Ottawa votes on Monday, October 26, 2026, and we wanted to hear from the people on the ballot in their own words. So we sent the same six questions to every certified candidate in the city, with one promise: we publish what you send back, unedited.
Bob Bell is running for councillor in Orléans East-Cumberland Ward. Here are the answers, exactly as they arrived.
Why are you running?
I'm running to bring a new voice and some transparency to city hall. Too much of our city's work is done behind closed doors, and we need to bring it into the open. That starts at the council table in setting better rules for councillors and rules to hold staff more accountable.
What is the single biggest issue facing the people you want to represent, and what would you do about it?
The biggest issue facing our ward right now is congestion slowing down our commutes. We need to approach the problem from a multi-modal perspective, and make smart investments to help people move around more effectively. That means adding capacity to the 174, growing our bus fleet so we can provide adequate service, and investing in our active transportation network. Every person we can help move without jumping in their car, is one less car in traffic slowing you down.
Name one specific thing you would work on in your first year in office.
Implementing a searchable council vote tracker. It should be easy to find what matters are coming before council and how each councillor votes on those issues. It's not right now, but it can be if we just take a step in the right direction and implement an easy to use tracker.
What is something the City gets wrong today that you would change?
We focus too much on sprawl and growth, and not enough on taking care of what we already have. We need to have a great emphasis at city hall on renewing our existing infrastructure and making sure we don't have the existing collapse under the weight of unsustainable sprawl.
What should residents know about you that would not appear on a campaign flyer?
I'm a diehard Ottawa Senators fan. It's a fandom that's built on more than a little bit of hope and a belief that the past doesn't define who we can be. We can build something great here in Ottawa, if we just have courage to do it. It won't be perfect, and it's not going to be a straight path from here to the Cup, but that doesn't mean we stop hoping or working towards something better.
Anything else you would like voters to know?
The status quo is not working in Ottawa. We see it everywhere and we need a change. We need to get back to a government that centres residents' real experiences and works for us.
Who else is running in Orléans East-Cumberland
Orléans East-Cumberland is Ward 1: Eastern Ottawa, covering Queenswood Heights, Queenswood Village, Fallingbrook, Cardinal Creek Village, Bella Vista and Cumberland Village, bounded by Innes Road to the south. 7 people are on the ballot here. Alongside Bob Bell: Matthew Luloff (incumbent), Yvette Ashiri, Mazhar Choudhry, Barbara Daniela Gandolfo, Sherif Rizk and Tammie Trellert.
They have all had the same six questions. We publish each set of answers as it comes in.
When you can vote
Ottawa votes on Monday, October 26, 2026, with advance voting before then. The City's certified candidate list is the authority on who is on your ballot.
About this piece
These are Bob Bell's own words, published as sent. We have not fact-checked the claims in them, and running them is not an endorsement. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.
Bob Bell's ottown page: https://www.ottown.ca/elections/orleans-east-cumberland/bob-bell
