O’Grady Campaign launches on all fronts

Sunday June 6 - Despite what was probably the worst day of the Spring (high of 15 degrees Celsius and raining), over 150 people gathered inside a large tent to participate in the launch of James O’Grady’s Campaign for Ottawa City Council in Ward 9: Knoxdale-Merivale. The event featured a mix of community activities for families and kids, free food, live entertainment as well as campaign speeches from James O’Grady, his good friend David Cajka who introduced him and MC Laurence Dumville.

Live music set the mood
The Campaign Kick-off featured live music from four headlining performers: The Scottish Bag Pipes played by long-time Craig Henry resident Vance McDougall, Kaméléon a jazz band featuring Jack MacGregor from Country Place, popular Nepean singing sensation Amanda Nantsios from Barrhaven and Mark Nyvlt, formerly of Trend-Arlington on acoustic guitar.

Kids bring event to life!
But it wouldn’t have been a real Community Fun Day without the kids, their endearing spirit and the volunteers (including a clown) who made the activities like face painting, coloring, games, animal balloon hats, helium balloons, streamer serpentins, etc. all possible. The free BBQ was catered by Fitz's Catering on Bentley in Ward 9, whose family served up hamburgers, hotdogs, veggie burgers and fries with a smile throughout the event.

O’Grady Sets Out Campaign Fundamentals

In his speech, James O’Grady set out his campaign fundamentals making it clear why he is running under the banner of Strong Community Leadership. “Like many of you”, he said, “I am disappointed with how Ottawa City Hall is being run. I don’t feel that it reflects the character or the values of the people living in this city and certainly not the people living here in Nepean and in the ward of Knoxdale-Merivale.

I have decided to run for City Council now that Gord Hunter is retiring because I feel we need Strong Community Leadership on City Council. We need someone to stand up for residents – because we all live in communities. We need an independent voice – someone who will represent the best interests of local constituents at all times… who will tackle every issue independently and on its own merits and who will not succumb to the pressures of a slate or political party influences.

Having spoken to many people across the ward, I believe the top three issues in this municipal election in Ward 9: Knoxdale-Merivale are:

Taxes (tax increases)
Decision Making
Leadership

…Its time to change the way Ottawa is run so that it can better reflect the character, values and needs of its residents. I believe that by working together, we can build a city we can all take pride in!”

Read the entire text of James’s Introductory Campaign speech.

Our Volunteers are #1!
O’Grady is proving out of the gate that he has what it takes to bring the community together. Seven weeks in, his campaign is already demonstrating tremendous momentum thanks to a community-first focus that is growing his supporters.

“James has already demonstrated his tremendous ability to lead and bring people together to work in a collaborative manner. In the first seven weeks the campaign has had more than seventy volunteers put in over 360 hours of volunteer time. With this capacity we have now reached 24,000 voters of the 27,000 in Ward 9 with our introductory flyer. 9,800 others have received event and policy material from James’ volunteers. This is a huge accomplishment and that’s why our volunteers are indeed #1.” says David Small, Campaign Manager for the O’Grady Campaign.

Photos from the Campaign Kick-off can be viewed in the multimedia section on James' website or in his Flckr account.
James O'Grady's introductory campaign speech >>
Media release announcing campaign kick-off >>