The following are 5 questions that we sent out to every council candidate in hopes of getting to know them better. We publish the responses exactly as we receive them, in the order that they were sent to us. Here are the responses from Beacon Hill-Cyrville (Ward 11) council candidate Coreen Corcoran.
1. Who are you? Where are you from? What relevant experience do you have for the job?
I am Coreen Corcoran and I have lived and worked in Ottawa most of my life. I grew up in the south end mostly, and have lived in Beacon Hill for 14 years. My relevant experience is living here for more than 50 years, and seeing the changes the city has gone through. If you want to get into credentials, I have a degree from Carleton University and a Masters Degree from Athabasca University. I have mostly worked for government-related organizations as a Technical Writer, in governance and compliance, and in multiple project roles. I have also been politically involved provincially and federally in my spare time, and have run as a candidate multiple times since 2014.
2. The city spends nearly $1B/y on OC Transpo, though many constituents remain dissatisfied with the state of Ottawa’s public transportation. What would you do as a councillor to improve the city’s transportation system?
I have been an OCTranspo rider off and on for over 40 years, so I’ve seen all sorts of initiatives. The city made many missteps to get us to the point we’re at now. Assuming light rail was the best option for this city was the first one. Eliminating jobs and buses when the OTrain rolled out was another. The most critical mistake was not rolling back New Ways to Bus when it was obvious that the OTrain to Orleans was not going to launch in June 2025.
The current council has been scrambling to hire drivers and mechanics, and has now, magically, come up with a 48-point plan to coincide with public servants heading back to the office in September. Or so they say. This is an election year plan. They could have done this last year or the year before when many of us saw our commutes interrupted by bus delays. They didn’t care about people working shifts or already heading into the office four or five days a week. This plan is an insult to voters because it is only coming out now to help the current mayor and councillors get re-elected.
My first step to improve OC Transpo would be having a back up plan for any new initiatives. They have to be able to roll back. As a regular bus commuter, I also feel that we already have the right number of buses, we just need them to show up when they are supposed to. Seeing back-to-back buses, then nothing for 35 minutes at rush hour is not how you gain or retain your customers. It sounds like scheduling is still an issue even decades after the bus strike in 2008 that halted services for months in the winter. Figure it out.
3. In a December 2025 poll from Abacus Data, 37% of respondents said that cost of living was the most important issue facing the city; another 19% responded ‘housing affordability.’ What would you do as a councillor to make the city of Ottawa more affordable?
Affordability is not a single issue that can be fixed by the city. Every level of government is responsible for where we are today, and that can be traced back to the Covid lockdowns that started in 2020. The trajectory for increases to food and housing were not heading in this direction before then. Compromised supply chains, small business forced to close because they couldn’t adhere to social distancing, and the sudden drop in houses for sale all led to the situation we are in now.
One thing the city can do, and has started to do on a very small scale, is get rid of the red tape for opening a business and building homes. The bureaucracy delays projects. I appreciate seeing infill homes and apartments being built in areas that make sense where they are close to transit and other amenities. It has to be done while respecting the local flavour of a community, though, and not infringe on the character of established areas. A good example are the two apartments built near the Blair transit station. There is an office conversion across the Queensway that will also provide quick access to transit and the mall.
4. Certain city services like OC Transpo and the OPS have run significant deficits in recent years. Is there anything that you would do as a councillor to try to balance the city’s budget?
I would love to balance the city’s budget. I think the city tries to do too much and that is why we overspend. Thinking we can always go to the federal or provincial government for help is not a solution. We should be doing less. Government should never compete with the private sector, and we should be looking at successful initiatives in other cities to see how to reduce costs. Policing is one area that runs deficits every year. There are programs in U.S. cities where senior citizens volunteer to support the police by taking routine calls that do not require specialized training. We need to look at opportunities like this where we don’t automatically say, “Let’s increase the budget, let’s hire more.”. Use data to streamline services to the time and place where they are truly needed. We have more data than ever to help us make decisions, let’s start using it wisely.
5. Why are you running for Council? What do you think is the biggest issue facing your ward today?
I am running for city council because I want to bring some level of transparency and accountability to City Hall. It is unacceptable that we have been dealing with project delays and cost overruns on just about every project this city has started over the past 20 years. I remember when we had to rebuild the bridge over the Airport Parkway. The new library is already double the original cost, and the end date is nowhere on the horizon. Nevermind the OTrain. It is appalling that our elected officials think so little of its residents that we’re just a revenue source to them and they don’t need to be accountable for the failures. If I was a councillor on my third or fourth term, I would be embarrassed by the track record. We also seem to be a fragmented city with councillors only caring about what they are doing for the residents in their own ward. There has to be bigger picture, some kind of vision that they are all collectively working towards. All I see are egos and legacy projects. Twenty-Year plans mean nothing to me. I would come up with projects that can be completed within a term so we can see some real value quickly. I would also like to know more about our procurement process because “lowest bid wins” is not a strategy that is serving us well.
For the biggest issue facing my ward, you’re going to get answers around lack of housing, safety, and affordability, but these are all just part of a bigger problem that not very many media outlets or politicians are willing to admit. We are losing the middle class, and that is having a direct impact on all these other areas. When we don’t have a strong middle class, we don’t have disposable income to fill the gaps in our communities. Our food bank is desperate for donations, as are all other charities across the city and the country. Our local businesses and restaurants are losing their regular clientele. The middle class is cutting back like we haven’t seen in decades. This creates a domino effect where our most vulnerable have no support system to keep them afloat. When the middle class starts depending on these support systems as well, and they are, we are in deep trouble as a community and as a country. How would I resolve this? Any small initiative to put money back into middle class pockets would be the first step. I would immediately pull the mandate forcing city workers into the office if their job has the option to work from home. Lost hours commuting and paying for transit or parking is hurting families and communities.
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