Meet the candidates running in Ottawa Centre

Good morning!

It might feel like early signs of spring today as temperatures go above zero again. While most weather models are predicting a high of 3 C, some say it could be even closer to 5 C. After all of the snow we had in the last couple of weeks, I will take it! But if you are a lover of winter have no fear: The cold is coming back at the end of the week.

There are now just a few days to go before the Ontario election. Today we are introducing you to the candidates running in Ottawa Centre, a riding which will have new representation come Feb. 27.

On Sunday Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles was in Ottawa. The Lookout was there to find out what her priorities were for the Capital.

I want to take a second to thank the few hundred Lookout readers who have emailed me within the last few weeks. Given the craziness of the election plus the circumstances in my life, apologies for the delayed response in replying. I promise I am reading them and will respond as soon as I can. We always appreciate hearing your thoughts and concerns.

Let’s get to it!

— Charlie Senack, managing editor

[email protected] 

X: @Charlie_Senack

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WEATHER

Monday: 3 🌡️ 0 | ❄️ 

Tuesday: 3 🌡️ -1 | ☁️ 

Wednesday: 0 🌡️ -7 | 🌤️

NUMBERS

🪧 9: The number of months that almost 60 workers at Best Theratronics in Kanata were on strike. It’s now over as workers voted in favour of the latest contract offer. Workers had been without a contract since 2023. [CBC]

👮 168: The number of charges against tow truck drivers for not obeying the rules, including breaking consent to tow laws, insecure loads, defective breaks, and many others, since the beginning of January. [CityNews]

PROVINCIAL ELECTION

Meet the candidates running in Ottawa Centre

An orange wave: Change is coming to the riding of Ottawa Centre when voters head to the polls on Feb. 27, though the local party in power will probably stay the same. Two-term NDP MPP Joel Harden is leaving Queen’s Park as he runs for the same spot federally later this year. 

So many to choose: Early polls show NDP candidate Catherine McKenney with a large lead over Liberal candidate Thomas Simpson. The riding has never been won by the Progressive Conservatives, and that’s highly unlikely to change this year, but Scott Healey is representing that party on the ballot. The Greens are running Simon Beckett. 

It will be a crowded race with seven names on the ballot. Shannon Boschy is running for the Ontario Party; Maria deSouza for the New Blues; and Cashton Perry with the Communists. 

The Ottawa Lookout sat down with the three main party candidates. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

Catherine McKenney - NDP 

Background: McKenney is no stranger to politics. They were formerly the city councillor in Somerset Ward for eight years and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022. The following year, McKenney co-founded CitySHAPES non-profit organization to address “climate change, active transportation, transit, affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness.”

Transit: ”I am very skeptical of the plan that Doug Ford came to Ottawa and announced by taking our LRT and uploading it to Metrolinx. We have Toronto city councillors warning us not to do so. The Liberals have got some similar plan, but that is taking the responsibility and the accountability away from council. It's putting it in the hands of another private consortium. 

The NDP is promising a 50 per cent transit operating fund. For Ottawa that would mean about $350 million a year. We can then reverse cuts, we can hire more drivers, and put more buses on the road. Ottawa, currently this year is optimizing cutting some 37,000 service hours out of their transit. It is getting less and less reliable and fewer people are taking it. We have to reverse that. Ongoing operations funding will do that.“

Housing and affordability: “We need to put in place immediate and real rent control and vacancy control, so that, if you move out of your unit, the next person coming in is the same as you did. You also have certainty that your landlord's not gonna be able to continually raise your rent.

We would build 300,000 permanently affordable housing units so that we can house people in a way that they have dignity and be able to afford their rent. It would be publicly owned. We will also build 60,000 supportive housing units. We need supportive housing units so that we can pull people out of homelessness, we can pull people out of shelters, and we can house them.“

Education: “There's a lot of talk of building a new French school at LeBreton Flats. Louise Arbour, the one that exists today, is falling apart. It's becoming almost unsafe, and it's certainly not a place where kids can learn well. We would invest in a new French public school and a new French Catholic school. But also, we would address the backlog that's been left by the last two governments. The Liberals left a $17 billion repair backlog. It's gone up to $22 billion under this government. 

