FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bernard Couchman Launches "Know What You Have" Municipal Re-Engineering Plan for Ottawa 2026 Mayoral Race A greener city, If we plant no trees nothing will happen.
OTTAWA, ON - Bernard Couchman elite athlete, founder of H2OBoy and four-time mayoral candidate, today releases a comprehensive fiscal and economic platform aimed at transforming how Ottawa manages its $90-billion infrastructure base. Couchman brings a rare blend of grassroots community work, international business experience, and cultural leadership to this campaign.
A Foundation Built on Service
Couchman's civic work in Ottawa started in 2008 through community health initiatives, Ottawa Public Health volunteer harm-reduction programs, and the African Canadian Health Network of Ottawa, as Co-Chair. He built H2OBoy into a debt-free, 20-plus-year international enterprise, establishing trade and government relationships that extend to Guyana and position Ottawa for stronger diaspora and international business ties. His music career and public speaking, including appearances on Parliament Hill, City Hall, Human rights monuments, Courts, Stages, Pulpits, round out a platform grounded in lived community experience alongside business discipline. 5 marathon and 1 half marathon. Rugby Champion.
The Platform: Know What You Have. Put It to Work. Measure the Result.
Couchman's plan centers on five pillars:
• Fiscal Discipline - A proposed 3.57% four-year property tax growth ceiling, tested against Ottawa's real financial obligations rather than promised as an unconditioned freeze.
• Asset-to-Enterprise - A framework for identifying underused municipal buildings and space, opening qualifying capacity to small businesses, Indigenous enterprises, and tech companies without compromising public purpose.
• Indigenous Economic Zones - A proposal for 24 designated economic zones, one per ward, supporting Indigenous-owned business, culture, and training space.
• Generational Housing Security - A transitional homeownership guarantee for first-time buyers, paired with retrofit housing solutions for residents moving through the shelter system.
• A Greener Ottawa - Native habitat restoration, streetlight optimization building on the City's already-reported 64% average energy savings from LED conversion, and a scotobiology-based lighting grid to cut waste and protect nocturnal wildlife.
A Direct Message from the Candidate
"I have continued to show up for this city since 2008," said Couchman. "Four campaigns, one commitment: know what Ottawa already has, put it to work responsibly, measure what it delivers, and build what comes next." True community commitment is the long view not the pop up cannadiates looking for publicity for their struggling business. "My commitment is evident in my presence, and continued investment in the city I love. The City that give me my first Kiss and my first Rugby Try. My drivers license and my first swimming Gold medal."
The Bottom Line
The campaign presents this platform as a disciplined proposal, not a promise of instant billions. Couchman's approach directs attention to the assets, expenditures, and economic capacity Ottawa already holds, backed by the City's own asset-management system covering more than $90 billion in infrastructure. City data confirms hundreds of millions of dollars in identified internal efficiencies alongside significant long-term capital pressures.
The campaign frames its guiding method in seven steps: know what you have, know what it costs, know what is unused, put appropriate capacity to work, measure the result, protect the public interest, and build what comes next.
Policy Status
The Couchman Municipal Re-Engineering Plan stands as a proposed policy framework. Financial figures drawn from City sources describe Ottawa's existing financial and asset-management environment as verified evidence. Campaign estimates, targets, scenarios, and proposed allocations represent planning benchmarks, not guarantees of savings, revenue, or expenditure outcomes.
Any proposal advanced by a future administration remains subject to City Council approval, municipal law, provincial and federal law, procurement rules, existing contracts, collective agreements, engineering requirements, planning and zoning regulations, environmental requirements, available financing, service requirements, and independent financial review.
The campaign commits to identifying opportunities, testing each one against Ottawa's real financial conditions, implementing what proves viable, and reporting results publicly.
About Bernard Couchman
Bernard Couchman elite athlete, founded H2OBoy, an international environmentally and socially conscious enterprise with trade relationships spanning Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Guyana. He authored First to a Billion, a book applying enterprise-level asset thinking to publicy resource management. Couchman has run for Mayor of Ottawa in 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026. A proven leader with a solid track record of excellence in everything his hands touches, from Sports, to Religion, Space travel, Economic, Business, Education, Environmental, The Arts, Literature, Science, Social cause, and a prominent HIV/AIDS activists since 1990.
You can find Bernard Couchman Swimming, Running or cycling in Ottawa any day of the week.
Media Contact: Bernard Couchman
bcouchman@h2oboy.ca