Mayoral candidate and city councillor Jeff Leiper is pledging to reverse the city’s return-to-office mandate for municipal employees and pressure the federal government to reconsider its own in-office requirements.

Speaking outside Parliament LRT station on Monday, Leiper argued blanket RTO mandates are increasing congestion and putting additional pressure on Ottawa’s transit system while costing workers more in commuting expenses.

“For everyday residents, this is our time, our money and our quality of life,” Leiper said.

His plan would restore flexible work arrangements for city employees where possible and advocate for more shared federal workspaces in areas such as Orleans, Barrhaven and Ottawa’s South End.

“That would mean shorter commutes, less congestion, less pressure on transit, more money in your pocket,” he said.

Leiper cited that the RTO mandate has added 65,000 additional trips onto OC Transpo, and ten of thousands more cars on the roads.

His plan would also require the city to assess the transportation, financial and environmental consequences of major changes to workplace policies before they are implemented.

The announcement comes as both federal and municipal employees faced increased requirements to work in person.

In February, the Treasury Board announced the change to remote work rules in February, while executive public servants are required to return to the office full-time in May.

Last fall, Ottawa city council voted in favour of maintaining its RTO policy for municipal employees.

Leiper subsequently introduced a motion seeking to reverse the mandate and preserve flexible work arrangements for city staff, but the motion was defeated.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has supported increased in-office work, pointing to the benefits for downtown businesses and public transit.

Leiper said the downtown’s “future vitality” shouldn’t depend on the federal or city return-to-office.

“The future of Ottawa’s downtown, its vitality, its economic vitality, its cultural vitality depends on people living here,” he said.

“We have done work to encourage more development in the downtown and that will continue.”

Asked what influence a mayor could realistically have over federal workplace policy, Leiper pointed to previous discussions between the federal government Sutcliffe over the implications to return-to-office requirements.

“I don’t know what was said behind those closed doors, but certainly, my encouragement to the federal government will be to reverse those return-to-office mandates. We don’t have the transportation infrastructure to handle it and frankly, I think it’s good for the city as well to pursue that course,” he said.

In an email sent to iPolitics, Sutcliffe’s campaign team said the management of municipal employees is the City Manager’s responsibility, not the mayor.

“Playing politics with human resources is counterproductive and performative, especially since the City’s current policy already provides flexibility for alternative work arrangements,” the office said.

“Ottawa needs leadership focused on delivering real priorities like improving transit, building houses, strengthening the local economy and making communities safer.”

Responses from other mayoral candidates 

Other mayoral candidates have released similar policies on RTO mandates.

Earlier this month, homebuilder Alex Lawson also came out against the policy and pledged to put the city formally on record calling on the federal government to reverse it.

“For city staff, I think managers know better than politicians whether employees need to be in the office to do their job. They’re the ones who should decide,” Lawson said in a statement to iPolitics. 

Lawson has similarly proposed expanding federal workplaces outside the downtown core, including in Kanata, Orleans, Barrhaven and the south end.

He also emphasized the return of rush-hour bus service during morning and afternoon peak periods, using the city’s existing and incoming bus fleet to accommodate increased commuter demand.

Economist Neil Saravanamuttoo has also opposed the RTO mandate, arguing that Ottawa is “not ready.”

He said he would have pushed the federal government to delay its plans.

“Unfortunately, Mark Sutcliffe did not ask the federal government to reconsider its timelines,” he said in a statement to iPolitics. 

While Leiper’s proposal for greater flexibility for cityworkers “worthwhile,” Saravanamutto said his call for the federal government to reverse its decisions as “theatrics,” arguing that the larger concern is the impact of federal workers.

“People can be productive workers anywhere. Forcing them back into the office is not the way forward,” he said.

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In a new poll published by Liaison Strategies, 70 per cent of residents believe homelessness in Ottawa has gotten worse over the past year, while 63 per cent of people disapproved of how the city has been addressing the issue. 

The polling, commissioned by Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Ottawa residents from Aug. 14th to 19th, using interactive voice recording technology. For the total sample, the margin of error is plus and minus 2.77 percentage points. 

