From the Ottawa Lookout (www.ottawalookout.com):
Running for a job with no clear mandate: OCDSB candidates enter uncertain trustee race by Amanda McLeod (August 12, 2026)
Excerpts:
"Chris Durrant, one of three candidates running in Zone 6, said that, if elected, his priority will be to urge the province to restore full governing powers to trustees.
“The government has had its say, and to be able to control the rules of the game and still not let local representatives take on their role, it’s not democratic,” he said. “Electing people to offices and not letting them take their seats sets a terrible precedent.”
Durrant is positioning himself as a strong advocate for students with learning disabilities after his own diagnoses of dyslexia and dysgraphia fundamentally changed his educational experience. He is running in a zone that includes Ottawa’s Rideau-Vanier and Rideau-Rockcliffe wards."
Later in the article:
"[School Board Supervisor] Plamondon delivered a budget for the 2026-27 school year that includes, in addition to the $15 million in deficit savings, funding for 21.5 new educational assistants, investments in school infrastructure such as water quality, air conditioning and repairs, as well as additional spending on classroom learning resources and technology.
Durrant is critical of the $15 million in deficit savings claim, saying “it’s far more complex” than what the supervisor has presented.
“If you dig into the budget document they provided, you don’t really have the ability to figure out where that $15 million in savings is coming from,” Durrant said.
“There’s declining enrollment, so there’s also a declining number of teachers. Yes, there are operational savings that were found, but is that because you hired fewer teachers? Those are savings that would have occurred under the board of trustees as well.”
Read the full article here.