Theresa Wallace is used to getting email updates from the City of Ottawa.
That includes periodic emails from mark@marksutcliffe.ca. Until recently, that email address sent out a #TeamOttawa Newsletter with updates about mayor’s office business.
But she noticed a change last month. An email landed in her inbox with similar graphics and colours, but this time from mark@marksutcliffe2026.ca.
It touted a campaign pledge on transit, announced the opening of a campaign office and asked for help with door-knocking for Sutcliffe’s re-election bid.
In short, it was a campaign email, and Wallace wondered why on earth she was getting it.
“I thought, wait a minute, I never signed up. And at the bottom it said, ‘You’re getting these emails because you’ve subscribed to the Mark Sutcliffe campaign.’ But I never had,” she said.
“I have not signed up. I didn’t ask for a sign. I haven’t donated. So I’m mystified as to why I’m on that mailing list.”
She isn’t the only one wondering what’s going on. Finn Long said he started getting Mark Sutcliffe campaign emails at the same time as Wallace. In August, he also received that campaign transit announcement.
“I’m certain that I did not sign up to get on a campaign mailing list,” Long said.
So why did he and Wallace end up getting those emails? Wallace wonders whether there’s any link between her city email subscription and the unwanted campaign communications.
The Sutcliffe campaign responded with an adamant no.
“There has been no transfer of emails or contact information from the Mayor’s Office to the campaign,” said an emailed statement from Sutcliffe’s co-campaign manager, Brett Byers.
“No one is receiving campaign emails as a result of having signed up for communications from the Mayor’s Office.”
What the rules say
After all, that would be a violation of the city’s election rules, which lay out in detail how politicians must never use city resources for campaigning, and that they must clearly separate their political activities from their official roles on city council.
For instance, campaigns cannot use constituent phone numbers, email addresses or mailing addresses that were collected by a council member’s office staff, on city computers or Wi-Fi, or in municipal facilities.
A council member is allowed to convert a website that has been paid for and developed using city resources to a campaign website, but they must pay for it and remove any links or reference to their work as an elected official.
Mayoral campaigns are granted access to a voter list with names and addresses of eligible voters, though the list doesn’t include email addresses.
Byers said Sutcliffe’s campaign list comes from multiple sources, including a list from his 2022 mayoral run as well as emails that have been added through “various campaign activities, including events, canvassing, online sign-ups, and more.”
He said the campaign hasn’t received any contact information from a political party or riding association, and hasn’t drawn from emails submitted as part of Sutcliffe’s Fairness for Ottawa campaign. Byers added that sometimes people may be added in error or may not recall signing up.
Wallace isn’t satisfied and said none of those explanations make sense. She said she didn’t sign up as part of Sutcliffe’s 2022 campaign, and she’s sure she hasn’t forgotten.
“I think it’s a mystery that should be investigated further,” she said.
Long said he’s skeptical about the Sutcliffe campaign explanation too.
“I’ve racked my brain for how and when and why I might have given them my email, but I can’t think of anything,” he said.
To help resolve the mystery, the Sutcliffe campaign checked its database, with Long’s permission, to see how his email ended up there.
They say it was added this May, which would be consistent with when they were importing and updating entries from the 2022 list.
“Our campaign makes every effort to ensure that emails are only sent to people who wish to receive communication from the campaign, but when errors do occur, we ensure that emails preferences can be adjusted at any time,” Byers said.
Long still isn’t satisfied.
“Given that I never signed up or received emails from the 2022 campaign, it begs the question what kind of ‘error’ during import could result in this,” Long said in response.
How did rivals build their lists?
CBC asked the three other leading campaigns how they built their email lists.
As a sitting city councillor, Jeff Leiper also has a constituency mailing list, but his campaign team is equally adamant that they haven’t drawn a single email from it for his mayoral run.
“It is important to be very clear that Jeff has never used his City Councillor newsletter or constituent lists for campaign purposes,” said a statement from Heather Badenoch, a spokesperson for Leiper’s campaign.
“Those lists are maintained separately from his political campaign activity and have never been provided to any of his campaign teams, including this one.”
Badenoch said Leiper’s campaign list is built from people who have supported his previous campaigns from city council as well as “a list shared with us from Catherine McKenney’s 2022 mayoral campaign.”
Alex Lawson’s campaign manager, Emrys Graefe, said that email list is “100 per cent” online signups, though he said the Lawson campaign did purchase a list of phone numbers from a vendor.
The campaign sent out a text blast in May inviting people to a rally, prompting complaints on social media about unsolicited messages.
Neil Saravanamuttoo said all the emails used by his campaign are “legitimate signups,” including from his Substack newsletter.
Even before Saravanamuttoo hinted at a mayoral campaign, Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante went after him during a debate on the Lansdowne 2.0 project, asking if he would be recycling emails from his advocacy during the coming election campaign.
CBC asked him if he has in fact used those emails.
“We’re using a campaign-specific list of people who have opted in to receiving messages,” he said. “I have other email lists built in recent years but these have not been used for campaign communications.”