Bob Chiarelli

Hon. Robert Chiarelli
MPP for Ottawa West—Nepean
Incumbent
Assumed office 2010
Preceded by	Jim Watson
Minister of Infrastructure
Incumbent
Assumed office August 18, 2010
Preceded by	Brad Duguid - as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
Minister of Transportation
Incumbent
Assumed office October 20, 2011
Preceded by	Kathleen Wynne
57th Mayor of Ottawa 1st Mayor post-amalgamation
In office January 1, 2001 – December 1, 2006
Preceded by	Allan Higdon (interim)
Succeeded by	Larry O'Brien
Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton
In office 1997–2001
Preceded by	Peter D. Clark
Succeeded by	position abolished
MPP for Ottawa West
In office 1987–1997
Preceded by	Reuben Baetz
Succeeded by	Alex Cullen
Personal details
Born	( 1941-09-24) September 24, 1941 Ottawa
Political party	Ontario Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Carol Barbara Chiarelli (deceased)
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Robert "Bob" Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. He served in the Ontario Legislative Assembly from 1987 to 1997, and was subsequently re-elected to the legislature in 2010 after serving as regional chair and mayor of Ottawa from 1997 to 2006. In August 2010, he joined the provincial cabinet as Minister of Infrastructure. On October 20, 2011 he added the role of Minister of Transportation. He is of Italian origin in the city of Cleto.

Early life

Chiarelli was raised in the Little Italy area of Ottawa near Preston Street. His parents were wealthy entrepreneurs owning a number of stores in the neighbourhood. Robert was the youngest of their seven children. Chiarelli was an ice hockey player in high school and attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, on a hockey scholarship. At Clarkson he joined Theta Chi Fraternity. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, and then returned to Ottawa to attend the University of Ottawa law school. He began his legal practice in 1969, specializing in corporate law.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to entering politics in 1980, Chiarelli was a lawyer and businessman in the Ottawa area. He served for seven years on the National Capital Commission before running for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1987 provincial election.

His career at Queen's Park

Chiarelli ran as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Ontario and was easily elected in Ottawa West, which had previously been regarded as a safe Progressive Conservative seat. He was not included in the cabinet of David Peterson, though he served as the parliamentary assistant to the Chair of the Management Board in 1987-88. Chiarelli was re-elected in the provincial elections of 1990 and 1995, though by narrower margins against his Progressive Conservative opponents. Chiarelli endorsed Dalton McGuinty's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996.

He resigned his seat in 1997, after his wife Carol died of cancer on December 27, 1996, leaving behind three children. His second cousin, Rick Chiarelli, unsuccessfully attempted to succeed him in the 1999 provincial election.

Municipal politics

In 1997, Robert Chiarelli was elected as Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton. For the next three years, he advocated eliminating the region's "two-tiered" government, and amalgamating the regional municipalities into a single city. The provincial government of Mike Harris did this in 2000, and Chiarelli declared himself a candidate to become the first mayor of the amalgamated city of Ottawa.

Chiarelli was elected as the first mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Ottawa on November 13, 2000, and was re-elected on November 10, 2003 (see 2003 Ottawa election for full results).

2006 election

A map showing the distribution of Chiarelli's vote in the 2006 election. His best areas were his home district around Carlingwood and the southern suburbs that were to have been serviced by his O-Train plan.

Main article: Ottawa municipal election, 2006

In the 2006 election, he ran for re-election against two main opponents: former Kanata councillor Alex Munter, and businessman Larry O'Brien. Terry Kilrea, runner-up to Chiarelli in 2003, campaigned through the summer but withdrew when it seemed left-wing candidate Alex Munter had taken the lead. Kilrea decided to support Chiarelli for the remainder of the campaign.

Chiarelli's main project was the expansion of the city's light-rail system: a north-south line would run from Barrhaven to downtown Ottawa starting in 2009. His opponents in the election alleged that the project had been undertaken without sufficient consultation or communication with the public. The project was cancelled shortly after his departure of City Hall.

Chiarelli also had plans to improve the east end of the city. He introduced a 10-point revitalization plan that would include attracting more jobs and businesses east of the Rideau River in order to improve its economic development. He also planned to build new roads to improve connections between Orleans and the south end of the city. Also he promised to expand the existing bike trail system with additional trails connecting suburban and rural areas of Ottawa.

In a survey conducted by UniMarketing during the week of October 13, 2006, Chiarelli placed second with an 11-point percentage deficit on Munter but had a three-point advantage over O'Brien among the most likely to vote. In the election, he finished in third position with just over 15% of the vote and lost the mayoral position to O'Brien.

Return to provincial politics

On January 31, 2010, Chiarelli was acclaimed as the Ontario Liberal Party candidate in the by-election to succeed Jim Watson (who became Mayor of Ottawa) in Ottawa West–Nepean. He won the by-election, which was held on March 4.

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 1987
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bob Chiarelli	16,343
	Progressive Conservative	Derek Insley	9,951
	New Democratic	Paul Weinzweig	4,403
	Family Coalition	Lynn McPherson	1,689

Ontario general election, 1990: Ottawa West
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Bob Chiarelli	13,908
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Mackey	9,068
	New Democratic	Allan Edwards	8,391
	Confederation of Regions	David Boyd	1,044
	Family Coalition	Ian Whyte	1,011

Ontario general election, 1995
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	(x)Bob Chiarelli	14,516
	Progressive Conservative	Greg Joy	12,898
	New Democratic	Karim Ismaili	3,718
	Green	Stephen Johns	448	–
	Independent	Andy Sammon	241
	Natural Law	Stan Lamothe	96

Provincial by-election on March 4, 2010 Resignation of Jim Watson
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bob Chiarelli	12,353	43.45%	-7.1
	Progressive Conservative	Beth Graham	11,086	38.99%	+7.3
	New Democratic	Pam Fitzgerald	2,404	8.45%	-1.3
	Green	Mark Mackenzie	2,359	8.30%	+2.0
	Independent	John Turmel	230	0.81%	*

External links

• Official website
• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History