Three Ottawa councillors leave city hall after 36 years; replacements sworn in Nov. 16

Leiper's farewell mentioned a boa constrictor named Murphy the Snake, loose in Westboro in 2018. "There's no one assigned to finding loose boa constrictors, so guess whose job it is?" he said. Those are the kind of calls that end up on a councillor's desk, and now three of them are leaving.

Glen Gower (Stittsville) served eight years. Jeff Leiper (Kitchissippi) served three terms, 12 years in all, and finished second in this year's mayoral race. Allan Hubley (Kanata South) was defeated in the recent election after 16 years as a ward councillor. The three spent their final council meeting saying goodbye.

Leiper's speech looked back on the 2016 killing of Abdirahman Abdi and the community response that followed, the meal and grocery delivery during COVID lockdowns, and the trucker convoy that arrived in Hintonburg and went to the wrong Wellington Street. "My thoughts this morning are about the times that crystallized for me how just messy and awful and sublime and beautiful this city can be," he said.

Gower spoke about how Stittsville has changed during his time in office, with population growth and greater diversity. He pointed to the Stittsville Muslim Association, now the largest association in the community, and a new cricket pitch that opens next spring. A third francophone school has opened there, and a fourth is under construction.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe presented framed photos of ward projects at the ceremony: Laroche Park (Leiper's ward), the bandshell in Tony Graham Park (Hubley's ward) and Stittsville Main Street (Gower's ward).

Chelsea Walton takes Stittsville, Joanne Chianello takes Kitchissippi and Erin Coffin takes Kanata South. Walton was elected in Ward 6, and Chianello in Ward 15. The new council is sworn in Nov. 16, according to published reports. The city's results page gives the term as Nov. 15, 2026 to Nov. 14, 2030.