Mark Sutcliffe returns to city hall for second term with housing and transit on his list
The mayor, re-elected Oct. 26 with 44.65 per cent of the vote, says his job is to deliver the plan he was elected on, starting with the 2027 budget.
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Mark Sutcliffe won his second term as Ottawa mayor on Oct. 26 with 44.65 per cent of the vote, down from just over 50 per cent in 2022. Voter turnout was 36.21 per cent of eligible voters, one of the lowest in city history.
He was back at city hall the next day. His first meeting was about the 2027 budget, with the stated goal of improving public transit.
"We did everything we could to talk about the future of Ottawa and encourage people to get involved," Sutcliffe said in an interview with RogersTV. "My job right now is to deliver the plan I was elected on and to get back to work for the people of Ottawa." He said he is not sure how to raise voter participation and that it is not his focus at the moment.
He pointed to concern about the local economy, citing tariffs from Donald Trump and reductions in federal government jobs, among other factors.
His campaign commitments include a $95 monthly transit pass, a tax limit of 2.0 to 2.25 per cent for the first two years, frozen recreation fees for seniors and families, finishing the upload of the Ottawa LRT to the province and starting Phase 3 of the LRT. He also pledged to hire 350 more police, firefighters and paramedics, expand community policing, add special constables in hospitals, end youth homelessness by 2030 and build 650 new supportive housing units within five years.
The sources do not say how the transit pass, the 350 hires or the 650 housing units will be funded, and they give no timeline for the LRT upload or Phase 3.
How will the $95 transit pass and the 650 housing units be paid for?
What does the 2027 budget tax increase compare with last term?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