Respondents were asked what the biggest obstacle to reducing homelessness, 26 per cent pointed to a lack of affordable and supporting housing, while 25 per cent cited insufficient addiction and mental health treatment. 

Residents were also asked what they believe the government should prioritize the most when responding to homelessness and severe addiction. Among the top responses were housing at 25 per cent, voluntary treatment at 20 per cent and mandatory treatment at 18 per cent. 

Over 40 per cent of the respondents also said they “strongly support’ allowing courts to require treatment without consent when someone poses a serious risk. 

The findings come as Ontario’s big-city mayors press the province to rethink how it responds to homelessness, mental illness and addiction, including opening the door to discussions surrounding involuntary treatment. 

OBCM Chair and Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said on Sunday the caucus unanimously agreed that they want the province to undertake a review on the legislation governing involuntary admission and consent to treatment. 

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is among the 29 mayors represented by OBCM, but was reportedly not present for the vote. 

The mayors are not explicitly calling for mandatory treatment. Instead, they want Ontario to review the Mental Health Act and Health Care Consent Act, and consider a “compassionate care and intervention model,” including what safeguards would be needed to protect the rights and well-being of people with severe mental illness or substance-use disorders. 

BACKGROUND: Ontario Big City Mayors press province for review of mandatory care, expanded addiction treatment in jails 

Currently, the province allows involuntary psychiatric admission in certain circumstances. Under the Mental Health Act, someone with an apparent mental disorder who poses a significant risk to themselves or others, faces serious physical impairment or meets certain criteria involving a recurrent treatable disorder can be detained in a psychiatric facility for up to 72 hours for assessment.

Decisions around treatment are separately governed by the Health Care Consent Act. 

But some Ontario’s leading mental health and addictions organizations are urging caution before those powers are expanded. 

Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, the Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health say the province should first ensure people who are voluntarily seeking treatment can actually get it. 

“There is an urgent need to help people struggling with chronic homelessness, mental health and addictions, but we need to focus on solutions that work,” Jennifer Holmes Weier, CEO of AMHO wrote in a statement on Monday. 

“Before expanding mandatory treatment, we need to make sure timely, voluntary care is available in every community to people who are already asking for help.” 

Mayoral candidates response

“I support the call of OBCM to the province to advance mandatory rehabilitation for individuals who truly need it, such as treatment of severe addictions in limited, high-risk circumstances,” Sutcliffe said in a statement to iPolitics.

“This is the most compassionate option for individuals who cannot or will not seek vital care voluntarily and it is the way to do right by communities that are victims of drug and addictions crisis.”

Sutcliffe defended the city’s record, pointing to increased investment in supportive and affordable housing, the expansion of ANCHOR, the alternative neighbourhood crisis response program, additional policing and outreach workers in communities affected by the toxic drug crisis.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but we are making progress,” Sutcliffe said.

If re-elected, Sutcliffe said he would double the rate at which supportive housing is funded and built, calling it the “single most important step to ending homelessness.”

He also pledged to release a broader plan on homelessness and the toxic drug crisis during the campaign.

Mayoral candidate Neil Saravanamuttoo weighed in on the issue, pointing that the city requires more affordable housing with “wrap-around services” in the long-term, but points to a need for a more “pragmatic” approach now, and expanding  ANCHOR across Ottawa. 

“It means rapid response teams to clean up needles and other debris, it means securing same day recovery treatment programs,” he said in a statement sent to iPolitics. 

“It means looking at what’s working in other cities to provide new forms of affordable temporary shelter, such as the Village Transition in Gatineau.”

Saravanamuttoo also noted that there’s a need to be “open” to a review on the compassionate care and intervention model. 

Homebuilder Alex Lawson took a more enforcement and recovery approach, arguing the city has put too much emphasis on harm reduction without providing sufficient pathway to recovery. 

“Harm reduction has to be a path to recovery or we’re just making it easy to do drugs,” Lawson said in a statement to iPolitics. 

“My focus is going to be on taking the drugs away and getting people to help they need to get off the streets,” he said. 

Lawson, who has been highlighting drug use and public disorder in Ottawa on social media, said he plans to release a broader policy in the next month. 

“I’ll say this much right now: when I’m mayor, the party with drugs in Ottawa will be over,” he said. 

