---
title: "All four Kitchissippi candidates face off in final ward debate"
description: "The four candidates running for Kitchissippi ward (ward 15) held their second and final debate on October 14 at Invest Ottawa headquarters, with transit the main topic."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/ottawa-2026/news/kitchissippi-final-debate-2026-10-15"
last_updated: "2026-10-17T18:36:41.685Z"
---

All four candidates running for Kitchissippi ward councillor held their second and final debate on Wednesday, October 14, at Invest Ottawa headquarters, CBC Ottawa reported. Transit fares and reliability were the dominant topic of the evening.

The candidates at the debate were [Joanne Chianello](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/joanne-chianello), community activist [Xavier Commerford](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/xavier-commerford), former community association president [Brian Innes](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/brian-innes), and [Subhir Uppal](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/subhir-uppal), a real estate manager and AI startup entrepreneur. Dozens of people attended in person, and the debate was also streamed online, according to CBC.

## Transit fares and reliability

Each candidate described a different approach to improving OC Transpo in Kitchissippi ward.

Xavier Commerford warned that Ottawa risks a cycle where fewer people take transit, which reduces revenue, which leads to service cuts, which drives away more riders. Joanne Chianello said the city should act on affordability quickly: she told the debate she would like to see youth fares made permanently free and senior fares kept affordable. Subhir Uppal proposed switching to distance-based fares, where the cost of a trip depends on how far the passenger travels, similar to systems in London and Singapore. Brian Innes said the priority should be reliability, particularly for the ward's main bus routes, and that progress should be tracked carefully.

## Public safety

On safety, Brian Innes said he would expand community policing. Subhir Uppal said more police could help but argued that the ANCHOR mental health crisis response program and housing are also central. Joanne Chianello pointed to a set of options: helping residents find and keep their homes, expanding the ANCHOR program, and bringing in more local police resources. ANCHOR is Ottawa's program that sends mental health and social service workers to certain crisis calls.

## The open seat

Kitchissippi ward (ward 15) has an open seat because the current councillor, Jeff Leiper, vacated it to run for mayor of Ottawa. [Jeff Leiper's candidate page](/on/ottawa-2026/candidates/jeff-leiper) is on this site. Profiles for the four ward candidates are at [/on/ottawa-2026/races/councillor/ward-15-kitchissippi](/on/ottawa-2026/races/councillor/ward-15-kitchissippi).

Advance voting day is Friday, October 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Kitchissippi ward residents must vote at their assigned voting place. Election day is Monday, October 26.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/ottawa-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.