Isabelle Skalski is Ottawa's new city councillor for Osgoode

Isabelle Skalski will be the new Ottawa city councillor for the rural seat of Osgoode.

Voters elected Skalski in a byelection Monday night, giving her about 34 per cent support with 2,115 votes. 

"My approach from the beginning was that I'm not really a politician — I'm here to work," Skalski told CBC on Monday night. "I think that resonated with people, and I just really feel ready and empowered to help and to move the needle."

She beat out 10 other candidates to replace longtime councillor George Darouze, who gave up the Osgoode seat in February to represent the provincial riding of Carleton at Queen's Park.

Doug Thompson, who was a pre-amalgamation mayor in the former Osgoode Township and then represented Osgoode on Ottawa city council from 2001 to 2014, came second with 1,405 votes, or 22.6 per cent. He had failed to reclaim his old seat in the 2022 general election, when he came second to Darouze.

Colette Lacroix-Velthuis was just three votes behind Thompson in third, with 1,402 votes and 22.55 per cent.

Dan O'Brien, who had previously run for the Osgoode seat in 2022, came fourth with 822 votes. The other seven candidates each received fewer than 200 votes.

Ottawa Morning11:27From speeding to Tewin, the issues on the minds of Osgoode voters

Voters in Osgoode ward have a lot on their minds as they head to the polls in a June 16 byelection. CBC’s Kate Porter took a trip around the ward to find out more.

The ward is home to 32,000 people and includes several villages, including Greely, Osgoode and Metcalfe. The municipal electoral map was redrawn in 2022 to take in Vars to the east.

Constituents told CBC it was important to them that their new councillor is able to stand up for their rural community. Skalski, who has been president of the Greely Community Association since 2022, said that "means a lot" to her.

"There are so many dimensions to what it means to be in rural Ottawa that I actually think a lot of people outside of rural Ottawa don't truly understand or appreciate," Skalski said. 

Skalski will have just over a year to establish herself on council before the city's next general election on Oct. 26, 2026.

"It means that I have to continue to engage with the community in meaningful ways," she remarked. "I plan to ... throughout the next 16 months, continue to listen to the issues that they have."

In addition to tackling issues like speeding and emergency service response times, Skalski will need to weigh in on the future of Tewin, a divisive development project that could see tens of thousands of homes built.

The city clerk declared the results official Tuesday afternoon. 

Voter turnout was 24.17 per cent. Only 6,223 of 25,742 eligible voters cast ballots, but turnout is usually lower in a byelection than in a general municipal election.