Mayoral candidate Jeff Leiper is pledging to give rural communities a “stronger voice” at Ottawa City Hall if he is elected mayor on Oct. 26. The veteran city councillor unveiled a five-point plan to strengthen rural Ottawa on Tuesday, with a focus on infrastructure, services, and better support when dealing with the city. “Rural Ottawa deserves a mayor who listens, shows up and gets things fixed, it’s time to give rural communities a stronger voice and the investment they deserve,” said Leiper in a news release. “This election is about putting Ottawa back on the right track, and that means making sure every community, including the rural villages, gets the attention, investment and services they deserve.” Leiper’s plan would create a “rural secretariat” in the mayor’s office to give rural residents and business owners a direct line to the mayor to “ensure rural perspectives are represented in city hall decision-making.” He would also create a “formal voice for farmers and rural businesses in City economic and policy planning, including dedicated support to help rural businesses navigate City Hall, invest and grow.” He says his rural infrastructure plan would identify and publicly track priority repairs to roads, bridges, culverts and drainage in rural areas and would include a dedicated rural road safety program. Leiper’s plan also includes a rural service review that establishes clear service standards for roads, infrastructure, policing and other municipal services, and a rural village growth plan that supports new housing and infrastructure while protecting farmland, village character and rural landscapes. Leiper previously pledged to create a 1 per cent infrastructure levy on property taxes if elected, to cover a major funding gap for city infrastructure. “Rural Ottawa shouldn’t have to choose between growth and preserving what makes our communities special. We can do both, with a plan, with the right infrastructure, and with rural residents at the table. That’s what a City that works looks like,” Leiper said. In the last term of council, Leiper, as chair of the Planning and Housing Committee, was an ex-officio member of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. What other candidates are saying Incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe is promising to establish several economic and development zones in rural and suburban Ottawa to boost job growth outside the city’s core if re-elected. His rural plan also includes establishing a U.S. tariff response working group with rural businesses, creating a “village main street rehabilitation program” and increasing policing and paramedic services in rural areas. Sutcliffe is also promising billions of dollars in infrastructure spending to fix roads, aging facilities, and to create climate resilience. Candidate Neil Saravanamuttoo says he would invest in neighbourhood watches and youth programs and deliver a community emergency response “report card” to help identify gaps in rural communities. He would also develop a “comprehensive infrastructure plan” after opening the books and installing a “culture of efficiency at City Hall” if he is elected. He is also promising to establish community road safety councils and regional planning panels for local communities. Candidate Alex Lawson’s rural plan includes commitments to increase rural road safety by establishing a new safety standard and lowering thresholds for engineering reviews, changing the renewal process for rural roads and increasing the frequency of rural road assessments from once every five years to once every three years. Lawson is also promising to establish new service standards for farm business licensing and local ditch and drainage maintenance, and to establish a rural maintenance roster for rural roadside maintenance. Both Lawson and Sutcliffe have pledged support for a ring road. Election day is Oct. 26. Leiper is one of 14 candidates vying for the mayor’s seat. The others, in alphabetical order, are: Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi, Zed Chebib, Bernard Couchman, Suraj Harish, Alex Lawson, Geoff Nicholas, Josh Rachlis, Neil Saravanamuttoo, Ali Shayvard, Jacob Solomon, Mark Sutcliffe (incumbent), Amjad Ali Syed, and Peter Westaway.