City Councillor Jeff Leiper, meanwhile, emphasized expanding access to treatment, while addressing people who are struggling with mental health and addiction with dignity. 

In an apparent reference to Lawson’s social media posts, Leiper said he would not film vulnerable people to make a political point.

“I won’t do what other running for mayor are doing and film people at some of the lowest points in their lives to use their misfortune as a political prop. These are people. They are our neighbours and many are struggling with addiction, mental illness and poverty,” Leiper said in a statement sent to iPolitics. 

Leiper said as a mayor he would work with the provincial and federal government to build 1,500 non-profit homes annually, establish an acquisition fund to preserve existing affordable rentals and make the city’s ANCHOR program permanent, while expanding it city-wide. 

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Commissioned by Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, Liaison Strategies surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Ottawa residents from July 17 to July 19, 2026. For the total sample, the margin of error is plus and minus 3.09 percentage points.

Liaison Strategies Principal David Valentin said Sutcliffe’s declining vote share masks a race that’s becoming increasingly favourable for the incumbent.

“The big winner is Mark Sutcliffe, who went from having a very narrow lead to having a much larger lead, even though his own support dropped,” David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies said in an interview with iPolitics. “Losing is the new winning.”

Among decided voters, Sutcliffe led with 36 per cent support. Homebuilder Alex Lawson at 26 per cent, double the support since May, followed by City Councillor Jeff Leiper at 25 per cent.

Economist Neil Saravanamuttoo also saw a significant climb from last month’s eight per cent to 11 per cent.

Although Sutcliffe’s support has fallen from 46 per cent in April to 36 per cent, Valentin said the mayor has strengthened his position because his closest challengers have failed to consolidate support.

“We’re seeing Leiper continuing to go down, and we’re seeing Lawson continuing to go up,” Valentin said.

Valentin said Leiper’s declining support raises questions about whether the councillor’s more cautious campaign strategy is resonating with voters. He argued that while campaigns often rely on sharp contrasts to gain attention, Leiper is running a more restrained race, while Saravanamuttoo has largely avoided becoming a target for rival campaign as his support climbed.

Aside from Sutcliffe’s lead, Valentin also pointed to Lawson, who first polled at 14 per cent in May, appears to be extending beyond his original base.

Undecided voters rate has also gone down since last month from 37 per cent to 34 per cent.

City approval rating

While the ballot numbers tell one story, the mayor’s personal ratings may also suggest he has a firmer political this month.

This month’s polling also showed slight increase in Sutcliffe’s approval rating from 41 per cent to 45 per cent.

The poll also found more residents believe Ottawa is headed in the right direction than last month, another sign of improving sentiment toward the incumbent despite his lower ballot support.

Valentin said one of the more notable findings was the changing lists of priorities for Ottawa voters.

Transit fell as a top concern, dropping from 18 per cent in June to 11 per cent in July, while concern over crime more than doubled from seven to 15 per cent. Traffic also climbed from 13 to 17 per cent.

He added that while some of the month-to-month movement could reflect differences in the survey sample, the rise in traffic concerns also aligns with more residents returning to the office.

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Ottawa mayoral candidate Alex Lawson’s campaign office sits steps away from a community health centre that provides services for people who struggle with substance use – a location he says was chosen deliberately.

Instead of talking about homelessness, addiction and public safety from afar, Lawson said he wanted to see the challenges facing the city firsthand.

He is running for mayor on a simple premise: city hall has become disconnected from the realities of everyday life in Ottawa.

“You can’t solve a problem if you’re looking at it from a high level,” Lawson said in an interview with iPolitics. 

Lawson argues Ottawa’s response to homelessness and addiction has become too focused on managing crises. Instead, he said there’s a need for the city to shift its focus on expanding a “pathway to recovery.”

He said that includes examining the safety of Ottawa’s shelter system and investing in community spaces.

“We need to make sure that we’re actually helping people, just not making ourselves feel a little bit better today,” he said. 

Currently, the City of Ottawa manages and funds municipal emergency shelters and transitional housing through local social services.

