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Mayoral candidates Alex Lawson, Mark Sutcliffe, Jeff Leiper and Neil Saravanamuttoo faced off Thursday at a debate hosted by the Ottawa Board of Trade, where deep divisions emerged over their plans for funding the city and the wisdom of capping tax increases.
Among the candidates, only Sutcliffe has pledged to cap property taxes, promising to limit any increase to 2.5 per cent for the first two years if he’s re-elected.
“None of the other candidates will commit,” he said. “They want you to write them a blank cheque and then find out later.”
It’s not the first time candidates have aired their differences on the issue.
Sutcliffe hammered Leiper on the topic during an earlier debate focused on environmental issues, poking fun at his opponent’s tendency to describe his numberless tax policy as “affordable, predictable and reasonable” — a mantra the three-term councillor modified slightly Thursday by swapping “reasonable” for “modest.”
Sutcliffe says voting for a candidate who hasn’t made a specific tax promise is like writing them ‘a blank cheque.’ (Michel Aspirot/CBC)’I don’t want to pay more tax’
“I don’t want to pay more tax,” Leiper said to open Thursday’s debate. “No one in this room does.”
He went on to target Sutcliffe’s recently announced infrastructure plan, which appears to rely heavily on fresh financial commitments from higher levels of government, as well as debt.
Leiper is proposing a one per cent levy to help close the city’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure gap.
“He has proposed millions of dollars in spending,” Leiper accused as Sutcliffe repeated, “Just like I did last time.”
Leiper argued Sutcliffe is promising things he can’t deliver and putting an overly favourable shine on his record, despite residents “getting worse service from city hall.”
Leiper said the city’s transit system is hurting because of underspending, adding that Sutcliffe’s plan to improve service relies on “fake money” from the provincial government that’s not yet guaranteed.
“It’s not fake money. The provincial government signed an agreement with us to upload the LRT,” Sutcliffe responded, alluding to a memorandum of understanding between the city and the province.
“They agreed to talk with us about it,” Leiper interjected.
Leiper, left, and Saravanamuttoo, right, both say the budget-setting process at city hall should allow for more meaningful input from residents. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)Why can’t we decrease taxes?
Saravanamuttoo, an economist and former federal public servant, chimed in to say he’s hearing anxiety about tax hikes from residents.
“When I go around the city and I talk to voters, they ask me why can we not decrease property taxes? And I say that’s a completely fair question,” he said.
But he explained he can’t make any promises on taxes before closely examining the city’s finances.
“It’s impossible to give an arbitrary number in advance,” he said. “It’s just a number that’s pulled out of the air, quite frankly.”
In response, Sutcliffe directed Saravanamuttoo to the city’s website for budget information.
Lawson, left, directs a statement to Sutcliffe, right, during Thursday’s debate. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)
Lawson, a homebuilder with more right-leaning policies, also cast doubt on Sutcliffe’s tax promise. He questioned why the incumbent is promising to raise taxes despite predicting that he will find $250 million in budgetary efficiencies, or what Lawson called “fluff.”
Lawson was the sole challenger to say he will offer his own tax pledge — but not now.
“We haven’t released a position on it yet because we’re not done doing the numbers,” he said, turning to Sutcliffe. “I’m not going to release policy based on your schedule. We’ll release it when we release it.”
Lawson said he doesn’t expect people to vote for him before providing a tax promise, adding that those casting ballots in advance polls are doing so because they’re ready for change.
Sutcliffe’s commitment to keep property tax increases to two to 2.5 per cent hearkens back to his 2022 campaign. He kept that promise for the first two years of his mandate.
In 2025, the property tax hike was 3.9 per cent. Council raised taxes by 3.75 per cent for 2026.
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