Former school board trustee running for Councillor in Ward 3 Barrhaven West, after withdrawing from the Zone 3 trustee race.
Donna Blackburn is on the City of Ottawa's list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 3 Barrhaven West, with a nomination dated July 6, 2026. The City's open data list shows she first filed for school board trustee in Zone 3 on May 4, 2026 and withdrew that nomination on July 6, 2026. CBC News says she was a school board trustee from 2010 until the board went under provincial supervision in 2025, and reports that the board voted to censure or sanction her under its code of conduct in 2018, 2020 and 2024. Her campaign says it will focus on transit, roads, safer streets and responsible taxes.
Researched by voche.me · Not a campaign-authored page
Donna Blackburn is on the City of Ottawa's list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 3 Barrhaven West, with a nomination dated July 6, 2026. The City's open data list shows that she first filed a nomination on May 4, 2026 for school board trustee in Zone 3 of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, withdrew that nomination on July 6, 2026, and filed for Councillor on the same day. CBC News of July 11, 2026 quotes her calling the move to council "a natural progression" after 16 years as a trustee. It says she had first wanted to stay on the school board for as long as possible, and that she cited the province's reduced role for trustees as the reason for the change.
CBC News says she represented the Barrhaven zone as a trustee from 2010 until the board was placed under provincial supervision in 2025. The board's own website says that since June 27, 2025 decisions that trustees would normally make are made by an appointed Supervisor. Her campaign website says she was first elected to the board in 2010, earned a BA in political science at Laurentian University, worked on Parliament Hill for cabinet ministers including the Deputy Prime Minister, and then earned social work degrees at Carleton University and worked with vulnerable people. In the CTV News questionnaire she lists work in women's shelters and for a supportive housing organization. These are her own statements, and voche.me has not checked them with a university or an employer.
CBC News of June 25, 2021 reports that the board voted to end its school resource officer program with police, and that she was the only trustee who voted against. Her campaign website describes that vote as standing firm on community safety.
The board's code of conduct decisions about her are reported by CBC News. In February 2018 the board voted to censure her, ruling she had breached its code of conduct, over an October 2017 email to a fellow trustee. CBC says she did not speak to the investigator, and she declined to comment. In June 2020 the board voted that she had breached the code with remarks to a Black teenager at a park, banned her from several committees for six months and recommended that she resign. The investigator found she did not target him because of his race, and found that her remarks met the definition of racial insensitivity. CBC says she had earlier apologized, and that her lawyer appealed, arguing the investigation was not even-handed and the sanctions were out of proportion. The board upheld its decision on July 16, 2020, and she did not respond to CBC's request for comment. In November 2024 the board voted that she had breached four sections of the code over comments about the Jewish community, a complaint made by another trustee. It voted for a public reprimand and for antisemitism training. The board's integrity commissioner had found that two comments breached the code, called them an error of judgment made in good faith, and recommended no sanctions. A motion to suspend her from committees failed. CBC's report of that vote quotes no reply from her. These are board decisions, and no court has ruled on them.
Her campaign website lists six priorities: transit that reaches Barrhaven, roads and infrastructure, safer streets, community and recreation, responsible taxes and smart growth. In the CBC News questionnaire she declined to name a maximum property tax increase for 2027, said she would use a transit levy to address OC Transpo deficits, and said the police budget is appropriate but that more of it should go to hiring officers.
Summarized from the campaign’s published profile. These are stated positions, not an assessment of results or a complete platform.
Her campaign says it will fight for a real plan on the Light Rail Transit extension known as Phase 3 and for better OC Transpo service now.
In the Barrhaven Bugle she says people want express buses back, as in Kanata and Orléans. In the CBC News questionnaire she says some residents take two hours to reach work, and she chooses a transit levy to address OC Transpo deficits.
Her campaign says it will keep streets, sidewalks and pathways in good repair and plan development so amenities, schools and services arrive with the housing.
In the CBC News questionnaire she says reducing development charges without guarantees was wrong-headed, and she names roads and safety measures near schools as the top infrastructure need.
Her campaign says it will tackle speeding on main roads, protect school zones and press for stricter enforcement.
In the CBC News questionnaire she says the police budget is appropriate but more of it should go to hiring officers, and she asks for more police to address stunt driving and speeding. In the CTV News questionnaire she answers yes to increasing the police budget.
In the Barrhaven Bugle she says her first step would be to install speed bumps in front of schools.
Her campaign says it will demand value for every dollar through disciplined budgets and clear priorities.
In the CBC News questionnaire she says she wants to keep taxes low and would not commit to a maximum increase before seeing the budget. In the CTV News questionnaire she answers yes to an infrastructure levy for roads and sewers.
Her campaign says it will champion recreation facilities, parks and green space, and in the CBC News questionnaire she says affordable activities for youth are what the City should provide to make life more affordable.
Donna Blackburn campaign · HomeEvidence reviewed on October 6, 2026: the City's list of certified candidates for Ward 3 and its open data file, her campaign website, the CBC News and CTV News Ottawa questionnaires, the Barrhaven Bugle of September 17, 2026, the OCDSB website and six CBC News reports.
Gaps. The board's minutes were not opened, so the board decisions of 2018, 2020 and 2024 are as CBC News reported them, and no reply from her to the 2018, 2020 or 2024 decisions was found in those reports. Her trustee election results were not checked. Her work history rests on her own statements. The questionnaire has not been sent.
CBC News says she represented the zone from 2010 until the board was placed under supervision in 2025. Her campaign website and the CTV News questionnaire give 16 years as a trustee. voche.me did not open the board's own minutes or election results for her terms.
CBC News · 4 OCDSB trustees now in the running for city council, July 11, 2026The CTV News questionnaire lists work in women's shelters and for a supportive housing organization, and a former role as Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister. Her campaign website gives a similar history. No employer is named in the sources voche.me read, and these are her own statements.
CTV News Ottawa · Meet the candidates for councillor in Ward 3 Barrhaven West, 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 Donna Blackburn directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
Facts voche.me can state about Donna Blackburn'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 Donna Blackburn's own campaign.
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Donna Blackburn.
This profile lists 16 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 Donna Blackburn 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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