Sitting Councillor for Ward 5 West Carleton-March, running for a second term after a 2024 code of conduct reprimand.
Clarke Kelly is the sitting Councillor for Ward 5 West Carleton-March, according to the City's list of elected officials, and is on the City's list of certified candidates for the same ward, with a nomination dated May 6, 2026. The City's results give him 27.4 percent of the 2022 vote in a seven-candidate race. In November 2024 Council reprimanded him after the City's integrity commissioner found he breached the code of conduct in a confrontation with child care staff. His campaign says it will focus on rural roads, emergency services and a rural voice at City Hall.
Researched by voche.me · Not a campaign-authored page
The City of Ottawa's list of elected officials for 2022 to 2026 shows Clarke Kelly as Councillor for Ward 5 West Carleton-March, and the Council minutes of September 9, 2026 list Councillor Clarke Kelly as present. The City's published results for the October 24, 2022 election give him 2,549 of the 9,305 votes cast in Ward 5, which is 27.4 percent, in a race of seven candidates. Sasha Duguay had 2,307 votes and Greg Patacairk 1,988. CBC News says he took a seat left open by Eli El-Chantiry, who had held it for nearly two decades. The City's list of certified candidates shows his 2026 nomination dated May 6, 2026.
CBC News says he worked for Liberal Members of Parliament on Parliament Hill. In the CTV News questionnaire he says he worked from 2018 as a Legislative Assistant at the House of Commons until he ran in 2022, earlier worked in addictions treatment, has a political science degree from Carleton University, and has lived in the ward his whole life. In the CBC News questionnaire he says he sat on the board of a men's recovery home. His campaign website says he is Vice-Chair of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and that he started the 2024 Rural Summit, the first in 16 years. These are his own statements, and voche.me has not checked them with the House of Commons, the university or the committee.
The City's integrity commissioner, Karen Shepherd, reported that Councillor Kelly breached Section 4 (General Integrity) and Section 7 (Discrimination and Harassment) of the Council code of conduct in a confrontation with staff at a child care centre next to his ward office on July 3, 2024. CBC News reports that the commissioner described his actions as amounting to bullying and intimidation and recommended a reprimand without a pay suspension. CBC reports that he accused the centre of misrepresenting what happened, expressed regret for using profanities and told the commissioner he intended to learn from his mistake, and that police laid no charges. The Council minutes of November 27, 2024 record that Council approved the report and the reprimand, and that Kelly declared an interest and did not vote.
On the battery energy storage project on Marchurst Road in his ward, CBC News reports he was one of three Councillors who voted against Council's support in June 2025, which carried 20 to 3. The Council minutes of December 10, 2025 record him moving a motion to add a holding condition to the zoning for the project, which lost 9 to 16, and then voting against the zoning change, which carried 21 to 4. The same minutes record him voting for the 2026 Ottawa Police Service budget (carried 20 to 5), against the $5.4 million community safety amendment (lost 9 to 16) and for the adoption of the 2026 budget reports (carried 21 to 4). The minutes of September 9, 2026 record him as one of 23 members voting for a motion asking the federal government to extend its consultation on the Eastern Bridge Project.
His campaign website lists a 2026 platform that includes a second rural summit, support for emergency services, road renewal, opposition to urban boundary expansion into Ward 5, and a secondary emergency exit from Constance Bay. In the CBC News questionnaire he says tax increases should keep up with inflation, the police budget should be increased, and OC Transpo deficits should be addressed by raising fares.
Summarized from the campaign’s published profile. These are stated positions, not an assessment of results or a complete platform.
His campaign says it will hold another rural summit, work with the Rural Affairs Office and rural liaisons in each City department, and keep open office hours, town halls and quarterly meetings with community associations.
In the CBC News questionnaire he credits the 2024 Rural Summit with raising the rural voice at the Council table.
His campaign says it will push for more road maintenance and renewal spending and prioritize the roads the community names, and says it supported doubling the ditching budget this term.
In the CBC News questionnaire he names road surfaces and drainage as the top infrastructure need.
His campaign says it will support budget increases and hiring for emergency services, and says it supported the return to a district policing model and the largest increase in the police budget in more than a decade.
In the CBC News questionnaire he says the police budget should be increased, with technology to address speeding in rural areas.
His campaign says it will oppose urban boundary expansions into Ward 5, support farming, back smaller-scale energy projects that do not use viable farmland, and take a strong position against projects that fail to hold proper public consultation.
Clarke Kelly campaign · My 2026 PlatformIn the CBC News questionnaire he says any 2027 tax increase should keep up with inflation, and his campaign says it will press for reports to reach the public earlier and for a public City staff directory.
In the CTV News questionnaire he answers no to an infrastructure levy.
Evidence reviewed on October 6, 2026: the City's list of certified candidates for Ward 5, the City's list of elected officials and 2022 results, his campaign website, the CBC News and CTV News Ottawa questionnaires, CBC News reports of 2024 and 2025, Capital Current, and three sets of Council minutes.
Gaps. The integrity commissioner's full report was not opened, so the account of July 3, 2024 comes from CBC News, which drew on that report. The claims on his website about motions, services and budget results are the campaign's own and were not checked against Council records. His committee role was not checked. His social media posts could not be read. The questionnaire has not been sent.
The City's list of elected officials 2022 to 2026 shows him as the Ward 5 Councillor. The City's 2022 results give him 2,549 of 9,305 votes.
City of Ottawa open data · Elected Officials 2022-2026 (Ward 5 row)This comes from his answer in the CTV News questionnaire. CBC News says he worked for Liberal Members of Parliament. voche.me has not checked the dates.
CTV News Ottawa · Meet the candidates for councillor in Ward 5 West Carleton-March, September 2026Proposed 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 Clarke Kelly directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
Facts voche.me can state about Clarke Kelly'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 Clarke Kelly's own campaign.
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Clarke Kelly.
This profile lists 18 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 Clarke Kelly 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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