The NDP would invest $830 million each year over the next 10 years. We would also invest in more teachers, more EAs, more early childhood educators, more adults in the school so that you have smaller class sizes.”

Safe consumption sites: “I was actually on the Ottawa Public Board of Health when we made the decision to approve the sites. The locations were based on evidence and since then the crisis has only gotten worse. 

When it's removed, not only are you taking a health lifeline away from people who need it, desperately, but we also have a paramedic shortage, and when people are overdosing, not in a place where they have experts who are able to reverse that, they're doing it out on the street. Paramedics will be responding to that. They would be taking people to emergency rooms, again, extending your wait in an emergency room.“

Favourite restaurant and hangout spot: ”I hate picking favourites! I go to a lot of places. But the one I probably go to the most is Union 613. They have amazing staff, an amazing owner who pays his employees well, and has amazing food. My favourite place to relax is at home with my wife and my 17-year-old.“

Thomas Simpson - Liberal 

Background: Simpson previously worked as a policy officer at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and, more recently, held various roles at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). He currently serves as the organization's vice president. 

Transit: ”I think the fact is our city is in a very difficult spot financially when it comes to our public transit. We are committed to uploading the LRT to the province. When we look comparatively across the province, the GTA gets five times more funding than we do here in Ottawa. 

By uploading the LRT, not only are we taking hundreds of millions of dollars off the deficit the city currently is trying to figure out, but we ensure that we get our fair share of provincial funding. We've also committed to expanding Phase 3 of LRT so that our LRT system actually connects the city.”

Safety: “We need a balanced approach. We need to ensure that our most vulnerable, those people who are fortunately living on the streets with mental health and addiction problems, get the support they need. When we're talking about humans, it's not black and white. It is very nuanced. I think what we need to do is ensure that we have the appropriate supports for those folks who are living on our streets so that they can get the care that they need, whether that is counselling, recovery, or helping find them homes.”

Affordability and housing: ”I think we're in a very interesting time where life is just more expensive and people need help. I think that means ensuring that we're making choices to help people rather than just giving a one-time $200 gimmick. That means we're cutting taxes, whether that is for middle-income earners with their income tax, or removing HST from home heating and hydro, that's roughly $1,500 a year. 

At the same time, we need to make sure that we're helping our most vulnerable. That means doubling ODSP rates. On average $1,000 a month for rent, groceries, bills and everything else, is not enough. 

In terms of affordable housing, one of the things that I've been pushing locally is a housing acquisition fund, a pot of money for co-ops, non-profits and Indigenous-led organizations who can use that money to go and buy housing that's already on the street.”

Healthcare: “The amount of people who don't have a family doctor or who are worried that their doctor is going to retire imminently is astounding. We need to make sure that we can not only bring a physician back into family medicine, but retain a whole bunch of new family doctors, whether that's opening medical schools, expanding residency and ensuring that foreign-trained professionals as well can get into our system responsibly. 

We are investing $3.2 billion. It's an ambitious plan over four years, but it's a practical one. I think part of this is ensuring that we are paying nurses and social workers the money that they deserve, and investing in community health teams will see a reduction of burden on our hospitals in our ER rooms. It's not okay that people are waiting 12-plus hours at the Civic. It's not okay that families are waiting 17-plus hours to see a physician at CHEO.“

Favourite place to eat and hangout spot: ”It changes because there are so many great places to eat. My team and I have been doing a sandwich tour of Ottawa Centre right now. Parma Ravioli has fantastic sandwiches. Its chicken parmi is fabulous. To unwind after a long day, honestly I'm just very happy to go home to my husband to curl up and just try and watch something.“

Scott Healey - Progressive Conservative 

Background: Born in Kingston and raised in Mississauga, Healey attended York University in the early 1980s where he received a BA in history. After graduating he first worked in the insurance brokerage business, becoming a partner in his own firm. In parallel, Healey joined the naval reserve in 1981 and has been on part-time and full-service ever since.

