Zed Chebib
Canadian hunger striker, born 1955
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zed Chebib (Born Ziad Khoder Chebib, 1955[1]) is a Lebanese-born Canadian limousine driver and police reform advocate who is most known for being deported from Australia despite having resided in the country with his family for over a decade.[2] He was a candidate in the 2022 Ottawa mayoral election, finishing in last place with 0.08% or 264 votes.
Zed Chebib | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ziad Khoder Chebib 1955 (age 70–71) |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Political party | Independent |
Biography
Born in Lebanon, Chebib emigrated to Canada in 1976.[2] He resided in Calgary where he operated a limousine business named Limocab and became a naturalized citizen.[3][4] While working as a cab driver, Chebib often sued various taxi companies.[4][5]
He emigrated to Australia alongside his wife and four children in 1999 due to two of his siblings already living there.[6][7] According to Chebib, 85 members of his extended family live in Australia.[8] He attempted to seek permanent residency in Australia but was rejected because he was unable to meet income requirements of a business visa.[7]
In 2006, immigration authorities informed Chebib that his initial visa had expired, however, he was granted a temporary reprieve from the Australian government.[6] He tried to appeal to Canadian diplomats, but was rejected.[9][10] While being detained at Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in 2010 he began a hunger-strike in hopes the Australian government would grant him a visa.[11][12] Chebib was flown to Vancouver and then Toronto, after ending his hunger strike he claimed to suffer heart palpitations and was denied an ambulance.[11]
On returning to Canada, Chebib protested outside of the Australian Embassy where Ottawa Police allegedly attacked and arrested him.[13] He filed a lawsuit against the officers, claiming that they had breached his civil rights and seeking nearly 2 Million Canadian dollars in damages. After nearly nine years of trial, a judge ordered him to pay each officer $1,000 due to evidence that the arrest did not cause his injuries.[13]
Political campaigns
1988 Calgary City Council by-election
Chebib first ran for political office in September 1988, entering a by-election for the fifth ward of the Calgary City Council.[14][15] The fifth ward had a large middle eastern and Indian community at the time.[14] Chebib's campaign was oriented toward building a new high school and reforming the city transit system.[14] He finished third out of four candidates.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Yvonne Pritz | 3,327 | 53.71% | |
| Nonpartisan | Shannon Pitts | 2,648 | 42.75% | |
| Nonpartisan | Ziad Chebib | 127 | 2.05% | |
| Nonpartisan | John E. Mason | 92 | 1.49% | |
| Total votes | 6,194 | 100% | ||
2022 Ottawa mayoral election
He ran for Mayor of Ottawa in the 2022 Ottawa mayoral election, campaigning on police and housing reform.[1][17] Not having a campaign website, he sent a website describing solutions to homelessness to media.[18] He finished in last place with 0.08% or 264 votes.
| Candidate | Popular vote | Expenditures | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | ||||||||||
| Mark Sutcliffe | 161,679 | 51.37 | – | $537,834.79 | ||||||||
| Catherine McKenney | 119,241 | 37.88 | – | $542,847.97 | ||||||||
| Bob Chiarelli | 15,998 | 5.08 | – | $96,844.84 | ||||||||
| Nour Kadri | 7,496 | 2.38 | – | $71,062.45 | ||||||||
| Mike Maguire | 2,775 | 0.88 | – | $5,500.00 | ||||||||
| Graham MacDonald | 1,629 | 0.52 | – | $5,334.50 | ||||||||
| Brandon Bay | 1,512 | 0.48 | – | $9,478.02 | ||||||||
| Param Singh | 1,176 | 0.37 | – | $13,650.40 | ||||||||
| Celine Debassige | 867 | 0.28 | – | none listed | ||||||||
| Ade Olumide | 636 | 0.20 | – | $1,966.25 | ||||||||
| Gregory Jreg Guevara | 584 | 0.19 | – | $2,349.61 | ||||||||
| Bernard Couchman | 471 | 0.15 | -0.21 | none listed | ||||||||
| Jacob Solomon | 432 | 0.14 | – | none listed | ||||||||
| Zed Chebib | 264 | 0.08 | – | none listed | ||||||||
| Total valid votes | 314,760 | 99.53 | ||||||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | 1,500 | 0.47 | -0.92 | |||||||||
| Turnout | 316,260 | 43.79 | +1.24 | |||||||||
| Eligible voters | 722,227 | |||||||||||
| Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. | ||||||||||||
| Sources: City of Ottawa[19][20] | ||||||||||||
2025 federal election
Chebib was an independent candidate for the riding of Ottawa Centre in the 2025 Canadian federal election.[21]
| 2025 Canadian federal election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ** Preliminary results — Not yet official ** | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Yasir Naqvi | 51,026 | 62.75 | +17.51 | ||||
| New Democratic | Joel Harden | 15,906 | 19.56 | –13.15 | ||||
| Conservative | Paul D'Orsonnens | 12,712 | 15.63 | –0.65 | ||||
| Green | Amanda Rosenstock | 920 | 1.13 | –1.67 | ||||
| Canadian Future | Andrea Chabot | 275 | 0.34 | N/A | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Marie-Chantal Leriche | 240 | 0.30 | N/A | ||||
| Communist | Cashton Perry | 166 | 0.20 | N/A | ||||
| Independent | Mike Salmon | 72 | 0.09 | N/A | ||||
| Independent | Zed Chebib | 47 | 0.06 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 81,364 | 77.49 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 105,000 | |||||||
| Liberal notional hold | Swing | +15.33 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[22][23] | ||||||||