‘Passion, tenacity, and fearless spirit:’ Former city councillor Diane Deans enters palliative care

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Former city councillor Diane Deans has entered palliative care after living with ovarian cancer for nearly five years.

The news was announced Thursday afternoon by Jessica Bradley, the current councillor for Gloucester-Southgate, which Deans represented for nearly 30 years.

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“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the news that Diane Deans, former long-time Ottawa City Councillor, has entered palliative care after a five year battle with ovarian cancer,” Bradley said in a statement on behalf of the Deans family.

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“Those who know Diane, know that she is a fighter. Diagnosed in 2019, Diane has courageously fought this insidious disease and has been a pillar of strength throughout her journey,” Bradley wrote.

“It is hard to imagine the City of Ottawa without Diane,” her statement said. “Her passion, tenacity, and fearless spirit will forever be missed. Her resiliency is to be admired and her wisdom cherished.”

In hospice, Deans is being supported by her husband, Ron Richards, her daughter Meghan and grandson, Evan.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was “shocked and saddened” to learn the news Thursday, posting on X, formerly Twitter, that Deans had recently been honoured at the Ottawa Distinguished Women awards.

Deans won eight consecutive elections for council until she decided not to run in the 2022 race. At one point she had considered running for mayor, but decided against it a few months before the election “for personal and professional reasons.” The city’s next mayor needed to commit to serve two terms to solve the “deep and divisive” issues on council, she said at the time.

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“Regrettably, I do not feel that I can make a commitment of that length to the people of Ottawa,” Deans said.

A graduate of the University of Guelph, Deans arrived in Ottawa and worked as a staff member on Parliament Hill before entering municipal politics, winning her first election in 1994. She met her first husband, former NDP MP Ian Deans on Parliament Hill. They divorced after a 22-year marriage. He died in 2016.

Deans announced she had cancer in September 2019 at the age of 61, diagnosed “after a summer of not feeling well.” She underwent months of chemotherapy, telling this newspaper in 2020 that she spent time wondering, “why me?” but after realizing how many people are touched by cancer, shifted her thinking to “why not me?”

“I have the privilege of being a leader in this community. Ovarian cancer really needed a champion. Maybe somebody like me can give others hope,” she said.

She returned to council in September 2020.

Deans was an outspoken critic of the secrecy surrounding the construction and testing of the Confederation Line LRT, frequently sparring with former mayor Jim Watson. That battle culminated in February 2021, when Deans was ousted as chair of the Police Services Board in the midst of the convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa.

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Deans and the board had moved quickly to hire a replacement for former police chief Peter Sloly, without informing Watson or council. Council, in turn, turfed her from the board with Watson telling reporters that people had lost confidence in the board.

Deans fired back, accusing councillors of “destabilizing the oversight body for Ottawa police in the middle of the biggest crisis in this city’s history.”

About 2,800 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Canada each year. It is the fifth-most common cancer in women, but the most dangerous, according to the Ovarian Cancer Society of Canada. There is no effective screening method for the cancer, which can be diagnosed only through a tissue biopsy. Treatments include chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, depending on the stage of the disease.

In her statement, Bradley described Deans as “a woman who has lived boldly, led fearlessly, had the courage of her convictions, and left her mark on this earth. Diane will be leaving behind a legacy that will long-serve to inspire us to strive to make this city a better place.”

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Bradley and Sutcliffe intend to bring a motion to council that the Greenboro Community Centre be renamed in Deans’s honour.

“The Centre is just one of the many contributions that Diane has made and this recognition will serve to not only honour her memory but to remind us all of an amazing woman who truly made a difference.”

While the family is asking for privacy, the public is invited to send messages to Deans and her family at diane.deans01@gmail.com.

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