Ottawa South

Ottawa South is a diverse suburban riding in the southern part of Canada’s capital, spanning the established neighbourhoods of Alta Vista, Hunt Club, Greenboro, and South Keys. The riding is notable for having one of the highest proportions of Arabic-speaking residents in Ontario, and its diverse population includes significant South Asian, African, and East Asian communities alongside long-established francophone and anglophone populations. The Liberals have held the seat continuously since 1987, when Dalton McGuinty Sr. first won it from the Progressive Conservatives. His son, future Premier Dalton McGuinty, represented it from 1990 to 2013, and John Fraser won a by-election that year to continue the Liberal hold.

Fraser entered 2022 as one of the most experienced Liberals in the legislature, having previously served as interim party leader after the 2018 election. He was seeking his fourth mandate in a riding where Liberal brand loyalty remained strong even as the party faced a disastrous election across the province.

Candidates

John Fraser (Liberal) — Born in Ottawa and raised in the Elmvale Acres and Alta Vista neighbourhoods, Fraser spent 18 years managing small and medium-sized local businesses before serving as former Premier Dalton McGuinty’s constituency assistant for 14 years. He led the “Our Children, Our Hospital” campaign to save the cardiac care unit at CHEO and organized fundraisers for the Heron Road Emergency Food Bank. He also served as a palliative care volunteer at the Ottawa Hospital.

Morgan Gay (NDP) — A community organizer who had lived in Ottawa South for 15 years, Gay served as secretary for the Alta Vista Community Association and sat on the boards of the Billings Estate Historical Site and the Heron Emergency Food Centre. He campaigned on housing, health care, and community investment.

Edward Dinca (Progressive Conservative) — A student of economics who came from a working-class family, Dinca campaigned on housing affordability, lower fuel prices, and investing in youth.

Nira Dookeran (Green Party) — A resident of Ottawa South since 2007, Dookeran taught civics, history, and English as a Second Language at Ridgemont High School. She has been active with the Ontario Greens for over a decade, serving on the provincial executive and volunteering with the Ottawa Renewable Energy Cooperative and the Ontario Health Coalition.

Martin Ince ran for the New Blue Party, Myles Dear for the Ontario Party, Daniel Thomas as an independent, and Larry Wasslen for the Communist Party.

Local Issues

Health care access was a central concern for Ottawa South voters. The riding’s proximity to major health institutions, including CHEO and the Ottawa Hospital, highlighted broader systemic pressures. Staff shortages in Ontario’s hospital system, exacerbated by the pandemic, led to longer wait times for surgeries and emergency care. Fraser had made health care a signature issue throughout his time as MPP, and the pandemic’s strain on long-term care homes across Ontario added urgency to calls for reform.

Affordable housing and the rising cost of living affected the riding’s diverse communities acutely. Many residents in Hunt Club Park, Greenboro, and South Keys relied on below-market or rent-geared-to-income housing, and the waitlist for social housing in Ottawa had grown to thousands of families. The rapid rise in home prices between 2020 and 2022 put homeownership further out of reach for many working-class families in the riding.

Transit connectivity was also a concern, as residents in the riding’s southern communities depended on bus service to reach the LRT’s Confederation Line and downtown employment centres. The LRT’s ongoing reliability problems and the delayed completion of Stage 2 extensions left commuters in Ottawa South with long travel times and uncertain service.