Farah Gulzar
"I would take a cautious approach to expanding Ottawa’s urban boundary. Before expanding outward, the City should make the best possible use of land and infrastructure that already exists within the urban area.
Urban expansion can create significant long-term costs because new roads, water and wastewater infrastructure, transit and other services must eventually be maintained and replaced. Those future costs need to be fully understood before decisions are made.
I support allowing appropriate growth within existing communities through a broader range of housing types, gentle density, mixed-use development and development near existing infrastructure and transit.
If expansion is ultimately considered, the City should demonstrate that it is financially and environmentally sustainable over the full life cycle of the infrastructure—not simply that the initial development can be financed.
Growth should strengthen Ottawa’s existing communities rather than creating an ever-growing infrastructure and environmental burden."
Shawn Menard
"It is a reality that the inner greenbelt continues to subsidize sprawl and expensive outer edge speculative development in Ottawa. At every opportunity, I have raised this at council and underscored the high costs, pressure on taxes, and the negative environmental effects.
We don’t need to sprawl outwards. In 2025, city staff reports showed that Ottawa already has a 24-year supply of available greenfield lands, which exceeds the 15-year provincial requirement, and less greenfield development has occurred over the past 5 years than was initially forecast.
I will continue to be a vocal opponent of risky, expensive mega projects and urban boundary expansions such as the Tewin development."