Housing

Housing is where Lawson’s identity as a builder comes through most clearly. Drawing on his experience running a house framing company, he argues Ottawa’s affordability crisis is a result of city hall getting in its own way through rising development charges and regulatory barriers.

“If you talk to the builders, you talk to the developers, and you talk to them about why houses are so expensive… they’re going to point to development charges,” he said.

Lawson points to the recent federal announcement on eliminating harmonized tax on newly built homes and slashing development charges.

These programs require municipalities to “opt in,” he said.

“The rise in development charges has priced a lot of the smaller to medium sized builders out of the market,” he said, adding that this results in only bigger firms taking on the building projects.

To build up more housing availability, Lawson proposed to cut development charges in half in the first year, and give the private sector the opportunity to build more family-sized housing.

But Lawson also departs from the strictly free-market approach, adding that if builders fail to deliver within a year, the city should step in directly using public land and financing to build the housing Ottawa needs.

“I do believe in a smaller government, I don’t think the government should be taking over more… but when it comes to housing, if we’ve given the private sector every opportunity and every tool that they need to do something, and they haven’t, then I think it’s time for the government to step in,” he said.

Transit 

On tackling transit, Lawson has a 12-point plan that focuses on bringing reliability back to public transport.

“It’s not hard to figure out what’s going on – buses aren’t showing up,” he said.

Lawson says OC Transpo’s problem stem less from a lack of funding than from poor management and unrealistic planning, based on his conversations with average commuters, bus drivers, and unions.

Rather than focusing on fare reductions or new subsidies, Lawson said the city should prioritize rebuilding through route redesigns, more realistic scheduling, and a review of management practices.

Part of his plan includes gathering more accurate information on ridership.

He says the current approach of looking at fares paid does not paint the full picture.

“We don’t actually know how much ridership we have,” he said, adding that he believes there is a certain level of fare evasion because of faulty equipment on buses.

Lawson says the idea isn’t to create more barriers for people who can’t afford a four dollar transit ride, but to look within the system and see what’s not working.

“We need to actually look at what we’re losing in that capacity.”

While other candidates have proposed investing more on transit, Lawson emphasized that the city should focus on bringing back reliability before introducing ideas like fare reductions.

“If you pour more water into a leaking bucket… the water’s not going to get where you need it to go,” he said.

When asked what sets him apart from the other candidates, Lawson said he would bring a “full” perspective to the mayor’s office.

“I’ve walked a lot of different roads in this city, and I’ve done it wearing a lot of different pairs of shoes,” he said.

Lawson gained traction in a recent polling done by Liaison Strategies, commissioned by iPolitics and Ottawa Compass, at 21 per cent – a seven per cent increase from last month.

READ MORE: Lawson gains ground as Sutcliffe maintains lead in Ottawa mayoral race: poll

Lawson said many voters feel politicians have lost touch with the realities of everyday life, and argued his experiences growing up in Ottawa and later running a construction business give him a broader understanding of the challenge residents face.

“People generally think that politicians don’t understand them. I’m somebody that’s doing my best to understand,” he said.

*This article was published on iPolitics on June 30th, 2026. 

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When Sutcliffe was elected mayor in 2022, Ottawa was grappling with the aftermath of the Freedom Convoy, lingering disruptions from the pandemic, mounting concerns about public transit and questions about confidence in city institutions. 

Nearly four years later, Sutcliffe is making a simple case for re-election: the city is in a better place than when he found it. 

Sutcliffe argues that message resonates at a moment when many residents are feeling anxious about affordability and broader economic uncertainty. 

“We need to reassure residents that our city is going in the right direction, that there’s strong leadership in place to continue moving forward and making progress, building a stronger city, protecting affordability, making our services more reliable, making it easier to get around the city, and protecting and strengthening our local economy,” he said in an interview with iPolitics. 

Transit 

Ottawa’s public transit system is where Sutcliffe says boils down to “fairness.”  

When he was first elected in 2022, the city’s LRT system had just gone through a reckoning. Sutcliffe said 

“I wasn’t around when these deals were made, but we didn’t get a great deal when we built our light rail system,” Sutcliffe said. 

He pointed to GTA, where the cost of building and maintaining rapid transit systems is mostly paid for by the provincial and federal government. Local taxpayers paid about five per cent of that cost on average, he said. 

