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Together with his wife Ginny and three children (Erica Jack and Kate), Mark Sutcliffe announced his candidacy for mayor on Wednesday in a park in Canata. Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia
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Entrepreneur and TV cameraman Mark Sutcliffe has positioned himself as a non-partisan choice for mayor when announcing his candidacy on Wednesday afternoon in Kanata.
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With his wife, Ginny, and their three children standing next to him, Sutcliffe, 53, called for a “fresh look” to restore confidence in public transportation and help people afford to live in the nation’s capital.
“The job I’ve always enjoyed the most is when I team up with other people to try to make our city better. All I ever wanted to do was make a difference in this amazing city that has been so good to me and my family, ”Sutcliffe said, choking as he delivered his prepared notes under a gazebo in Brookshire Park.
Earlier in the day, Sutcliffe submitted his candidacy for the October 24th municipal election, confirming rumors circulating in recent weeks that he was interested in the mayor’s work.
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He is running for mayor with Catherine McKenney, the current Somerset Ward councilor, and Bob Chiarelli, a former mayor and Liberal MP.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the mayoral ballot also included Brandon Bay, Bernard Couchman, Graham MacDonald, Ade Olomid and Param Singh.
Mike Maguire, who last ran for mayor of Ottawa in 2014 and won about 18 percent of the vote, also registered on Wednesday to run for mayor in the 2022 municipal election.
Mayor Jim Watson does not want re-election.
Sutcliffe hosted CFRA and 1310 News radio broadcasts and was a CPAC television presenter. On Rogers TV, he moderated many municipal election debates. In recent years, Sutcliffe has interviewed leaders as part of his Digging Deep podcast. He was a columnist for The Citizen and at one time was the newspaper’s executive editor.
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Sutcliffe is a co-founder of the Ottawa Business Journal and is involved in owning or investing in several other businesses.
Now he wants to be a politician.
But why?
“I didn’t think it would happen a few months ago, but I recently realized we needed new leadership at Ottawa City Hall,” Sutcliffe said.
“I have always been deeply committed to community service. I love my city and I want my children to grow up in a city that is safe, accessible and reliable. This is the city where I grew up. I’m a little worried that it’s not the city we live in now, that it’s getting too expensive, it’s harder to get around, there are public safety issues. I care deeply about the people of Ottawa and I want to make sure we solve these challenges. “
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Asked why he made his statement in Kanata, Sutcliffe said: “I want to make sure that every part of this city is represented. I care a lot about the people of Kanata and the people in the suburbs and rural areas of this city, as well as the urban area. ”
He said residents aren’t sure if LRT will ever reach Kanata, “so I want to make sure people know we’re listening to them.”
Sutcliffe said he was worried about the city’s future as it emerged from the COVID-19 public health crisis and entered an “accessibility crisis.”
“We need to make life more accessible to all by keeping taxes, leisure fees and other costs low,” Sutcliffe said.
There is also a “crisis of confidence in our public transport system,” he said, citing evidence gathered during the ongoing LRT investigation that suggests “mistakes were made” in the procurement and implementation of Stage 1.
“We need to restore light rail reliability and confidence in our public transport system, and we need to fix our roads,” Sutcliffe said.
Nominations for city council and school board positions end on August 19th.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
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