ottawa elected 11 new city councillors on monday night, who bring a range of life and professional experience and perspectives to municipal government. we spoke with all of them about their ambitions for their first terms, starting with councillors elected in the downtown wards.
ariel troster, somerset
ariel troster is the new councillor for somerset ward, which had been represented by catherine mckenney.
with her background in activism, commitment to lgbtq issues and interest in social causes such as housing and overdose prevention, you might see similarities between somerset ward’s new councillor, ariel troster, and its last one, catherine mckenney.
troster sees it too.
“i think that’s accurate,” said troster, acknowledging the trail blazed for her by mckenney and the ward’s previous councillor, diane holmes.
“we have an incredible history and tradition of progressive leadership in somerset ward.”
troster
announced her bid for council in january, shortly after mckenney said they would be running for mayor. a few weeks later, the “freedom convoy” arrived in ottawa.
like mckenney, troster was front and centre during the convoy advocating for centretown residents, who were the collateral damage of the anti-government protest.
“i felt a responsibility to elevate the voices in my neighbourhood,” troster said. “there was a lot of focus on parliament and wellington street and i was getting hundreds of messages from people trapped in their apartments. i wanted to boost their voices to make sure that that part of the experience wasn’t gaslighted.”