Former real estate and small business lawyer, running for Councillor in Ward 1.
Bob Bell is on the City of Ottawa's list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 1 Orléans East-Cumberland, with a nomination dated May 5, 2026. CBC News describes him as a former business and real estate lawyer. His campaign proposes more buses, a $2.00 fare, a public record of how Councillors vote, and a promise to refuse donations from people connected to the development industry. He is one of seven candidates, and the sitting Councillor, Matt Luloff, is another.
Researched by voche.me · Not a campaign-authored page
Bob Bell's campaign website says he has lived in Ottawa all his life and now lives in Orléans East-Cumberland, and that he worked as a business and real estate lawyer who helped small businesses and first-time home buyers. In the CBC News questionnaire he says he has lived in the ward for five years. CTV News Ottawa lists his professional experience as a lawyer specializing in real estate law and small business law. He says he was elected to the board of the Carleton County Law Association in 2021. The City's list shows his nomination dated May 5, 2026.
The CTV News questionnaire gives his political experience as Green Party candidate for Orléans in the 2014 Ontario election. A Global News article of May 28, 2014 lists Bob Bell as the Green candidate in Ottawa-Orléans. voche.me found no record that links the two beyond the matching name and his own statement. His campaign website says that before he moved to Ward 1 he was a member of the Riverview Community Association and spoke for a public transitway in the Alta Vista area. Ontario municipal candidates have no party on the ballot.
His campaign makes two promises about money and openness. It says he will refuse and refund donations from individuals connected to the development industry, and publish a list of donors who give more than $100 before voters decide. It also says he will build a public tracker of Council votes and end a confidentiality agreement that City staff signed with Alto, the federal high-speed rail project. The campaign describes the agreement as one that staff signed without a Council vote. voche.me has not read that agreement or the City's record of it.
His campaign website carries a Transit & Commute Series of videos of his own trips by bus and train. The page says his first trip on July 6, 2026, from Queenswood Heights to City Hall, took 93 minutes. Capital Current quoted him on September 24, 2026 saying that the trip downtown by transit takes between 60 and 90 minutes and that people are unhappy with it.
Summarized from the campaign’s published profile. These are stated positions, not an assessment of results or a complete platform.
His campaign says it would raise the number of buses to one for every thousand residents, lower the bus fare to $2.00 and freeze it, and make transit free for riders aged 18 and under.
In the CBC News questionnaire he chose a transit levy (a separate tax for transit) as the main way to cover OC Transpo deficits.
He names the opening and reliable running of the east train extension as the top infrastructure need in the ward.
His campaign says it would set a clear City standard for what counts as affordable housing, tie any future cut in costs for builders to the building of affordable homes, keep the City's urban boundary (the edge of the built-up area) where it is, and put new building near transit stations.
In the CBC News questionnaire he gave 5, strongly agree, to the statement that adding more homes to areas that are already built will be important for housing in the ward.
His campaign proposes a permanent market space in the ward, a share of new shop space on St. Joseph Boulevard kept for small businesses, and action on feedback that the local business improvement area (a group of shops set up by the City) received about making that street easier to walk.
Bob Bell campaign · Bob's PlanHis campaign proposes a public tracker of Council votes, two town hall meetings a year, ending the Alto confidentiality agreement, and refusing donations from people connected to the development industry.
He gave CBC News no figure for a limit on the 2027 property tax increase and wrote that a promise made during the election would be unwise before the budget papers are available.
He answered that the police budget should be frozen while the City does a full review of it.
His campaign proposes a plan that covers the City's full infrastructure renewal gap, which it states as $3.5 billion over ten years, and a rule to repair what exists before building outward.
Bob Bell campaign · Bob's PlanEvidence reviewed on October 6, 2026: the City's list of certified candidates for Ward 1, his campaign website, the CBC News and CTV News Ottawa candidate questionnaires, Capital Current of September 24, 2026 and Global News of May 28, 2014.
Gaps. His social media accounts could not be read. His law career, the law association board seat and the Alto agreement are known from his own statements, and the Alto agreement was not read. The questionnaire has not been sent.
His campaign website and the CBC News report on the Ward 1 race describe him as a former business and real estate lawyer. The CTV News questionnaire lists his work as a lawyer in real estate law and small business law.
Bob Bell campaign · Meet Bob BellHe gave this in the CTV News questionnaire. voche.me has not checked it with the association.
CTV News Ottawa · Meet the candidates for councillor in Ward 1, Orléans East-Cumberland, September 14, 2026He gave this in the CTV News questionnaire. Global News listed Bob Bell as the Green candidate in Ottawa-Orléans on May 28, 2014.
Global News · Ontario election 2014: Ottawa-Orléans riding, May 28, 2014Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
No questions and answers have been supplied.
Ask Bob Bell directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
Facts voche.me can state about Bob Bell's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Bob Bell's own campaign.
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Bob Bell.
This profile lists 12 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Bob Bell in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
The 2026 Ottawa municipal election, including the Councillor race, is decided on October 26, 2026.
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