Catherine Kitts (born May 28, 1988) is a Canadian politician. She is currently the city councillor for

Orléans South-Navan Ward Orléans South-Navan Ward (Ward 19) is a city ward in Ottawa, Ontario represented on Ottawa City Council. It is located in the east end of the city, encompassing the southern portion of the Orleans subdivision and surrounding rural areas. The wa ...

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

. Kitts received a bachelors of journalism degree from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

in 2010. After that, she became editor of the ''Orléans Star'' newspaper. She then co-founded a lifestyle blog before starting a digital communications agency in 2015. Kitts first ran for city council in the

2018 Ottawa municipal election The 2018 Ottawa municipal election was a municipal election that was held on October 22, 2018, to elect the mayor of Ottawa, Ottawa City Council and the Ottawa-Carleton Public and Catholic School Boards. The election was held on the same day as ...

in Orleans Ward, losing to Matthew Luloff by 264 votes. She endorsed Jim Watson for mayor in that election. Following her election, she became a recruitment communications officer at Carleton University. She also moved from Orleans to

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...

. Kitts ran in the 2020 by-election in Cumberland Ward (which contains her new residence), which was vacated when its councillor Stephen Blais was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

. During the campaign, Kitts was endorsed by a number of high-profile Liberals, including Blais, Luloff, MP

Marie-France Lalonde Marie-France Lalonde (born ) is a Franco-Ontarian politician in Ontario, Canada who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Orléans as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada since 2019. She also served as the Liberal ...

, and former MPPs

Madeleine Meilleur Madeleine Meilleur (born November 22, 1948) is a Canadian nurse, lawyer and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2016. She represented the riding of Ottawa—Vanier ...

and

Phil McNeely Philip McNeely is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Ottawa—Orléans for the Ontario Liberal Party. Background McNeely was born in Cumberland, Ontario and is bi ...

. Kitts was easily elected in the by-election, securing 54% of the vote, with more than twice as many votes as her nearest challenger, Yvette Ashiri. With her win, Kitts became the youngest member of city council. Despite her high profile Liberal endorsements, Kitts has never been a member of any political party, and considers herself a "moderate". Kitts was easily re-elected in the

2022 Ottawa municipal election The 2022 Ottawa municipal election was held on Monday, October 24, 2022, to elect a Mayor of Ottawa, mayor, Ottawa City Council, city councillors, and trustees to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, English and Conseil des écoles publiq ...

in the re-named Orléans South-Navan Ward.

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitts, Catherine Living people 1988 births Ottawa city councillors Canadian newspaper editors Carleton University alumni Journalists from Ontario Women municipal councillors in Ontario 21st-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors