Ottawa’s mayoral race appears to be shaping up as a two-person contest with current city councillor Catherine McKenney, a progressive who champions sustainability and environmental policies, looking to hold off first-time candidate Mark Sutcliffe, a former journalist and entrepreneur.
Incumbent Jim Watson announced in 2021 he would not seek re-election.
A poll conducted by Nanos Research earlier this month found McKenney was favoured by 29 per cent of those polled with Sutcliffe, at 24 per cent, not far behind.
Election statements issued by the two perceived front-runners have focused exclusively on each other when criticizing an opponent.
Former mayor, regional chair and provincial cabinet minister Bob Chiarelli, 81, was at nine per cent and four others were at one per cent each. Thirty-five per cent of voters were undecided. The poll was commissioned by CTV.
Another recent Nanos poll commissioned by CTV asked Ottawa voters to state the most important issue in the election.
In a jurisdiction where the LRT lines have been roundly criticized for breakdowns and derailments leading to a systemwide temporary shutdown, over one-fifth of poll respondents, 21.4 per cent, cited LRT and public transit as the top issue of the campaign.
Taxes/property taxes were cited by 1.54 per cent and affordable housing by 15 per cent.
McKenney, who uses “they” and “their” as pronouns, cites their experience working for a former councillor, as a strategic adviser at Ottawa city hall and as a two-term councillor as assets. They will bring “healthy, green and sustainable change” to the mayor’s job and they will continue to make the environment “part of every conversation” at city hall.
“Catherine understands how City Hall works. And they know how to partner with provincial and federal governments to access the investments our city needs,” states McKenney’s website.
The website lists housing, transit, cycling, climate, a healthy city, small business and her financial plan as their top priorities.
On housing, McKenney says affordability is the biggest need. As mayor they will take advantage of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to help increase housing supply, they will offer incentives to develop missing middle housing and transit-oriented development, and they will cut red tape so affordable homes can be built faster and more cheaply.
McKenney also stresses deeply affordable homes and housing to combat homelessness.
As mayor, McKenney pledges to extend transit operations by 20 per cent over the next four years, they also intend to boost transit access and electrification. The city’s cycling infrastructure would also be a priority.
As for the troubled LRT, McKenney said if the consortium is found in default of its contract, “We will take advantage of the option to bring the maintenance contract into city control, where we will hire the expertise to fix the system.”
McKenney would keep tax hikes at or below three per cent. Twice in recent weeks she has criticized Sutcliffe’s financial plan, accusing her opponent of planning $80 million in service cuts to the city’s budget.
Sutcliffe has proposed finding $60 million in funding efficiencies.
The newcomer to politics entered the mayor’s race in June because, he said, he saw no-one representing the centre who could bridge the gaps in the city.
Sutcliffe is familiar to local voters as an on-air media personality who co-founded the Ottawa Business Journal in 1995, serving as the newspaper’s editor, publisher and CEO. In recent years he has been a political consultant and led numerous charity campaigns.
“I’m not a career politician,” Sutcliffe said in a statement. “But I hear from many people who are concerned about our future. So I’m running for mayor to keep taxes low, fix LRT and improve our roads, and make Ottawa safer.”
Sutcliffe shot back after McKenney’s charges that he would make severe cuts to the city’s budget. He pointed out his rival said in a media interview that there was no more “fat” to cut.
“Catherine McKenney’s approach would not only spend more, including $250 million on bike lanes, it would not attempt to find any savings,” Sutcliffe stated in a release.
Sutcliffe’s platform cites a safe Ottawa, housing affordability, a greener Ottawa, affordability and taxes, and Francophone participation as his six priorities.
Addressing the LRT quagmire, Sutcliffe said he will implement the key recommendations from the judicial inquiry on phase one of the project to fix the system and deliver phase two. He will also secure funding for phase three to bring light rail to Kanata, Stittsville and Barrhaven.
Roads are a top priority. Sutcliffe will increase investment in road maintenance and winter clearing budgets by $100 million over four years.
Addressing one McKenney pledge, Sutcliffe stated, “I won’t irresponsibly commit to bringing the burden of the LRT maintenance contract under the City of Ottawa, where there is no capacity or expertise to do so and before we hear from the judicial process.”
Sutcliffe promises to build 100,000 new homes in Ottawa over the next 10 years, construct 100,000 units of community housing per year and take a balanced approach to new development. “Smart intensification” will be a priority, and he will respect community design plans.
Follow the author on Twitter @DonWall_DCN.
Gregory Guevera is really the only viable candidate