The 2026 municipal election officially gets underway this weekend with contested races in all four east end wards. The deadline to file nomination papers to become a candidate expires this Friday.

As of press time, the incumbent councillors in Orléans West-Innes, Orléans South-Navan and Beacon Hill-Cyrville each faced a single challenge, while no fewer than six people have registered to run against Orléans East-Cumberland incumbent Matt Luloff.

In Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward, three-term incumbent Tim Tierney is being challenged by Cathryne Milburn who has spent the last four years representing Beacon Hill–Cyrville and Orléans West-Innes on the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, while working for the City of Ottawa across a variety of branches, including the Transit Services Department.

According to her website, Milburn is running out of a desire to build “a better and more inclusive Ottawa for everyone”.

To find out more about the candidate and her platform visit milburn2026.ca.

In Orléans West-Innes ward, incumbent Laura Dudas is being challenged by Convent Glen resident Jenna Jessop.

Jessop is a Junior Program Officer at the Canada Border Services Agency. She’s running her campaign based on a desire that “public service should ultimately be about people: listening carefully, communicating openly and finding practical ways to make things better”.

For more information about her campaign visit jennajessop.ca.

In Orléans South-Navan ward, incumbent Catherine Kitts is being challenged by La Ha Tacos food truck owner and operator Jason Wing, who is running on a platform primarily based on accountability and the fact he believes no candidate should run unopposed, especially if they are an incumbent.

As of press time, Wing had not yet set up a website for his campaign.

Of the four east end wards, Orléans East-Cumberland ward is by far the mostly hotly contest. As of press time, six people had filed their nominations papers for a chance to run against incumbent Matt Luloff.

They are civil fraud and personal injury lawyer Sherif Rizk, former Green Party of Ontario candidate Bob Bell; computer scientist Mazhar Choudhry, who has worked for both the federal government and in the private sector; Yvette Ashiri, who ran against Kitts in Orléans South-Navan in the 2022 municipal electiong and garnered 22 per cent of the vote; Tammie Trellert who is a board executive at Treble Victor Group; and Barbara Daniela Gandolfo who is a member of both the federal and provincial Liberal riding associations and the founder of the Fallingbrook Neighbourhood Watch program.

The candidates’ websites can be found at:
• www.tammietrellert.ca
• www.yvetteashiri.ca
• www.sherifrizk.ca
• www.choudhry.org
• www.bobbell2026.ca
• www.barbaraforcouncil.ca.

When Ottawa residents head to the polls on Oct. 26, they will also be voting for mayor and school board trustees. Who you vote for the latter depends on where you live and which school board you support, either English public, English Catholic, French public or French Catholic.

For more information about the election including information about the candidates, visit ottawa.ca/elections.