Ottawa’s LRT, which started its construction in 2013, paid 50 per cent in tax for the cost of building and maintaining those systems. 

READ MORE: It’s been four years since Ottawa’s LRT public inquiry. Where does the train stand now? 

“Which just isn’t fair,” Sutcliffe said, adding that he set out the agenda to work with the provincial government. 

It’s one of political assets that Sutcliffe emphasized: an established relationship with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, involving a deal where the province would assume ownership and long-term maintenance of Ottawa’s LRT through Metrolinx. 

“It’ll remove a huge amount of debt and also risk from local taxpayers,” Sutcliffe said, citing that the $85 million would allow the city to reinvest in the transit system. 

That includes more money on transit projects, he said, such as more rapid bus routes. 

He noted that the city has spent 30 per cent more on public transit than it did four years ago, and a lot of that funding went to the LRT in comparison to other communities, which saw support from the provincial government. 

Sutcliffe added that while the city needs strong public transit, sidewalks and cycling infrastructure, he rejects what he describes as an “anti-road” or anti-car” mentality.

“In a city the size of Ottawa, people do need their cars to get around,” he said. 

In his view, building a better transportation network means investing in transit and active transportation without ignoring roads used by families, commuters, rural residents and seniors travelling to appointments. 

“I think there’s a real choice here between continuing to make great progress on our shared priorities, bringing the whole community together and getting everyone working together and going back to some of the ideas that we dealt with in the last election campaign,” Sutcliffe said. 

Housing

As for housing, Sutcliffe said his goal is to make Ottawa the most housing-friendly city in Canada. And he said it’s working. 

It started with a task force focused on tackling housing challenges, two years into his time in the office, Sutcliffe said. After adopting more than 50 recommendations, he said the city focused on streamlining the process, reducing fees and shortening approval time to build cheaper homes. 

“There’s a lot of factors with regard to housing control, like interest rates and market conditions… supply chain issues, but for the part that we can control, we had to do more, and we did,” Sutcliffe said.

He noted a 35 per cent increase in building starts in the city in 2025, and a deal with Prime Minister Mark Carney in becoming the first city to work with Build Canada Homes. 

BACKGROUND: Will ‘Build Canada Homes’ move the needle in affordable homes? 

Under BCH, Ottawa will build more than 3,000 new homes in Ottawa on federal land, where the majority will be affordable housing. 

Sutcliffe added that city hall is making an application to opt into the feds’ recent announcement on slashing development charges. 

“We want to reduce our development charges by 50 per cent and get as much of that infrastructure money as we can,” he said. 

There is, of course, the question about Lansdowne Park.

“The people of Ottawa own Lansdowne Park, and it was deteriorating,” he said. 

Lansdowne 2.0 is one of the hot button issues that left many residents in ire, but Sutcliffe argues that the project is fundamentally a renewal project. 

Sutcliffe maintains the project will cost taxpayers less than most major city projects because revenues from residential development and other on-site sources will offset a significant portion of the redevelopment costs. 

“We’re paying something like 30 per cent of the cost, because we have offsetting revenue,” he said. “We sold the air rights for two residential towers, and we’re generating revenue on the site, which will go towards covering some of the construction costs over time.” 

READ MORE: Lawson gains ground as Sutcliffe maintains lead in Ottawa mayoral race: poll 

“It just would have cost us more money in the long run,” he said, pointing to 24 Sussex Drive, also known as the official prime minister’s residence, which is looking at $50 million for restoration. 

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Ask Neil Saravanamuttoo what’s wrong with Ottawa, and he won’t start with potholes or transit delays. He’ll start with the city’s books.

The economist-turned-mayoral candidate says after decades of watching the city “move sideways,” Ottawa’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of ideas or money, but a city hall that has lost sight of who it’s working for.

Saravanamuttoo said there’s so much “potential” for the city, and argues that there’s a need to tackle the issues in a pragmatic approach.

For him, that starts with transparency.

His campaign promises “100 days of open books,” an initiative aimed at giving residents a clearer picture of how the city spends its money.

With over a decade of experience at the federal Department of Finance, Saravanamuttoo argues that Ottawans need to better scrutinize the value taxpayers receive for major projects.

