Ottawa’s top mayoral candidates were given the chance to ask one another questions during the CTV News Ottawa mayoral debate on Wednesday; here’s what Alex Lawson, Jeff Leiper, Neil Saravanamuttoo and incumbent Mark Sutcliffe asked one another. Saravanamuttoo on bike lanes and road closures Saravanamuttoo worked on 2022 mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney’s campaign. With the first question of the debate, Sutcliffe linked Saravanamuttoo to the former candidate’s $250-million plan to extend cycling infrastructure in the city, calling him a “huge advocate for the war on cars.” “How can voters trust you that you won’t close roads and make it harder for people to get around Ottawa?” Sutcliffe questioned, saying the candidate supports the closure of roads like Queen Elizabeth Driveway, Colonel By Drive and Wellington Street. In response, Saravanamuttoo said the incumbent was turning the conversation into a “culture debate.” “Let’s talk about real issues that are here, like infrastructure, taxes and quite frankly congestion,” Saravanamuttoo said, before defending the plan he helped draft in the previous election. “I am a numbers guy. I’m a finance guy. So, when I was asked four years ago to come up with a plan for how you would do alternative modes of transportation, I came up with that plan,” he said. “That plan would cost taxpayers absolutely nothing because it was paid for entirely out of the money that we were going to spend in the future. So, there’s your answer.” Sutcliffe argued his opponent supports turning Queen Elizabeth Driveway into a park, to which Saravanamuttoo responded: “A national park; wouldn’t that be great?” Sutcliffe on in-office mandates The City of Ottawa required all municipal employees to be in the office five days per week as of January 1, while the federal government began requiring public servants be in the office four days a week in July. Leiper argued Sutcliffe supported the in-office mandates for employees at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, and asked whether he would speak out against the current direction of workplace requirements. “Will you speak up for public servants, reverse the city mandate, and advocate to reverse the federal mandate?” he asked. In response, Sutcliffe said it was the city manager’s decision to require municipal employees to be in person. Sutcliffe also said 85 per cent of the city workforce had been in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We don’t have a lot of people who work in the office. The vast majority of our people are people who drive buses, fix buses, plow the roads, pick up the garbage, work in community centers and swimming pools,” he said. “The remaining 15 per cent, about half of them were there four or five days a week, anyway.” Sutcliffe also denied that he made a request for federal workers to return to the office. “I never asked the federal government to bring the employees back. That’s their decision,” he said. Sutcliffe on Lansdowne 2.0 The $418.8 million Lansdowne 2.0 project was approved last November, and includes plans for a new event centre, two new residential towers and the redevelopment of the north-side stands at TD Place. Saravanamuttoo argued the plan was “falling apart in front of our eyes,” citing the departure of City Folk, Escapade and the Ottawa Charge from the venue, and asked Sutcliffe if he had regrets about the project. “When are you going to tell the people of Ottawa how bad the Lansdowne financials have become, and how much more taxpayers will have to pay to support your OSEG buddies?” Saravanamuttoo asked Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe argued that the 60-year-old stadium and arena were in poor shape and in need of repairs. He also said the total bill for taxpayers would be less than $418.8 million. “It’s going to cost taxpayers about $130 million,” Sutcliffe said. “Normally, when we build a new community center in the city of Ottawa, taxpayers, or for example the downtown library, taxpayers pay 100 per cent of the cost. In this case, taxpayers are going to pay about 30 per cent of the cost. So, it’s a good deal for taxpayers.” When pressed on how he would replace the lost revenue of the Ottawa Charge, Sutcliffe argued they were “always going to leave anyway.” “They have outgrown the existing arena,” Sutcliffe said. The Canadian Tire Centre was announced as the new primary home of the Ottawa Charge in July. City Folk and Escapade were held at the RA Centre this year. Sutcliffe on his second-choice candidate Lawson used his first question to ask Sutcliffe who he would support if he were unable to vote for himself in the election. “My big question to you is: on this stage, if you weren’t running, who would you be voting for?” Lawson asked. Sutcliffe said he did not need to answer Lawson’s question as he is running for re-election. “I’m going to vote for me. Each of you are going to vote for yourselves. That’s part of the democratic process,” he said. Leiper on property taxes With his second question, Sutcliffe asked Leiper to disclose what his property tax increase would be, arguing the candidate was not being forthcoming with his plans. “Why don’t you be honest with the people of Ottawa? Why are you keeping your high taxes a secret when we’re in the middle of an affordability crisis?” Sutcliffe asked. Leiper did not provide a target for proposed property tax increases but said he is not proposing a significant increase. He also argued that Sutcliffe’s target of 2 to 2.5 per cent was arbitrary. “What we’re going to do is we’re going to have a discussion as grown-ups in this city about what the trade-offs are between all of the various different considerations, always keeping in mind that ordinary Ottawa residents are struggling with the high cost of living,” Leiper said. Saravanamuttoo on tiny homes One of Saravanamuttoo’s campaign pledges is to build a set of tiny homes made from shipping containers to serve as transitional housing. Leiper argued that housing experts disagreed with the approach and said it would “hurt the most vulnerable.” “It’s not sustainable. It creates encampments, and it doesn’t help those who need it most. Why won’t you listen to housing experts?” Leiper asked. Saravanmuttoo defended the proposal, saying similar projects have been shown to be a success in places like Gatineau and New Brunswick. “The solutions that the housing experts are proposing have not worked so far, and we need new approaches. That’s quite simple,” Saravanamuttoo said. Lawson argued the proposal would simply push those experiencing homelessness, “out of sight.” Saravanamuttoo denied the assertion, saying his proposal would provide people a community and a place to advance to the next phase of professional help. Leiper on his council record Leiper has been a member of city council since 2014, and Saravanamuttoo asked the candidate to defend his record as an elected official. “Can you tell us what have you achieved over the past 10 years that only happened because of your initiative?” Saravanamuttoo said. Leiper said he appreciated the chance to discuss his work as a councillor but also noted there is “only so much that a single city councillor can do from one seat,” which has led him to run for mayor. “Within my ward, we’re looking at more parks, more green spaces. The transit, despite the mayor’s every effort, has held steady compared to the rest of the city,” Leiper said. “We have more affordable housing. I’ve used creative solutions to ensure that we get new field houses, new infrastructure in our ward. I’d like to bring that approach to the rest of the city.” Leiper on what he would do differently as mayor To end out the question-and-answer segment, Lawson argued Leiper has been on the losing side of many votes at council and voted against decisions to “virtue signal.” “My question is, what are you going to do differently to get the consensus of your former colleagues now if you become elected?” Lawson said. Leiper said he did not want to “get super deep” into the mechanisms of city council, then argued the mayor had been using the office “in favour of insiders, who have his ear.” “My guarantee to my colleagues who will serve on the next city council and to the residents of Ottawa is that I’ll be working in the public interest on behalf of ordinary citizens,” Leiper said. In response, Sutcliffe argued Leiper had not been collaborative as a city councillor. “At budget time, when I went to Jeff every year and said, ‘What do you want to do? What’s important to you?’ He didn’t have any ideas, and then he would just vote against the budget because he claimed that he didn’t like it,” Sutcliffe said. Fourteen candidates are running to be mayor of Ottawa. In alphabetical order, they are: Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi, Zed Chebib, Bernard Couchman, Suraj Harish, Alex Lawson, Jeff Leiper, Geoff Nicholas, Josh Rachlis, Neil Saravanamuttoo, Ali Shayvard, Jacob Solomon, Mark Sutcliffe (incumbent), Amjad Ali Syed, and Peter Westaway Election Day is Oct. 26. One day of advance voting will be held on Friday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
