help Team Canada win.' Latest National Stories
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
First Nations youth say they're 'starting a movement' against major projects bills
Published Jun 21, 2025 • 4 minute read Indigenous children play in water-filled ditches in Attawapiskat, Ont. on April 19, 2016. Photo by Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — First Nations youth leaders are warning Canadians can expect a long, tense summer of protests as governments push forward with plans to fast-track major projects — and young people will be leading the charge. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 'You will see us in your cities, your city's hubs,' said Ramon Kataquapit, a youth councillor with the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation and a member of Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario. The federal Liberal government's Bill C-5, which passed through the House of Commons Friday night, allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines. It sailed through a Commons committee in the early hours of Thursday with support from the Conservatives. And in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford's Conservatives have passed legislation allowing his government to designate 'special economic zones' where the provincial cabinet can exempt companies or projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Both pieces of legislation have met with fierce resistance from First Nations leaders who accuse Ottawa and Queen's Park of trampling on their rights and failing to consult with them in good faith. Kataquapit said First Nations youth are 'starting a movement' to protect their cultures and lands from what they see as increasing encroachment by governments looking to build major projects in a hurry. He compared both pieces of legislation to a rock falling off a mountain. 'You don't know how much momentum it's going to build,' he said. 'It might cause a mudslide and turn into something like an avalanche. 'This can turn into something much bigger, and a lot of our people — a lot of the youth — we see that.' While chiefs have been the most prominent First Nations voices in news coverage of the legislation, Kataquapit said young people were the driving force behind recent rallies against the fast-track bills in northern Ontario, at Queen's Park and on Parliament Hill. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said they draw inspiration from the Anishinaabe Seven Fires Prophecy, which speaks of a 'seventh fire' generation that will bring back traditional knowledge and ways of living after a period of cultural dislocation. 'We were raised to be the seventh generation,' Kataquapit said. 'What I've been taught was that it's my role to wake people up and to really show just how much colonization has affected us, but (also) how much strength we have in our traditional identity, culture … 'The seven fires are ready to take the steps that our leadership are falling back on because they fought a good fight for their entire lives. It's just nature that you grow tired, scarred, traumatized.' Terra Roy, another youth councillor with Chiefs of Ontario, said First Nations youth can do more than just protest — they can engage with the land and with traditional knowledge as an act of resistance. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We have young people in Attawapiskat taking the rivers,' Roy said. 'I'm happy that we're returning to the land and continuing to occupy it.' Roy, who works as a liaison between Beausoleil First Nation and the private sector, spoke to The Canadian Press while attending a project management training session in Edmonton. Roy said the federal and provincial legislation makes their own work seem almost futile. 'I was like, 'Well, what the heck did I just get hired for then if (governments are) just going to bulldoze over everything I say?'' Roy said. 'I'm here trying to create a whole department for my community so that we can have a greater say in our treaty area and then (governments) are like, 'Oh, just kidding.' 'I'm angry. I'm frustrated, heartbroken, annoyed.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Much of that frustration comes from a sense of deja vu. First Nations say they've been in this position before, when legislation introduced by the Stephen Harper government to allow governments and businesses to push through projects without strict environmental assessment triggered the countrywide protest movement known as Idle No More. Roy vividly remembers sitting with their mother as a child as they took part in an Idle No More protest at a mall. 'It's frustrating that at 11 years old I was doing that, and now again at 23,' Roy said. 'If I'm tired of having to fight this again, I can only imagine how my grandmother feels.' Hanna Sewell, a nurse and a member of Batchewana First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., said young people have to lead this fight because they're the ones who will have to live with the impacts of accelerated development. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'If the land is sick, we're going to be sick as well,' she said. 'We don't want this bill, and we are the future generations that are going to govern this land and save it.' Read More Pierre Debassige, a member of M'Chigeeng First Nation and youth councillor for Anishinabek Nation, said First Nations won't be the only ones to experience those impacts. 'If they start development in the Ring of Fire in the Far North, all those lakes, rivers all come down to the Great Lakes,' he said. 'If there's that contamination that comes down from the North, it's going to affect not only their communities, but here in southern Ontario.' Debassige said it's his generation's turn to step up. 'United we stand and we conquer, but divided we fall one by one,' he said. 'I'm always thinking of that seven generations behind me (and) what my great-great-great-great grandchildren are going to be doing. Maybe they'll see the work that I've done as a young person, (that I) fought for all of this.' Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Editorial Cartoons Sunshine Girls
