Three mayoral candidates pitch transit and housing plans at student debate, Sutcliffe absent

More than 300 students gathered at Carleton University on Wednesday to hear mayoral candidates debate transit, housing and city services—but the incumbent stayed away.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe did not attend the student-focused debate organized by a coalition of student groups. His campaign said scheduling conflicts prevented his attendance, adding that he is planning to participate in roughly 10 to 12 debates during this election.

The three candidates who did attend—Alex Lawson, Jeff Leiper and Neil Saravanamuttoo—clashed over OC Transpo fares and affordable housing strategies that students flagged as priorities.

Neil Saravanamuttoo promoted a "buck-a-ride" proposal to reduce regular transit trips to $1, saying "Let's have a price that actually reflects more the quality of the service we're currently providing." Alex Lawson rejected the idea, arguing "So it's still going to be terrible, but at least it will be cheaper," and noted that cheap pricing alone won't fix reliability: "We probably all bought headphones at the dollar store. You only do that once. It's not going to increase reliability. It's not going to increase ridership." Jeff Leiper questioned whether cutting fares would drain resources the transit system needs, pledging that "One of the first things that I am going to do in my very first budget as mayor is reverse the cuts that have been made by Mark Sutcliffe to our bus system."

Mayor Sutcliffe unveiled his own transit plan earlier this month, calling for a cut to the OC Transpo adult monthly pass.

On housing, Leiper proposed a city acquisition fund allowing the municipality and non-profit organizations to buy properties and keep them affordable, saying "The least expensive way for the city to provide affordable housing is to protect the affordable housing that we already have." Saravanamuttoo argued Ottawa needs a larger public role in housing construction, pointing to European cities with substantial publicly owned housing stock.

Norah Bello, advocacy commissioner with the University of Ottawa Students' Union, said she was disappointed by Sutcliffe's absence. "I was a little bit disappointed to see that our current mayor doesn't want to engage with students. We make up a big portion of this population."