5 Questions With Donna Dickson, Council Candidate for Gloucester-Southgate

The following are 5 questions that we sent out to every Ottawa City 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 Gloucester-Southgate (Ward 10) Council candidate Donna Dickson.

1. Who are you? Where are you from? What relevant experience do you have for the job?

My name is Donna Dickson. Originally my family is from Jamaica, but I’ve called Ottawa my home for the last 55 years. I grew up in Ward 10 and lived here for almost 30 years. Much of my family still lives here, including three of my grandchildren, who I help drive to school in the mornings and to and from football games. I currently sit as school board trustee for Zone 8 and on the OSTA committee, and I’m the mother of a murdered youth. I started my non-profit, Ashton Dickson Youth Empowerment (ADYE), named after my son, after he passed in 2017. Since then I’ve had to navigate the non-partisan political landscape to make change, provide scholarships, bursaries, and youth mentorship for at-risk and racialized youth.

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?

Transit is a big problem in Ward 10. We receive many of the service cuts and almost none of the benefits of infrastructure investment. The incumbent councilor, Jessica Bradley, voted in favour of these cuts. Not everyone knows this, but many of the drivers for OC Transpo are stuck only working part time. I want to offer longer and better control with full time hours to bus drivers that want to work. This would allow us to keep more buses on the roads to improve service times. I want to work towards a longer term goal of properly scaling our bus service with rush hour and eventually getting 15 minute service times for key routes in the mornings and eventings at peak times. I think that getting rid of youth transit passes was a mistake, and I think that the city should also put more resources into bus maintenance. The less buses we have breaking down, the less service interruptions, and the more we can keep on the roads. Better contracts, and better maintenance will go a long way in improving OC Traspo.

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?

I would like to cap a property tax increase at 1% if possible. In addition to that I would like to work to get youth transit passes back, to help take some of the monthly burden off families that have multiple children. For issues of housing, we need to start thinking outside the box, what the city is doing now is not working and it shows. In 2026 the Housing Committee removed the city’s mixed unit housing mandate. I think this was a mistake. High density housing like apartments should have a minimum of 10-15% of the units allocated for affordable housing. The rationale in removing the minimum was that it does not incentivise developers from building. But Ottawa has the demand for housing, and tenants pushed out of the rental market will rely heavier on assisted and community housing because that’s all they can afford. I want to zone and approve high identity housing in Ward 10, as well as get traditional homes built in addition to that. But where I think the city needs to be seriously looking at is developing modular housing at scale. Modular homes can be done as freehold or in higher density format. And the total cost of building is on average $180,000 to $380,000 depending on the size of the home. In comparison to Ottawa’s average home cost of over $700,000 in 2026.

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?

More than anything I believe it comes down to mismanagement of funds. The crime rate in Ottawa has risen 18.9% since 2022, but the budget for OPS has continued to increase on average of $14 million each year. Even this year OPS has run a $25 million deficit in just 2026. OC Transpo also suffers from a deficit but is met with annual service cuts and fare hikes to attempt to make up the difference. The city needs an independent audit of its major services to see why there is so much waste and where the money is going.

5. Why are you running for Council? What do you think is the biggest issue facing your ward today?

I’m running for council because Ward 10 needs strong leadership. It’s been years since we’ve had someone fight for what we need. My family lives in Ward 10 and they deserve a safe community they can be proud of. And I would say that issues of community safety are the biggest concern I have. The crime rate in Ward 10 has skyrocketed by 12.5 percent in 2025 alone. Residents I’ve been speaking with, even in suburban neighborhoods, are worried about shootings they’ve had in their streets, and poor road safety is a daily concern. Drug dealing and and other dime happens out in the open in some areas due to poor lighting and a lack of police presence, even in areas close to a police station like Kemp Park, which sits right by a station, has had issues with break ins and drug dealing because despite being by the station, sees minimal police presence even when requested. Dangerous drivers speed and race though residential neighborhoods near schools, community centres, and places of worship. The pylon traffic calming that the city employs is ineffective and only serves to narrow streets and make nervous drivers worse. For years now Ward 10 has not had strong enough representation to see the progress that we need. Many residents here feel like we’re being forgotten by the city and I want to change that.