Jim Watson

Mayor

Jim Watson is the current mayor of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was a former Ottawa city councillor (1991–1997) and mayor (1997–2000), and subsequently represented the riding of Ottawa West—Nepean in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet of Premier Dalton McGuinty in the portfolios of Consumer and Business Services (2003 - 2005), Health Promotion (2005 - 2007), and Municipal Affairs and Housing (2007 - 2010). He resigned in January 2010 to successfully run for mayor in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election. He was subsequently re-elected mayor on October 27, 2014 and on October 22, 2018.

On August 17, 2019, in an op-ed to the Ottawa Citizen, Watson announced that he was coming out of the closet, becoming Ottawa's first openly gay mayor. On March 20, 2021, Watson became the longest serving mayor in the city's history, surpassing Stanley Lewis who held office from 1936-1948.