---
title: "Joanne Chianello wins Kitchissippi Ward with 65 per cent of the vote"
description: "The former CBC and Ottawa Citizen journalist took 10,722 ballots in ward 15, and says her first focus will be traffic pressures from new housing and the future of Bayview Yards."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/chianello-kitchissippi-councillor-2026-11-01"
last_updated: "2026-11-01T17:45:50.964Z"
---

Joanne Chianello won the Kitchissippi Ward council seat on October 26 with 10,722 votes, the City of Ottawa's unofficial results show. The Kitchissippi Times reported on the victory and interviewed Chianello the following morning.

Chianello received 65.2 per cent of the 16,446 ballots cast in ward 15. Subhir Uppal finished second with 2,711 votes. Brian Innes took 2,652 votes. Xavier Commerford received 361 votes.

The result was decided on election night at Newport Restaurant in Wellington West, where Chianello addressed a crowd of supporters.

## A ward with new pressures

In her interview with the Kitchissippi Times, Chianello said intensification will be her most pressing file. She plans to bring together community associations, residents and city staff to identify the traffic and parking problems that come with new housing, and to build a list of priorities.

"There seems to be little acknowledgement by government officials that bringing more housing to Kitchissippi also brings other challenges, like traffic and cars parked all over the place that are making streets more congested," she told the paper.

She also plans to keep the newsletters and coffee meetings with residents that her predecessor, Jeff Leiper, ran for 12 years. She intends to add evening and weekend sessions to reach people who work during the day.

## Bayview Yards

Another early focus for Chianello will be Bayview Yards, a large city-owned property in Ottawa's urban core that sits near the junction of two LRT lines. The Kitchissippi Times reported that Chianello sees the site as an opportunity for affordable housing, recreation and community amenities, and that residents must shape what is built there.

Chianello told the paper the site is "a huge opportunity to build something new" that residents can shape "on the ground floor" and be proud of for generations.

## A journalist at city hall

Chianello spent three decades as a journalist at the Ottawa Citizen and CBC Ottawa, where she reported on municipal politics and investigated problems with the city's LRT system. She told the Kitchissippi Times that while her journalism background gives her knowledge of city hall, serving as an elected official will be a different experience.

The Kitchissippi Times reports that her win brings the number of women on Ottawa City Council to 13, against 12 men including Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. The paper says this is the first time women have held a majority of council seats since the city's amalgamation in 2001.

## When she takes office

The new council takes office on November 15, 2026, under Ontario's Municipal Elections Act, 1996. The first major task for Chianello will be the municipal budget process.

Residents of Kitchissippi Ward can follow Chianello's commitments on her [voche.me page](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/joanne-chianello) and on the [promise tracker](/on/ottawa-2026/tracker).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.