He points to examples ranging from $16,000 speed bumps — projects he says cost significantly less in cities such as Toronto and Montreal — as evidence the city isn’t asking enough questions before approving spending.

“If we’re overspending on the small stuff, what are we doing on the big stuff,” Saravanamuttoo said.

He argues the program goes beyond individual projects. Saravanamuttoo believes city hall has become too closely aligned with large construction firms and developers, leading to spending decisions that don’t always serve residents’ interests.

“There’s an overly cozy relationship between City Hall and some of the large construction companies that end up with jobs that cost far more than what we could hope for,” he said.

“We need to open up the books so that we can see exactly how the city is spending our money and what they’re spending it on and people can actually start commenting on it meaningfully,” he said.

Transit

That philosophy also underpins Saravanamuttoo’s transit platform.

Under his “Four Point Transit Recovery Plan,” he points to his ‘Buck a ride,’ which looks to reduce OC Transpo fares from $4.10 to $1.00, while capping monthly transit costs to $40.

Saravanamuttoo said his proposed $1 transit fare would be funded using savings from the province’s planned upload of Ottawa’s LRT to Metrolinx, which he said would reduce the city’s operating costs by about $85 million annually.

Rather than allowing those savings to be absorbed into OC Transpo’s broader budget, he said they should be redirected toward lowering fares.

He frames the proposal as a way to rapidly increase ridership rather than just lowering fares.

He explained the transit fares currently only bring in $200 million dollars, the rest of money ultimately comes from taxpayers.

READ MORE: Lawson gains ground as Sutcliffe maintains lead in Ottawa mayoral race: poll

Housing 

When it comes to housing, Saravanamuttoo applies the same fiscal lens.

He said Ottawa needs to rethink not only how much it builds, but where it builds. He questioned whether the city’s long-term population projections still reflect current realities, pointing to slower immigration, a shrinking federal workforce and declining birth rates.

Instead of planning decades in advance based on outdated assumptions, he said Ottawa should adopt a more flexible approach to growth.

Saravanamuttoo pointed to suburban expansion, arguing new greenfield developments such as Tewin saddle taxpayers with costly infrastructure that must be built, maintained and eventually replaced.

“Just the water pipes to get out there would be $600 million alone… this is coming back to these discretionary decisions that the city has control over,” he said.

“I would argue that the housing that could potentially be created in Tewin could easily be created elsewhere in the city.”

Saravanamuttoo also pointed out that Ottawa has relied too heavily on the assumption that new development pays for itself through development charges. While those fees help finance the initial construction of roads, pipes and other infrastructure, he says they do little to cover the long-term costs of maintaining and eventually replacing those assets.

Rather than continuing to expand the city’s suburban footprint, he argues Ottawa should prioritize building housing in existing neighbourhoods where infrastructure is already in place. To make that work, Saravanamuttoo says communities that accommodate new housing should also share in the benefits of that growth, arguing residents are more likely to accept greater density if they see improvements to their own neighbourhoods.

Asked whether he is prepared for resistance from city staff, Saravanamuttoo said he expects pushback.

“I’m not getting into politics to be a politician,” he said. “This is the only time I’ve ever run for office and it’s because I love the city.”

He said greater public transparency will be key to driving change, arguing residents, councillors, and city staff ultimately share the same goal of spending tax dollars more effectively.

“It’s not going to be easy, and we’re definitely going to ruffle feathers, but we’re going to make it happen.”

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If there’s one thing Jeff Leiper believes sets him apart in Ottawa’s mayoral race, it’s experience.

After 12 years of representing Kitchissippi ward, the chair of the planning and housing committee says he’s ready to move from council chambers to the mayor’s office, and get the city “back on track.”  

“I am frustrated after 12 years of being a city councillor at the direction we’re going, and there’s only so much I can do from the city councillor seat,” Leiper said in an interview with iPolitics. 

“I know how the city works, I know its policies, I know its statutes, I have a wealth of experience to bring.” 

Leiper, who currently polls second, chairs the planning and housing committee and serves as a member of the transit, built heritage and finance and corporate services committee. 

