Diane Deans treated for cancer
Diane Deans, the longest-serving member of Ottawa city council, is taking a leave of absence as she begins treatment for ovarian cancer.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I have received the devastating diagnosis of ovarian cancer,” Deans tweeted Monday afternoon as she released a public statement about her illness.
“Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to me as I journey towards recovery.”
Deans said she would begin treatment Tuesday at the Shirley Greenberg Women’s Health Centre and Cancer Clinic.
“I trust that you will understand my absence from the council table over the next number of months as my treatment starts tomorrow and I will need to focus all my energy on beating this insidious disease,” the Gloucester-Southgate councillor’s statement said.
Deans, 61, said she received the diagnosis after a summer she spent “not feeling well” and after a “myriad of medical tests.”
Messages of support poured onto social media after Deans went public with her diagnosis.
Mayor Jim Watson tweeted that he and Deans had spoken by phone.
“My first thoughts are with you and your family as you deal with this serious medical challenge. The entire city will be behind you throughout your journey and we look forward to your return as I know you will win this battle with cancer,” Watson tweeted.
“Diane, you have always been a fighter ... for the people, for the community and this is just another fight you’re going to win. My family’s thoughts and prayers are with you and yours and you got this!” Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney tweeted.
“Sorry to learn my friend and colleague @dianedeans is facing a cancer diagnosis — like too many other women. Diane is a fighter and has a great medical team. My thoughts and prayers are with her on the journey to recovery,” tweeted Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan.
“We are all with you Diane! You’ve provided strength on Council. We will pay it back in our support and love,” added Somerset ward Coun. Catherine McKenney.
Provincial Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod also tweeted a message of support.
“Sending all the love to my longtime and dear friend @dianedeans! A strong woman and role model I know she will face ovarian cancer with strength, grace and determination.”
Deans is council’s longest-serving member, having won eight consecutive elections. She is currently chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board and Crime Prevention Ottawa. Police board vice-chairman Sandy Smallwood will take over that duty in Deans’s absence.
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. Deans did not disclose the stage of her cancer.
Always an outspoken member of council, Deans has been a particularly harsh critic of the secrecy surrounding the construction and testing of Phase 1 of the Confederation Line LRT. She has sparred with Watson over the contract awarded to SNC-Lavalin for the construction of LRT Phase 2 and council’s decision to approve the controversial addition to the Château Laurier Hotel.
A graduate of the University of Guelph, Deans arrived in Ottawa and worked as a staff member on Parliament Hill before entering municipal politics. It was there she met former NDP MP Ian Deans and the two were married for 22 years before divorcing. He died in 2016.
In Monday’s statement, Deans said she hoped to return to her job at city hall some time in 2020.
“I have served this city for 25 years with passion and dedication and I look forward to returning to the job that I love, healthy and cancer free, sometime next year,” Deans’s statement said. “In the meantime, my family and I would appreciate your respect for our privacy as we journey toward recovery.”