Safety: “Let's just enforce the laws. As an elected MPP for Ottawa Centre, I would ensure that the City of Ottawa was given additional funds for both policing and for social services to help those who are truly in need on the street, but at the same time, there is that silent majority. The majority of people who don't feel safe want a better community and they are being neglected by the current politicians being represented in the area.“

Safe consumption sites: ”I think safe injection sites have continuously proven they don’t work based on the data. Look at British Columbia where several politicians have come out firmly against it. We do not believe that giving out drugs is the best way to deal with situations. 

I think that we need to take new approaches, but the approaches that are continually being tried downtown year after year are not getting results. You can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. We all know what Einstein said; That's insanity. I don't think anyone has all the answers, but we need to take a different look at things and I believe that I would be that person to do that.“

Healthcare: ”I think there are a couple of thrusts that the government has embarked on. We are spending money but it's never gonna be enough money, but we have invested in infrastructure, we've invested in new schools to get doctors certified, we're helping pay to get doctors educated. We're helping to pay to get nurses educated. We've opened up the pharmacies to provide more services. We are giving money to local community organizations so that they can do more and take the workload off of hospital waiting rooms.“

Transit: ”I think uploading the city’s LRT system to the province is a fair deal for Ottawa. It's uploading billions of dollars and operation and maintenance for the LRT and the transit system.“ 

Housing: “There are two aspects that the government has initiated over the last year. One is the infrastructure fund which they introduced in the budget at $1.6 billion. It was used to build water, and sewer, and provide all the infrastructure to help communities and help developers. The other is the fund to speed up development in communities where if you get to meet certain targets, the community will get more money. 

But we need more affordable housing, that is going to be a bigger issue. But I will say affordable housing will be much more of a challenge if tariffs go into effect, there is no question about that. So we need a government that's going to work to stop those tariffs as best we can, so their impact on Canadian families, Ontario communities, is very limited.”

Exclusive election coverage

• Here’s why the Ontario Liberals are spending a lot of time in Ottawa

• Meet the candidates in Ottawa South

• What candidates in Nepean want for Ottawa

• Why Kanata-Carleton will be close on election night

• Doug Ford commits to uploading Ottawa LRT system to province

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OTTAWA JOBS

Discover your dream job in Ottawa:

• Manager, marketing creative at Ottawa Tourism

• Team lead, scheduling at the City of Ottawa

• Associate director, talent strategy at Canadian Blood Services

• HR advisor and senior HR advisor at CSIS

• Director, international studies at Bank of Canada

Local jobs are selected by the Lookout team and are not paid ads, unless specifically noted.

PROVINCIAL ELECTION

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles campaigns for a second time in Ottawa

Looking for support: With just days to go before the provincial election, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles’ campaign bus rolled up to the Aberdeen Pavillion at Lansdowne Park to meet with voters and talk about priorities for the Capital. 

Currently two seats in Ottawa are served by the NDP, and it’s unlikely they can pick up more. In fact, there is concern Chandra Pasma’s seat in Ottawa-West Nepean could be at risk. Some early poll predictions and seat projectins show a neck-and-neck race between her and PC candidate Husein Abu-Rayash, who is a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces. 

Tough times: The quick press event began with Pasma discussing how Ontario Premier Doug Ford has failed the residents of Ottawa. 

• “After seven years of Doug Ford, their life is not better. I've spoken to families who are spending so much on rent that they cannot afford food for their families. Young people who've been saving, but they feel like the dream of home ownership is farther and farther away than ever,” said Pasma. “Seniors who are struggling to pay the cost of groceries, and then seeing their OC Transpo bus pass increase to a point that they are not sure that they can afford it and continue to take the bus.”

The need for better healthcare: In her speech Ontario NDP leader Stiles spoke for only about four minutes, but used it as an opportunity to advocate for the 150,000 Ottawa residents who are without access to a family doctor.  

“At this very moment there are about 45 people being treated in the hallway at the Ottawa Hospital,” she said. 

Stiles also noted the 80,000 people in Ottawa who use the food bank; 45 per cent of them are children.

• “(The Premier)  makes out like it's somebody else's problem, but after seven long years of Doug Ford and the Conservative government, life is tougher for so many people here in Ottawa. Rent has gone up by about 40 per cent in Ottawa. That is just shameful,” she said. 

How an NDP government would be different: “It starts with a universal grocery rebate program that would benefit about four million Ontarians,” said Stiles. She also said that would be paired with a universal school food program. 

