Five candidates are registered to run for councillor in Gloucester-Southgate in the 2026 municipal election. Incumbent Jessica Bradley won the 2022 election with 42.24 per cent of the vote. Bradley is running for a second term as councillor in Gloucester-Southgate. The other candidates are Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Donna Dickson, disability rights and public transit advocate John Redins, Ayub Omar and Ahmed Rashid. Gloucester-Southgate The ward of Gloucester-Southgate includes the Ottawa International Airport and the neighbourhoods of Greenboro, South Keys, Hunt Club, Uplands, Blossom Park and Ledbury – Heron Gate-Ridgemont. The new O-Train Line 2 started serving the community during the 2022-2026 term of council. Meet the candidates CTV News Ottawa invited all registered candidates to answer a questionnaire and submit a video introducing themselves to voters. Jessica Bradley Age: 37 Political experience: I have served as the City Councillor for Gloucester-Southgate Ward since 2022. Prior to being elected, I served residents in our community as a political staffer to former City Councillor Diane Deans. Combined, I bring more than 14 years of political and community experience to the role, with a deep understanding of our community and the issues that matter to residents. I also have an undergraduate degree in Political Science. Professional experience: I have more than a decade of experience working directly with residents of Gloucester-Southgate, supporting them with community concerns, working alongside community associations and advising on policy at the City. I have also worked as a federal public servant with Statistics Canada, where I was responsible for overseeing survey collection in Ottawa as well as in First Nations communities across Ontario. This experience strengthened my skills in public service, community engagement, project management and working with diverse communities. How long have you lived in Ottawa? 16 years Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: The Diane Deans Greenboro Community Centre and Library. What was the last book you read? The last book I read was actually a recommendation from a resident - The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe - a great Canadian historical fiction novel. What is the top song in your playlist? I have been listening to a lot of Mumford and Sons lately. How often do you use OC Transpo? I am a regular user of OC Transpo, I generally use it once or twice per week. Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? Transit is an essential service and I believe my track record speaks for itself. I have consistently brought forward motions to freeze or limit transit fare increases, including successfully pushing back against steep increases to senior and youth fares during this term of Council. Transit fares and passes are a real line item in a household budget. Keeping transit affordable is important both to encourage transit use and to reduce the financial burden on residents. I would support exploring responsible fare reductions where they can be achieved without undermining the long-term financial sustainability of OC Transpo. Would you support increasing the police budget? I support the work of the Ottawa Police Service and the important role its officers play in our communities, particularly our East District officers. At the same time, every department’s budget request deserves thoughtful and critical scrutiny. I have a responsibility to Ottawa taxpayers to ensure that every dollar is spent responsibly. If an increase to the Police budget is proposed, I would want to understand exactly what the additional funding would provide, what tangible outcomes are expected, and how it would improve public safety before determining whether I could support it. Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? The City of Ottawa has a $10.8 billion infrastructure deficit, and that gap continues to grow. Our city and communities, including Gloucester-Southgate, are aging, making sustained investment in our infrastructure essential. Renewing roads and sidewalks, upgrading sewer infrastructure, and investing in recreation facilities and parks are critical to maintaining a healthy, livable city—and is financially responsible in the long term. I would support examining tools, including an infrastructure levy, to ensure Ottawa is keeping pace with the investments our communities need. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: Gloucester-Southgate is a diverse and established community, and one of our biggest challenges is ensuring our aging infrastructure keeps pace with the needs of residents. Over the past term, my team and I have focused on securing investments in the roads, sidewalks, pathways, parks and recreation facilities that residents rely on every day. We have seen portions of Bank Street, Hunt Club Road, Conroy Road and Walkley Road renewed, along with investments in local parks and traffic calming to improve neighbourhood road safety. This work needs to continue. I am also committed to developing a plan to revitalize the Sawmill Creek Community Centre and Pool, ensuring this important facility continues to serve residents for years to come. Transit is another area where there is more work to do. The New Ways to Bus network changes resulted in significant service reductions in parts of Gloucester-Southgate and across the city, and I recognize the impact this has had on residents who rely on local transit. I am currently working with OC Transpo senior leadership to identify opportunities to improve service in these areas, including on routes such as Route 98, 6, 40 and 43. Moving forward, my focus will be on working with residents and OC Transpo to make local routes more efficient, better connected and more responsive to how people actually move around our communities and throughout the City. I am committed to building on the progress we have made and continuing to deliver the investments our community needs. Donna Dickson No response from candidate Ayub Omar No response from candidate by deadline Ahmed Rashid Age: 25 Political experience: Professional experience: I worked with the ONDP on the byelections, including Fatima Shaban in Scarborough Southwest and Monique Taylor in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. I helped Kristyn Wong-Tam push for halal mortgage access, speaking at mosques and mobilizing the community in support. I was on the team organized against the Billy Bishop expansion. Doug Ford was pushing for this expansion for an American investment firm that wanted to profit off our public waterfront. It was reckless, and it was ours to lose. We rallied the community, talked to MPs, got thousands to speak up. The federal government rejected the expansion. We won. How long have you lived in Ottawa? I was born and raised in Ottawa. I went to high school and university in the city and couldn’t imagine calling anywhere else home. Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: Conroy Pit, it’s a wonderful place to unwind and get some fresh air. What was the last book you read? Jack Layton’s “Speaking out” What is the top song in your playlist? Budapest by George Ezra How often do you use OC Transpo? Daily. Like many workers in Ottawa, it’s my main form of transportation. Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? I would work to freeze or reduce transit fares. OC Transpo staff have said a fare freeze would attract an additional 300,000 rides across the system. That’s more riders, more revenue, and a stronger case for better service. But our councillors did not fight hard enough and voted down a fare freeze motion, then voted for a budget that raised fares again, folding completely. Higher fares mean fewer riders, which means worse service. And it hurts the people who depend on transit most. People with disabilities. Seniors who can’t drive. Young people trying to get to work. Would you support increasing the police budget? No. Ottawa Police receives a larger share of our taxes than Ottawa Public Health and the Ottawa Public Library combined. Yet research shows no consistent link between police spending and lower crime rates across Canada’s largest cities. Money alone doesn’t make us safer; we need to invest in other services that can make us safer. What does work? Investing in affordability, housing, mental health, and community trust. Program after program shows that preventative approaches reduce crime more effectively than reactive policing. Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? Yes. An infrastructure levy is essential to fix our crumbling roads and sewer systems. But we can fund it without crushing taxpayers. We have smarter options. We can build on Ottawa’s Vacant Unit Tax. We can also look at taxing speculative land that sits unused and unproductive. These are the kinds of progressive tools our council ignores. They default to general tax hikes that put the burden on families that just can’t afford it. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: The biggest issue in Ward 10 is that over 500 families are renovicted every year. After four years, we got a renoviction bylaw that’s weaker than Toronto’s and doesn’t even require compensation. Affordable housing? The one project in our ward was planned back in 2015 and that’s 158 units, a drop in the bucket for 50,000 residents. Our roads are crumbling. Transit fares keep rising. Small businesses are struggling. And we keep getting weak responses instead of real action. I’m a renter. I’ve been renovicted. I know what it’s like to wonder if you’ll have a home next month. A transit commuter. I know what it’s like to wonder if the bus will show up when it’s -25 C. I’ll bring that experience to City Hall and make sure that Ward 10 gets the investments it needs to be more affordable for families and young people starting their careers. John Redins Age: 61 Political experience: Previously sat on various committees previous before moving to Ottawa including Parks and Recreation Committee(fundraising and programs), Economic Development Committee chair OPP Community Policing Committee, volunteer firefighter). I moved to Ottawa and became politically involved after arthritis took over my body and needed a double hip surgery. The wait times became unacceptable in the reasoning from the Ontario government so that is how I started becoming a political voice running in the provincial election. Professional experience: Former Automotive Parts manager Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: Hunt Club Creek What was the last book you read? The Baltic Revolution What is the top song in your playlist? Man on a mission How often do you use OC Transpo? Several times in a day Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? First, we need trust in a system that works and trust in bureaucrats in the use of closed meetings be open what is really discussed. Yes, I would work to keep fares down Would you support increasing the police budget? We have 4 police forces in our community which we directly pay taxes for. Why can’t we lobby for a joint community police force Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? We need to do something to prevent the damage of 10-year storms. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: The primary issues facing Gloucester-Southgate (Ward 10) in Ottawa centre heavily on infrastructure strain, community safety, and a lack of transparency during rapid local redevelopment. Public Transit Cuts and Reliability: Deep frustrations surround OC Transpo route reductions. Lower-income pockets and commuters relying on public transit. Para Transpo customers face urban boundary charges if they want to go to a fair just south of the ward but pay regular fare in most of Gatineau. Rising Crime Rates: The ward experiences persistent public safety concerns. It ranks among the top five Ottawa wards for mischief and has faced notable spikes in property crimes, particularly vehicle thefts targeting suburban driveways. Construction Disruptions and Bad Communication: Major projects like the Walkley Road renewal push forward with very little proactive communication. Residents frequently encounter suddenly blocked sidewalks and poorly managed active transportation corridors without prior notice. The Housing and Neighborhood Smart Growth: Managing dense commercial-to-residential redevelopments. The community struggles to properly preserve vital green spaces, integrate sufficient affordable rental units, and scale local amenities for a growing population. Pedestrian and Traffic Safety: Pothole-ridden arterials and speeding on collector roads prompt heavy demands for permanent traffic-calming measures to shield cyclists and pedestrians.
