Stephen Blais keeps Orlans Liberal red

Stephen Blaiswill be trading in his seat at Ottawa's council table for one at Queen's Park.

In unofficial results from Thursday night, Blais, who represents the city's Cumberland ward, was the runaway winner in theeastern Ottawa riding ofOrlansand will keep the riding Liberal.

With 100 per cent of polls reporting, Blaishad just over 55 per cent of the vote, and beat his nearestcompetitor, Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Montgomery, by 8,358 votes.

Thefield alsoincludesthe NDP'sManon Parrot and Andrew West for the Greens.

The byelection was triggered when former Liberal MPP Marie-France Lalonde was elected as a federal Liberal in the fall.

Council seat up in the air

A well-known politician in Ottawa's east end and until recently the chair of the city's transportation committee, Blais was first elected to council in Cumberland ward in2010 and was then handilyre-elected in the followingtwo municipal elections.

Blais said from his victory party Thursday night the first issue he wants to tackle is one he fought for as a municipal councillor: getting Highway 174 uploaded to the province.

"It's a major inconvenience forOrlans residents, the City of Ottawa wants it uploaded, the [Progressive] Conservatives ran on it in 2014, it makes a lot of good financial sense and it's super-important," Blais said.

Blais says there will be a transition over the next few weeks as he hands over his municipal files.

Provincial law does permit Ottawa city council to appoint a replacement for Blais, but a municipal byelection is possible. Thatwas the case when former councillorTobi Nussbaumresigned in 2019 to head up the National Capital Commission.

His Thursday night victory along with that of fellow Liberal Lucille Collard in Ottawa-Vanier means the party remains at eight seats, still short of official party status.

Voter turnout in the byelection held on a day when Ottawa was hit with a major snowstorm was low. Just 23.53 per cent of the 110,519 registered voters cast ballots in Orlans.