READ MORE: Lawson gains ground as Sutcliffe maintains lead in Ottawa mayoral race: poll 

His campaign comes amid growing dissatisfaction with city hall. A recent Liaison Strategies poll commissioned by iPolitics and Ottawa Compass, found widespread frustration with both Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and the current council. 

Asked how he responds to voters who may be looking for an outsider to shake up city hall, Leiper argued Ottawa has already tried that approach. 

“I know what residents want for their city, and I know how to achieve it,” he said. 

While acknowledging Ottawa’s urban, suburban and rural communities have different priorities, Leiper said his campaign is built around improving the services residents rely on most: the transportation system and the city’s infrastructure.

Transit 

“Sutcliffe has taken us in a direction on public transit that’s less convenient, it’s less reliable,” he said. “As a result, fewer people are taking transit and our roads are more congested.” 

One of Leiper’s pledges is reversing service cuts made under the  “New Ways to Bus” plan, which eliminated roughly 70,000 hours of service while saving the city about $10 million.  

Leiper frames transit reliability as an affordability issue, arguing that when buses are infrequent or unreliable, residents often end up paying more for alternatives such as driving or ride-sharing services. 

He said restoring service cuts would require additional investment, but would ultimately save riders money by making transit a viable option again. 

“Not all bus reliability problems are due to a lack of buses or lack of routes,” he said. “Some of it is just that the buses get caught in traffic and that traffic is getting worse because people are abandoning the bus, so we’re in a vicious circle here.” 

Part of that plan also involves expanding dedicated bus lanes and other transit-priority measures to improve reliability and reduce congestion.  

“A big part of solving congestion is making sure that we have bus service that is reliable so that people want to take it and get more people who can use the bus, onto the bus,” Leiper said. 

But he argues Ottawa’s transit challenges run deeper than recent service cuts. Leiper said one of city hall’s biggest mistakes was purchasing much of its bus fleet in a single batch in 2009, leaving hundreds of vehicles reaching the end of their lifespan at roughly the same time.

Delays in the delivery of replacement electric buses have only compounded the problem, he said.

Housing

Housing is another pillar of Leiper’s campaign.

He argues Ottawa cannot rely solely on market forces to solve the affordability crisis, saying younger residents are struggling to find apartments they can afford, while families are being priced out of homeownership. 

Instead, Leiper wants the city to accelerate the construction of non-profit housing of 1,500 units annually, by leveraging public land to increase supply. 

Leiper also pointed to the massive zoning overhaul that he’s been working on for the last four years on the planning and housing committee, which seeks to expand zoning permission that allows more “missing middle housing.” 

That includes multi-unit housing, long semi-detached housing and triplexes. 

“We’ve created the zoning permissions that will allow for more of it to be built, and as we build more not-for-profit housing, because public dollars are going to be spent on it, then we have more flexibility to try to satisfy some of that missing middle,” he said. 

Transparency

Leiper has also made transparency and accountability a central part of his campaign. 

He has pledged not to accept donations from developers and argues there is a growing perception that city hall operates in the interests of a select group of developers and large businesses rather than residents. 

While he stresses developers are important partners in addressing Ottawa’s housing shortage, he says reducing their role in municipal campaigns is necessary to rebuild public trust. 

The post Jeff Leiper is ready to get the city ‘back on track,’ starting with transit appeared first on CompassNews.

A new poll from Liaison Strategies, commissioned by Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, finds Mayor Mark Sutcliffe still leading the field with 38 per cent support among decided and leaning voters. But David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies, says the broader political environment remains challenging for the mayor as dissatisfaction with city leadership persists. 

Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper sits in second place at 31 per cent, down one point from the last month’s survey. Homebuilder Alex Lawson posted the largest gain in voters with support polling at 21 per cent, a seven per cent increase since the last report. 

Economist and community organizer Neil Saravanamuttoo trails at six per cent. 

The survey polled one thousand Ottawa residents between Jun 13 to 15. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

“People are happy to engage with the city… but they really just don’t trust the council,” Valentin said in an interview with iPolitics. 

Valentin said voters remain frustrated with council’s handling of some of the “big conversation” issues that got Sutcliffe elected in 2022. That includes transit, governance, and major projects such as Lansdowne.

