There are three candidates running for councillor in Ward 3 – Barrhaven West in the 2026 municipal election. Incumbent David Hill is seeking a second term as councillor in the ward after winning the 2022 election with 43.9 per cent of the vote. The other two candidates are former Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee Donna Blackburn and businessman Jeff Balys. Barrhaven West The ward of Barrhaven West’s covers an area of: the western boundary at Highway 416, the eastern boundary at Greenbank Road, Strandherd Drive, Longfields Drive, the Jock River and the Rideau River, the southern boundary at Barnsdale Road and Prince of Wales Drive, and the northern boundary at Cedarview Road (until Lytle Avenue) and Fallowfield Road. Meet the candidates CTV News Ottawa invited all registered candidates to answer a questionnaire and submit a video introducing themselves to voters. Jeff Balys Age: 58 Political experience: No formal political experience. I bring decades of business, leadership, coaching, and community experience — and a fresh, independent perspective to City Hall. Professional experience: Business leader and manager with decades of experience in financial planning, investment advising, real estate, mortgages, sales, and team leadership. I’ve spent my career helping families make major financial decisions, building and managing businesses, solving problems, and coaching people to succeed. I’ve also spent years coaching and mentoring young people, which has taught me as much about leadership as any boardroom ever could. How long have you lived in Ottawa? Almost my entire life. The only significant time I spent away from Ottawa was while earning my degrees in Economics and Business Finance at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Ottawa has always been home. Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: Lansdowne Park — sports, community and Ottawa all in one place. What was the last book you read? Anne Rice’s Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles finale) What is the top song in your playlist? Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog How often do you use OC Transpo? 4-5 times per year for large events Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? I would love to see decreased fares to encourage ridership. Would you support increasing the police budget? Yes Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? No. Before asking residents for more money, City Hall needs to do a much better job managing the tax dollars it already collects. People are stretched thin. They cannot keep being asked to pay more every time the city fails to budget, prioritize, or manage projects properly. Fix the spending first. Then talk about new revenue. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: The biggest issues in Barrhaven West are transportation, uncontrolled growth, and accountability for taxpayer money. People are losing hours of their lives getting to and from work. OC Transpo service and routes are not meeting Barrhaven’s needs, while traffic gets worse as the community grows. At the same time, we continue building homes without building the roads, transit, and infrastructure fast enough to support them. Growth is going to happen. Poorly planned growth doesn’t have to. Then there is how we spend taxpayers’ money. The Ottawa Police South Facility on Prince of Wales is a perfect example. In the 2020 capital budget, the project stood at about $109 million. Today, its budget authority is approaching $188 million. Whatever the reasons, taxpayers deserve to know how a major project grows by almost $80 million and what is being done to prevent it from happening again. Barrhaven needs better transportation, smarter growth, and a City Hall that treats every tax dollar like it came from someone who worked hard to earn it. Donna Blackburn Age: 58 Political experience: 16 years as a Trustee on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, former Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister Professional experience: In addition to my time on Parliament Hill, I have worked as a registered social worker, working in both women’s shelters and for a supportive housing organization How long have you lived in Ottawa? 35 years Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: Parliament Hill What was the last book you read? The Diviners by Margaret Laurence What is the top song in your playlist? A Little Good News by Anne Murray How often do you use OC Transpo? Rarely. My last place of employment had no OC Transpo service. Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? I would maintain the status quo until we can provide acceptable service. Would you support increasing the police budget? Increasing. We simply lack police presence in Barrhaven and is negatively impacting our lives. Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? Yes, not maintaining our infrastructure has proved very costly. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: Social and physical infrastructure has not kept pace with housing development. We are not managing traffic effectively at all. We need to install safety measures, particularly around our schools. David Hill Age: 48 Political experience: I am running for re-election after my first term as your city councillor Professional experience: I served for 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. My service included tours in Afghanistan, Haiti, and Lebanon. Prior to joining the army, I worked in a gold mine and in the trades in Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario. How long have you lived in Ottawa? I have lived in Ottawa for a total of 13 years, but as an army officer moved a lot for work. I moved back to Ottawa in 2016 and have been happy to make Barrhaven my home ever since! Favourite Ottawa location/landmark: Kayaking down the Jock River What was the last book you read? Never Flinch by Stephen King What is the top song in your playlist? Just Can’t Get Enough - Depeche Mode How often do you use OC Transpo? Several times a month in order to get feedback from transit riders Would you work to increase or decrease transit fares as part of a plan to improve OC Transpo? Our approach to OC Transpo as a city will depend on the provincial upload. Ideally, the upload will allow us to make fares more affordable, while respecting the balance between taxpayers and transit users. Taxpayers are supposed to cover 40% of the OC Transpo budget and currently pay for closer to 60%, that has to be addressed as part of a fair fare conversation. Would you support increasing the police budget? I want to see increased police presence and enforcement in Barrhaven. I’ve been proud to vote to hire more police officers every year as part of the police budget, and will be happy to continue to do so as long as that funding continues to noticeably bring more police to Barrhaven. Do you support an infrastructure levy to improve road and sewer infrastructure? No, Ottawa residents pay enough taxes as is and expect us to find a way to pay for major projects while balancing our budget. Describe in 250 words or less what the biggest issues are in your ward in this election: Continuing to build needed infrastructure and increasing safety. Barrhaven is one of the fastest growing wards in the city and we need the infrastructure and city services to match that need. This term I’ve worked hard to open more parks, build more roads, enhance traffic safety and bring more police officers to Barrhaven and that remains the cornerstone of my campaign.
