Sutcliffe: Donation from individual linked to developer 'should have been returned'

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe speaking to CTV News. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says his campaign team missed a donation made by an individual who works for a development company.

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During the 2022 municipal election, Sutcliffe vowed not to take donations from developers.

"At the beginning of the 2022 election campaign, I announced that I would not accept contributions from developers," Sutcliffe said in a statement to CTV News.

"There was a very clear message on the campaign website refusing such donations. In addition, the campaign team, led by the CFO, reviewed every donation and returned several contributions.

But Sutcliffe admits, his team missed the donation from an individual who works for a developer.

"I was disappointed to learn that despite these efforts, a donation from the executive of a development company was processed and not returned," Sutcliffe said.

"This is the first I have heard of this contribution and it was not identified when the media and others reviewed the list of contributors that was filed with the elections office. If I had known about it previously, it would have been returned immediately."

It is not illegal for an individual to make a donation to anyone running for municipal office.

The individual donation was brought to light by Horizon Ottawa, an organization that advocates for progressive causes.

"These type of donations are not illegal but there is a perception of influence there," said Horizon Ottawa coordinator Sam Hersh.

“Developers and folks who work in the industry have a clear stake in it, it matters to them who gets elected to City Hall. Because it is those people approving or not their development applications."

Hersh is calling on more transparency from the mayor and a public apology. Hersh also suggest there are more donations from individuals who are linked to the campaign donations.

"We think there is a lot of flip-flopping here, and we think if he is genuinely committed to curbing that influence and keeping up that integrity, he should at least clarify what he means and also apologize for misleading the public."

Katasa Group, a Gatineau developer, confirms that an executive made a $1,000 donation to Mark Sutcliffe’s 2022 mayoral campaign.

Katasa says Tanya Chowieri was invited to participate for a fundraising event for people doing business in French in Ottawa. The donation was made as an individual and as a resident of Ottawa. Katasa says Chowieri has always been clear about her professional occupation and identity.

Former Ottawa city councillor George Brown says it can be difficult to review all individual donations and where to draw the line.

"They do back themselves into a corner," he said. "Who is a developer? Someone who is a mid-level manager from a development company? Is that taking money from a developer?"

"They do it because they think they are telling their community that I am not going to be influenced by developers and I don’t think the focal point. The focal point is you need to be influenced by good development and not support bad development."

The issue of developers and donations came under scrutiny this week, after Katasa withdrew a $300,000 donation to Capital Ward after members of council questions the motives of Coun. Shawn Menard and the developer.

Sutcliffe has called for an end to all developer voluntary donations negotiated by councillors.

Brown emphasizes that anytime an elected official deals with developers, it needs to be in the open.

"It has to be transparent, it has to be out there and upfront," he said.

Brown also said it points to a need for the city to develop a policy on how to deal with negotiations and situations like this in the future.

"There are good developers – why wouldn’t we want to support them?" he said.