Locally, Stiles again committed to a 50/50 operating cost split for OC Transpo, building more affordable housing, and expanding the Queensway Carleton Hospital.  

THE AGENDA

❌ A reminder that the Skateway will be closed on Monday from 8 am until conditions improve. The pause is due to the warmer weather. Concessions, washrooms and other facilities will stay open. [CBC]

🧑‍⚖️ In a tough court loss for the city, the Federal Court of Canada sided with the federal government over the city’s dispute about how much the federal government owes the city as part of the payments in lieu of taxes for national capital properties since different levels of government cannot tax themselves. The court said the government made a “reasonable” decision to pay less. Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was disappointed in the decision, and the city says they’re looking into next steps. [Ottawa Citizen]

🏒 It was a good night for Ottawa Charge, beating Montreal Victoire 3-1 on Saturday. Emily Clark had two goals, and has gotten points in five straight games. The team sits at 5th in the standings, with seven wins, four overtime losses and eight losses. [CBC]

🏒 But sadly the win didn’t carry over to the Senators, with the team losing 5-2 against the struggling Canadians.

EVENTS

Know Your Coffee MBTI: A Guided Coffee Tasting Experience | Sharpfle Waffle, 111 York Street | Feb. 26, 3:00 pm | Tickets $25

ComediHa! Club en tournée | Théâtre du Casino du Lac-Leamy | Feb. 27, 8:00 pm | Learn more

Bougie Birch Dreamcatcher Workshop | Adaawe Business Hub, 338 Somerset Street West & National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin Street | Feb. 27 & Mar. 27, 6:00 pm | Learn more

Lieutenant's Pump - Trivia Fundraiser for Homeless Youth | The Lieutenant's Pump, 361 Elgin Street | Feb. 27, 7:00 pm | Tickets $20

Snowshoes Under the Stars | Gatineau Park | Feb. 28, 7:00 pm | Tickets $25 

Family Paint Party | Broadway Bar and Grill, 1896 Prince of Wales Drive | Mar. 1, 7:00 pm | Tickets $47

Brazilian CARNAVAL 2025 | Club 27, 27 York Street | March 1, 9:00 pm | Tickets $22

Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm Sugarbush | Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm, 2452 Yorks Corners Road | Mar. 1-2 | Tickets $9

The "F" Factor: Fueling Founders | Bayview Yards, 7 Bayview Station Road | March 3, 8:00 am | Free

Ghibli Symphony | Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper Street | March 15, 7:30 pm | Tickets $22

I❤︎BEER & Taco Festival | EY Centre, 4899 Uplands Drive | Feb. 28, 6:00pm & Mar. 1, 12:00pm & 5:00 pm | Tickets $15+

ADOPT A LOCAL ANIMAL

Every so often we’ll feature an animal in Ottawa that needs to be adopted. Meet Bambi, a two-year-old, five-month-old German shepherd mix. Here’s what the foster volunteer has to say about Bambi:

“Bambi is the missing piece of the puzzle to anyone looking for a loving companion with so much happiness to give. She has the spirit of adventure and loves to be involved with any activity you are doing whether that be going for a nice long walk in the snow or lying next to you as you watch your favourite movies. The best part of my day is when I get home and see Bambi full of joy as she bounces around the room with her favourite toy in her mouth ready to play!”

You can fill out an adoption form here, or contact the Ottawa Humane Society at (613) 725-3166 ext: 258, and provide the animal ID number A260339.

OTTAWA QUIZ

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Here’s how an English program is helping Ukrainians who fled integrate into Ottawa and Canada. [Capital Current]

• This YouTuber goes around filming places in 4K. They filmed a beautiful segment on the Rideau Canal and around Ottawa.

• If you haven’t gone, people are raving about House of Targ’s 80s dance parties. [Reddit]

• Who has the best cheesecake in town? Reddit users think Simpli Biscotti in Ottawa and  Le Cheesecake Bar in Gatineau are the winners. [Reddit]

• Want to discover new places to eat in Ottawa? Subscribe to Capital Eats, our newsletter breaking down the best restaurants in the city, with real reviews and no clickbait