Latest news with #OttawaElection
CTV News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Unofficial race begins for mayor of Ottawa in 2026 election
As elected officials prepare for a lighter legislative agenda over the summer months, the race for mayor of the City of Ottawa in the 2026 is officially underway. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has said he intends to seek re-election for a second term in next year's municipal election. Meantime, Coun. Jeff Leiper says he is exploring a run for mayor of Ottawa in the 2026 election. 'It is a year and a half away from the election. I intend to get to every part of our city – rural, suburban and urban – listen to what residents are saying, solicit their input, solicit their feedback and by the time this is an actual election campaign, I'll have to have a fully costed budget platform on the table,' Leiper told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with guest host Andrew Pinsent. Leiper has represented the urban riding of Kitchissippi for three terms. 'I'm not happy with the direction in which our city is going. I don't think you have to ask very many residents before you get a good idea that residents are concerned about the state of delivery of their services,' Leiper said. 'What I hear every week is about garbage isn't being cleaned up in a timely way in city parks, garbage bins are overflowing, sidewalks that aren't being maintained, roads that are in rough shape with no hope of resurfacing and, of course, transit continues to bedevil the city.' The next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2026. Sutcliffe was asked about the next municipal election following Wednesday's election campaign. 'There's still almost 18 months left in this mandate,' Sutcliffe said, who said he spoke with Leiper 'a few weeks ago.' 'I'm not a lifelong politician; I'm not a career politician so I don't get up every day thinking about the next election or thinking about what the next role I want to have. I was given a four-year mandate in 2022 to serve the people in Ottawa. When I get up every morning, my focus is on delivering results for the people of Ottawa. It's not on the next election campaign.' Sutcliffe won the 2022 municipal election with 51 per cent of the vote.
CBC
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Coun. Jeff Leiper eyes mayoral run against Mark Sutcliffe
Three-term city councillor Jeff Leiper is seriously exploring a run for mayor in next year's municipal election. "At this point, I am planning to run for mayor. The conversations that I've been having with people who want this city to be better than it has been have been very encouraging," he said. "I'm exploring with a very small team right now about what that candidacy might look like, but nothing is certain until you put your name on a ballot." The election is slated for Oct. 26, 2026. Incumbent Mayor Mark Sutcliffe confirmed to CBC on Tuesday that he is also running. "I intend to run for re-election in 2026, but right now my sole focus is serving the residents of Ottawa and not a campaign that is still more than a year away," Sutcliffe said in an emailed statement. Leiper was first elected to council for Kitchissippi ward in 2014 and now chairs the planning and housing committee. He has won reelection by crushing margins, earning 85 per cent of the vote in 2018 and 72 per cent of the vote in 2022. He was previously an executive with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and also served as president of the Hintonburg Community Association. He said he's running to improve city services — from overflowing garbage in city parks to crumbling sidewalks — and to make transit a first choice, not a last option. "One of the things that I am committed to doing if I go down this path is to ensure that our transit networks are frequent, reliable, convenient and affordable," he said. "Today, I don't think there's any resident who believes that they are, and that would be a key priority for me going forward." He said he differs with the mayor on budgeting. In his view, council hasn't devoted sufficient resources to deliver quality city services. "I understand really well the appetite that residents have for change in the city so that they get the services that they deserve and expect," he said. Leiper has opposed the Lansdowne 2.0 project and voted against the 2025 city budget. He led an unsuccessful charge against reducing LRT frequencies. He also called for a royal commission to investigate the convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa in 2022. Rivals aim to keep campaign out of council chambers Leiper said he has met with Sutcliffe to inform him of his plans. "The commitment that we have both made if in fact I do run is to ensure that for the remaining year and a half of city council, that we are working in the public interest," Leiper said. "Neither Mark nor I, no one around the council table, wants to see council devolve into an election campaign every two weeks." Leiper's Kitchissippi ward includes the neighbourhoods of Hintonburg, Mechanicsville, Tunney's Pasture, Wellington Village and Westboro. "One of the reasons I'm contemplating running is I'd like to bring my experience of effecting really positive change in my community to the whole city," he said. "I've grown up in Orleans. I was a small child in Nepean. I've lived in the south end. I love this city, and I would love for people to have the kind of experience of their neighbourhoods that we've been fortunate to have in Kitchissippi ward." The last two elections have pitted a candidate supported largely by suburbanites against a candidate with a base in the central city, with the suburban candidate winning the day. Leiper will be hoping to prevent a repeat of that result next year. "Certainly as I talk to people who are supportive of my running, that's one thing that they've made really, really clear is to make sure that I go out into the suburbs, hear the concerns that residents have and then address those in my platform," he said. "I think I can talk to suburban residents with an experience of having lived there, grown up there, worked there in a way that maybe other candidates couldn't in the past," he said.
CBC
02-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Meet the 11 candidates vying to succeed George Darouze in Osgoode
Social Sharing Better roads. More police. Giving rural wards like Osgoode a stronger voice at city council. These are some of the goals of the 11 people vying to be Ottawa's next Ward 20 councillor. The seat became vacant after George Darouze was elected as Carleton's MPP. Residents will vote on his replacement on June 16 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, or in advance on June 6. To help electors understand who the candidates are and what they stand for, we asked all 11 to complete a questionnaire, and most of them responded. You can learn more about the candidates and what they had to say by reading their questionnaire responses below. You can also skip directly to the candidate you want to hear from by following these links: The election comes over a year before the city's next general election on Oct. 26, 2026. For more information about where and how to vote, visit the city's election page. Candidates CBC Ottawa sent a detailed questionnaire to Osgoode candidates and all but one responded. Candidates were also asked to submit photos of themselves. Where candidates have websites or campaign pages on social media, those links can be accessed by clicking on the candidate's name. Road maintenance, plus policing and emergency presence are among Boone's top priorities for the ward. here. Gulati cites the creation a local business association as one of his top priorities, and also wants to make the Tewin development a "win-win situation" for residents and developers. Read his questionnaire answers in full here. Dalton Holloway Holloway says it's important that Osgoode has the right infrastructure. He also wants to make sure the rural voice is "amplified." here. Colette Lacroix-Velthuis Ensuring the city executes on the area's core services, community safety, and emergency services "that we deserve" are among Lacroix-Velthuis's priorities. here. Dan O'Brien O'Brien says he wants improved road conditions in the ward — and more police to discourage speeding and other illegal activity. here. Isabelle Skalski Priorities for Skalski start with roads: better maintenance, addressing a lack of paved shoulders and expanding key routes. here. Doug Thompson Thompson also counts a lack of sufficient policing as a concern, and he's also advocating for road upgrades. here. Gregory Vail Vail is intent on joining forces with Ottawa's four other rural councillors to strength their collective voice, and working closely with community groups. here. Jennifer van Koughnett "My platform is what I like to call the Ts; traffic: trails, and transparency," van Koughnett writes. Arnold Vaughan Peter Westaway Westaway is intensely focused on rethinking Ottawa's Greenbelt, and believes the ward should concern itself more with what is going on in the city as a whole.
