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.
Mani Sharma is running for councillor in Stittsville Ward. Here are the answers, exactly as they arrived.
Why are you running?
I am running because Stittsville has grown faster than its infrastructure, and families are paying the price in daily gridlock, overcrowded schools, and services that do not keep up. After four years of listening door to door, reaching over 26,000 households across Round 1 and Round 2 of canvassing, I know exactly where the system is failing. I am running to bring that lived experience and a practical, no excuses approach to City Hall. Fix the roads, connect the transit, and rebuild trust with residents who deserve a councillor who shows up and delivers.
What is the single biggest issue facing the people you want to represent, and what would you do about it?
The single biggest issue is traffic and infrastructure that has not kept pace with growth. Narrow arterials, uncoordinated signals, and the Carp Road, terrifox bottleneck at Highway 417 are costing families hours every week. My plan is to widen key arterial roads including Robert Grant Avenue extending to Palladium Drive, Push province and federal authorities to open the Robert Grant Ave to 417 on and off ramps to relieve chokepoints, modernize signal coordination across major corridors, and fight for better safer roads. This is not about more studies. It is about building the infrastructure Stittsville needs now.
Name one specific thing you would work on in your first year in office.
In my first year, I would establish a monthly Ward 6 Town Hall where residents can raise concerns, review progress on reported issues, and hold the City accountable with audited, public updates. This creates a consistent feedback loop between residents and City Hall and ensures that infrastructure priorities, roads, transit, and safety, are tracked and delivered on schedule.
What is something the City gets wrong today that you would change?
The City approves new houses/subdivisions before confirming that schools, roads, water, and transit capacity are in place. That is backwards. I would vote against any development without legally binding commitments on infrastructure first, require real community consultation before approval, not after, and create a public developer accountability tracker so residents can see exactly what was promised and what was delivered.
What should residents know about you that would not appear on a campaign flyer?
Before my career in Ottawa's tech sector, I worked on farms, in hospitals, retirement homes, and on factory floors across Canada. My family has spent over 20 years serving our community seniors, and I am a 2022 VIP Ploughing Match champion and active farmer with agricultural land in Merrickville. That range of experience, tech, agriculture, and senior care, means I understand the real costs of living here because I have paid them myself.
Anything else you would like voters to know?
This campaign is built on listening and accountability. I personally read every submission from residents and respond within 24 hours. I am committed to 360 degree planning, design, development, construction, and maintenance, so we build it right the first time and protect our investment for the long term. Stittsville deserves a councillor who will fight for infrastructure first, smarter growth, and stronger community services. Thank you again for including me in this interview.
Who else is running in Stittsville
Stittsville is Ward 6: A suburban ward centred on Stittsville, plus a small slice of former Kanata around the Canadian Tire Centre, and the Blackstone subdivision. Open seat, the incumbent is not running again. 9 people are on the ballot here. Alongside Mani Sharma: Marie-Ange Yindaki Ahinful, Tanya Hein, Kevin Hua, Paul Meek, Sheetal Narwal, Devin Michael Fitzgerald O’Brien, Theresa Qadri and Chelsea Walton.
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 Mani Sharma'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.
Mani Sharma's ottown page: https://www.ottown.ca/elections/stittsville/mani-sharma
