Sutcliffe pledges to keep tax increases low if re-elected mayor of Ottawa

Mark Sutcliffe officially filed nomination papers Monday to seek re-election as Mayor of Ottawa. He sat down with CTV’s Patricia Boal to explain his priorities.

Mark Sutcliffe says he will pledge to keep tax increases low in the next term of council if he is re-elected as mayor this fall.

Sutcliffe officially entered the race for mayor of Ottawa Monday as he seeks a second term at Ottawa City Hall.

Speaking to CTV News Ottawa’s Patricia Boal, Sutcliffe said Ottawa has seen tax increases well below other major cities in Canada.

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“Look at Toronto and Vancouver, 22 per cent over the four years. Vancouver, 25 per cent over the four years. In Ottawa, we’ve kept our tax increases to an average of three per cent for the four years, the lowest, the absolute lowest of any major city in the country,” he said.

“I’m going to make a commitment in this campaign to keep tax increases as low as possible in the same range as what I promised four years ago, the promise that I kept.”

The longtime broadcaster and entrepreneur was first elected mayor in October 2022. Sutcliffe was joined by his wife Ginny and family at the city’s Election Office to register for re-election Monday morning.

When he ran for mayor in 2022, Sutcliffe promised to keep property tax increases caped at 2.5 per cent per year for the first two years of his term. The 2025 budget included a 3.9 per cent increase to property taxes, while the 2026 budget came with a 3.75 per cent hike.

Sutcliffe will be the fourth candidate to register to run for mayor.

Current Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, community organizer and economist Neil Saravanamuttoo and Alex Lawson, who owns a home construction company, all entered the race on May 1.

Leiper welcomed Sutcliffe to the campaign.

“This campaign is about aiming higher. Making life more affordable with transit that works, housing you can afford and making Ottawa a city you can be proud of,” Leiper said on social media.

“Let’s make this a forward-looking, positive campaign.”

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Candidates for mayor and councillor can officially begin their campaign once they have filed nomination forms with the City Clerk.

“Candidates may accept contributions of goods, services or money and incur expenses during their campaign period only,” City Clerk Caitlin Salter-MacDonald told CTV News Ottawa in January.

Questions raised about newspaper ads

Two of Sutcliffe’s opponents welcomed him to the race on Monday while raising questions about advertisements in local newspapers.

“I’m very happy that Mayor Sutcliffe has decided to officially enter the race today. I have I have been concerned that he’s been campaigning using taxpayer funds over the last number of weeks. There were ads on social media, there were ads in community papers that looked an awful lot like political campaign ads,” Saravanamuttoo said Monday, when asked about Sutcliffe’s entry while at a campaign event.

“I’m glad to see the mayor has reversed his decision to campaign on taxpayers time and has instead decided the real campaign starts now,” said Lawson said in a statement provided to CTV News Ottawa.

• RELATED: Experts raise questions about Sutcliffe’s community newspaper ads

On Monday, local advocacy group Horizon Ottawa announced it was submitting a complaint to the integrity commissioner over Sutcliffe’s advertisements in community newspapers since the May 1 opening of the nomination period.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Sutcliffe said his ads followed the rules.

“We checked with the clerk’s office, made sure the ads were compliant. She’s confirmed they’re compliant,” he said.

Sutcliffe added it’s normal to see elected officials advertise.

“All elected officials advertise in community newspapers. Open up any of the community newspapers where you see my ads, and you’ll see ads for your local city councillor, for your member of Parliament, your member of provincial parliament. This is normal stuff,” he said.

The municipal election will be held on Monday, Oct. 26.

Ottawa will host four days of special advance voting days from Oct. 1 to 4, and an advance voting day on Oct. 16.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Leah Larocque