Fourteen candidates have registered to run for mayor of Ottawa in the 2026 municipal election, but a majority of those candidates have names and faces many voters may not be familiar with. Exclusive polling conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News Ottawa identified Mark Sutcliffe, Jeff Leiper, Neil Saravanamuttoo, and Alex Lawson as the four leading candidates in Ottawa’s mayoral race. Nanos Research surveyed 762 randomly selected Ottawa residents between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8. One per cent of decided respondents said they would vote for another candidate for Ottawa’s mayor. CTV News Ottawa contacted the other ten candidates to ask why they want to be Ottawa’s next mayor, what their platform is and why voters should consider them. Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi is the only woman registered among the 14 candidates for Ottawa mayor. She says voters are looking for a different voice at city hall. “I haven’t seen a woman mayor, and I have beautiful ideas from the experience that I have as a federal public servant that I can really apply at the municipal level.” Bakshi says she is running on a platform of connecting people and being a voice for the voiceless, with her biggest priority being downtown safety. “Safety, right now, that’s a really big issue. And that could be tied to homelessness or other things. But I would like to see the streets clean as best as possible.” “Some of these people get money and they don’t use it for good. There has to be something right now, through some form of policy or intervention with the non-profits to change this. Because the biggest concern I’m getting from the students and also where I’m living, is ‘I’m not safe’.” Zed Chebib Zed Chebib is looking to bring a top-down overhaul of city hall, calling for an open audit of Ottawa’s finances. “With me, what you see is what you’re going to get. Honesty is the best policy. I don’t hide nothing. I want to make sure all the scams will be stopped once and forever. No more colluding.” Chebib is also interested in new management of the Ottawa Police Service and OC Transpo. “I want to fire that management, because they’re the one that dug us in the hole,” Chebib said, referencing the ongoing setbacks and struggles of the city’s transit service. Bernard Couchman Bernard Couchman declined CTV News Ottawa’s request for an interview. Suraj Harish Suraj Harish says after seeing the state of Ottawa’s infrastructure, notably potholes and crumbling asphalt on Ottawa’s roads, he decided to submit his name for mayor. “There are potholes and broken asphalt around the manholes and catch basins. I called my councillor, and I didn’t get a good response from him. And then I talked to somebody else, no response. Then I thought, okay, I know how the system works in City of Ottawa, I will put my name in this time because the election is coming very close.” Harish also has flooding infrastructure top of mind and says he can use his experience as an engineer for the City of Ottawa to help upgrade the city. “I don’t want to repeat the same event this July. So, I said this is the best time to go because I have a little bit of knowledge I gained working for the city for 35 years.” Geoff Nicholas Mayoral candidate Geoff Nicholas is facing charges by Kingston Police in connection to alleged threats made against Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Josh Rachlis Josh Rachlis did not respond to CTV News Ottawa’s request for an interview. Ali Shayvard Ali Shayvard’s top priority if he is elected as mayor of Ottawa is public transit and fixing the plagued OC Transpo system. Shayvard says he brings 12 years of experience in public transit to address this issue. “We have a transit problem in our city. We have to look at our city of what this issue is. Every city has a different issue. Our city has been transit for the last 20 years. So, we need somebody who is an expert in transit, but they don’t want to just stop at transit. We want somebody who wants to fix everything.” Shayvard is also basing his platform on transparency and finding savings for Ottawa’s residents. “You need to make sure you’re not owned by any third parties and that you’re actually there to work for the people. So, my promise to people is that when I’m there, I will actually answer all my emails. I will actually make sure that I’m there to work for the people. I have no problem saying, for example, Free Palestine, and I have no problem when I get elected,” he said Shayvard says he takes inspiration from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “I do want to open up the books because they keep telling us there’s no money. They told Mamdani the exact same thing, and he opened up the books, and he found all the money. Now, I do have plans on what to do in case there is no money. What I can guarantee as somebody who’s done the numbers, the money is there,” he said. Jacob Solomon Jacob Solomon did not respond to CTV News Ottawa’s request for an interview. Amjed Syed Amjed Syed is running to make life more affordable for Ottawa’s residents. Syed says he brings 35 years of experience working in the grocery industry and wants to bring food prices down. “I can bring the prices down for groceries. Not because I just want to, but because I have 35 years of experience in this business. People are suffering financially. I would like to bring that financial freedom to Ottawa.” Syed’s platform also includes creating more affordable housing and improving transit in Ottawa. To increase the city’s coffers, Syed also has plans for Ottawa to create its own insurance plans for residents. “Based on my experience, and I am 200 per cent confident I can save $500 million per year (from this plan). I don’t have to look for federal funding. I don’t have to depend on provincial funding.” Peter Westaway Peter Westaway’s focus in his pursuit of Ottawa’s top seat is realigning the Greenbelt surrounding the nation’s capital. “I am running specifically, mostly to promote my obsession with our Ottawa Greenbelt.” He says the current Greenbelt surrounding Ottawa is too small to contain current growth. Westaway is also an advocate for revamping the Ottawa Police Service and cutting the city budget to find savings. “I don’t like our cops, I hate the Lansdowne deal, and our waste management is terrible. But specifically, I’m here mostly because of the Ottawa Greenbelt. It’s just a terrible Greenbelt.”
