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Mark Sutcliffe has officially entered the race to keep his job as mayor of Ottawa, and is pushing back against critics who say he’s been unfairly boosting his profile with city-funded ads.
Sutcliffe, who has held the mayor’s seat since 2022, filed his nomination papers at the city elections office on Cyrville Road around noon Monday.
He said he took the city from “gridlock to real progress” after inheriting a toxic and dysfunctional council grappling with a trucker convoy, a pandemic and a light rail inquiry.
“The work isn’t done,” he told reporters after filing his papers. “Residents are worried about rising costs, about job cuts and about public safety. At a time like this we can’t afford to make a U-turn and go back to the way things were four years ago. We can’t afford risky ideas that will lead to huge tax increases.”
Sutcliffe becomes the fourth candidate to formally enter the race. He had long signalled that he planned to run, but filing his papers allows him to open a campaign bank account to begin raising money and spend it on his bid.
His registration comes as opponents, including challengers Neil Saravanamuttoo and Alex Lawson, have been faulting him for waiting to file.
They say Sutcliffe has been using his status as the incumbent to boost his profile by holding announcements and placing ads paid for out of his taxpayer-funded office budget.
Group says ‘election-related’ ad violates code
Sutcliffe regularly posts advertisements featuring his photo in newspapers like the Kitchissippi Times and the Glebe Report. His office has confirmed to CBC that those adds are funded by the mayor’s office.
A recent ad, which appeared in the May edition of the OSCAR newspaper in Old Ottawa South, said he was “moving Ottawa forward” and “working on your priorities.”
An ad that appeared in the May edition of the OSCAR community newspaper. (The OSCAR)
It then went on to list a series of priorities, from “keeping taxes low” to doubling the budget for roads and sidewalks. The ad also linked to Sutcliffe’s own website.
On Monday, a left-leaning advocacy group filed a formal complaint about the latest ad, calling it “election-related” and alleging Sutcliffe is contravening council’s code of conduct.
The code prohibits council members, including the mayor, from using municipal resources for election-related activity. It does not define election-related activity, but notes that “the prohibition applies to both the promotion and opposition to the candidacy of a person for elected office.”
In a complaint to council’s integrity commissioner, Horizon Ottawa argues that the OSCAR ad bears “a striking resemblance to popular forms of election campaign advertising” and can be interpreted as making promises.
Sam Hersh, a board member with the group, says the ad is different from those Sutliffe has run previously. He said they’re forward-looking and include priorities that could only be implemented should Sutcliffe win election.
He called that unfair to other candidates who have to use limited campaign funds.
“There is some subjectivity here for sure, but to us this clearly looks like it could be a campaign ad,” he said.
Laywer calls it a ‘grey area’
Sutcliffe said his office checked with the city clerk to make sure that ads were compliant, and she confirmed that they were. CBC News has attempted to confirm that with the city clerk but has not yet received a reply.
He noted that community newspapers are full of advertisements from city councillors, MPs and MPPs.
“This is normal stuff,” he said. “Every elected official advertises so that people know what they’ve been up to.”
Sutcliffe added that the 60-day blackout period before the Oct. 26 election has not yet begun. While city resources can never be used on election-related ads that promote or oppose a candidacy, the blackout imposes more stringent rules that ban any ads paid out of constituency budgets.
“This is the registration period. It’s not the election period,” Sutcliffe said. “I continue to be the mayor of Ottawa during this entire period.”
He said he’s maintaining a “clear line” between the campaign and his duties as mayor.
“I’m doing this on my lunch hour,” he said of his registration. “I’m going back to work.”
But Jack Siegel, a lawyer who practises election law, said that clear line can be anything but. He said the question of Sutcliffe’s ad falls into a “grey area.”
He said it would be clearly offside for Sutcliffe to run an ad saying “vote for me,” but he called it “routine” for politicians to trumpet their accomplishments while holding office.
He said it will be up to council’s integrity commissioner to provide a conclusive answer, but in his view, Sutcliffe has a lot of room to defend himself.
“The question here is: is this promoting priorities and accomplishments of the government of the City of Ottawa today or is it promoting his candidacy?” Siegel said. “I could argue either side of that question.”
He said the municipal campaign is different from federal or provincial writ periods, which are much shorter and start with the dissolution of the legislature or Parliament. Sutcliffe, by contrast, is still actively serving as mayor.
“For better or for worse, it’s long been a practice to trumpet your achievements using government funds during your term,” said Siegel. “Your term’s not over.”