Ottawa residents trying to decide who to vote for in the upcoming mayoral race are getting a much clearer picture of where the leading candidates stand on property taxes, and the differences between them are significant.
Sutcliffe's 2.5 per cent promise, again
Incumbent Mark Sutcliffe has promised to keep property tax increases to no more than 2.5 per cent for the first two years of the next term. It's the same promise he made back in 2022, when it seemed somewhat optimistic to some observers. This time around, the pledge carries more credibility because Sutcliffe says he kept his promise during his first term in office.
Leiper won't commit to a ceiling, but rules out double-digit hikes
Candidate Jeff Leiper has taken a more cautious approach than Sutcliffe when it comes to naming a specific number. Leiper has said he can assure residents that he's not looking at tax increases of seven, eight or nine per cent, but he has stopped short of committing to a firm ceiling the way Sutcliffe has.
Saravanamuttoo says don't trust the firm numbers
Candidate Neil Saravanamuttoo has criticized the whole approach of making firm tax commitments during a campaign. His view is blunt: anyone who comes forward and says exactly what the tax increase will be shouldn't be believed. It's a direct shot at Sutcliffe's 2.5 per cent pledge, and it reframes the debate away from whose number is lowest and toward whether any number offered on the campaign trail can be trusted once a candidate is actually sitting at the council table with a real budget in front of them.
Lawson has stayed quiet on taxes so far
The fourth major candidate in the race, businessman Alex Lawson, has not yet released a tax plan. That leaves voters without a fourth data point to compare against Sutcliffe's fixed target, Leiper's levy-plus-flexibility approach, and Saravanamuttoo's skepticism of firm promises altogether.
What it means for Ottawa taxpayers
For Ottawa homeowners, the split boils down to a real choice: a candidate promising a specific, capped number backed by a claimed track record, a candidate who won't cap the number but is pushing a dedicated levy for infrastructure repair, and candidates who argue that specificity itself is the problem. With the city facing a $3.8 billion infrastructure gap, whoever wins will have to balance keeping bills predictable against paying for the repairs Ottawa's roads and pipes actually need. How each candidate answers that trade-off in the weeks ahead is likely to become one of the defining issues of the race.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen (via Yahoo News Canada)