While Sutcliffe continues to perform best in the city’s suburban ring, Valentin said he trails badly in Central Ottawa.

“The mayor is doing well in the ring around the core of the city,” Valentin said. “But, his numbers are beginning to fall in some of these places.”

The poll also highlights issues driving voter concerns. Housing remains the top municipal issue at 26 per cent, followed by transit (18 per cent), traffic (16 per cent), inflation (11 per cent), homelessness (10 per cent) and crime at seven per cent. 

The same goes for Leiper, Valentin added, who is trailing only a few points behind Sutcliffe but also saw a slight decline in support compared to last month. 

Valentin flagged the presence of Neil Saravanamuttoo as a complicating factor for Leiper, noting the two candidates are competing for the same pool of progressive voters. “This is the challenge for Leiper,” he said.

Lawson, who saw the most visible shift, saw growth concentrated in western Ottawa, where Valentin said the candidate is establishing a regional support.  

“I think all of this combined really paints a different geographic portraits we saw last month as well,” Valentin said. 

Undecided voters 

Valentin said the good news from this month’s polling is that undecided voters rate have gone down. 

Currently, 37 per cent of voters remain undecided, down from 41 per cent last month.  

Among undecided mayoral voters, only 32 per cent approve of Sutcliffe, while 65 per cent disapprove. 

The survey also found that 26 per cent say the city is moving in the right direction, while 48 per cent feel the other way. 

“People are making up their minds,” he said. “That is the pattern of behaviour we expect… We’re on track where we’re supposed to be right now.”

While the race is steadily showing signs of becoming a three-way between Sutcliffe, Leiper and Lawson, Valentin said Saranvanamuttoo could follow a similar trajectory as Lawson. 

“We’re sort of seeing Saranvanamuttoo near where Lawson began in April,” he said, noting that Saranvanamuttoo could still lock in a place in the race, but would come at “someone’s expense.” 

“Saravanamuttoo could do it simply by convincing undecided voters… but because the share of decided vote has gone down, all the other candidates will lose vote share proportionally,” he said. 

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Sutcliffe, who hasn’t officially announced his intention to run for a second term, was the top choice of 37 per cent of decided and leaning voters.

The poll, commissioned by the Ottawa Compass and iPolitics, tested Sutcliffe and four other prospective candidates. This includes Coun. Tim Tierney, who has announced his plans to seek re-election in Beacon Hill-Cyrville rather than run for mayor.

Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper finished second to Sutcliffe, drawing the support of 32 per cent of respondents. Homebuilder Alex Lawson followed with 14 per cent, while Tierney drew the backing of 11 per cent of voters.

Economist and community organizer Neil Saravanmuttoo rounded out the field at five per cent.

Around 1,000 Ottawa residents were randomly surveyed between May 8 to 10 using random digit dialling across landline and cellphone networks. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.09 percentage points.

“Tierney’s entry does not knock Sutcliffe out of first place, and it does not push Leiper out of second,” David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies said in a statement. “What it does do is add another double-digit candidate to the decided-and-leaning ballot, which makes the challenger field more crowded.”

Tierney’s prospective candidacy appeared to have the strongest impact in East Ottawa, where he polled at 27 per cent among decided-and-leaning voters, compared to 33 per cent for Sutcliffe and 24 percent for Leiper.

Among all voters, 34 per cent remained undecided when Tierney was included on the ballot, compared to 41 per cent without him.

Sutcliffe, Leiper and Lwason post identical support levels in both scenarios, suggesting that Tierney’s presence primarily pulls from undecided voters.

“For Sutcliffe, the race is still manageable but not comfortable. He leads both decided-and-leaning ballot tests, but his approval is underwater and down from April,” Valentin said, noting Sutcliffe’s job approval stands at 41 per cent, down four points from last month.

“Voters can prefer the incumbent and still be unhappy with the way the city is going,” he said.

The poll found housing affordability leads as the issue agenda, followed by transit, inflation, homelessness, crime and other.

“Only one in four residents think Ottawa is moving in the right direction, that creates room for challengers, but the ballot shows that no single challenger has consolidated that dissatisfaction yet,” Valentin said.

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