Municipal election profile: Peter Karwacki

Councillor candidate, Ward 13

With the 2026 municipal election coming up on Oct. 26, the Chronicle reached out to candidates with a series of questions, in a bid to help readers get better acquainted with those vying for their votes. 

The following is a profile of Ward 13 (Rideau-Rockcliffe) councillor candidate Peter Karwacki.  

Who are you?

I am Peter J. Karwacki, a long-time Overbrook resident and certified Project Management Professional. 

I spent 15 years in hospital administration in Northern Ontario as financial director and more notably, as CEO, responsible for budgets, boards, hiring/firing, strategy, and public accountability. I later worked in business intelligence and OLAP (online analytical processing) modelling at Cognos/IBM, then as an independent project manager on federal contracts with Health Canada, CBSA, Export Development Canada, and Natural Resources Canada. 

I now run PeerMetrics,  a software company focused on performance measurement and benchmarking. I will bring analytical, no-nonsense experience to City Hall rather than event-circuit charm.

Why are you running?

Rideau-Rockcliffe and Ottawa face real problems — basement flooding without coordinated protocols, transit that improves only on paper, weak oversight of multi-hundred-million dollar decisions, and capital spending that too often lacks line-by-line scrutiny. I am running for a third time because the ward needs a councillor skilled in oversight of a $5.5-billion organization, not just popularity. If elected, I commit to a single term so my focus will stay on results, not re-election.

Key Ward 13 issues

Four important concerns in Ward 13:

1. Socioeconomic gaps (especially Overbrook housing need and food security).
2. Unreliable local transit (Routes 6, 7 and 12) and active-transportation safety on St. Laurent, Beechwood/, Hemlock.
3. Balanced intensification that respects heritage in Rockcliffe/New Edinburgh while delivering housing, localized public safety and youth supports.
4. Deferred maintenance of infrastructure (roads, sewers, stormwater, tree canopy, riverfront). 

These require transparent data, measured capital priorities, and a councillor who documents patterns and demands accountability rather than accepting “something needs to be done.”

Three city-wide issues

The City of Ottawa faces three major challenges:

First, rigorous financial and performance oversight — strengthening the Auditor General, publishing open data by default, and scrutinizing large projects (Lansdowne-style spending, landfill deals) before they are approved.

2. Second, transit resilience and reliability, including proper hydraulic and stormwater fixes so the LRT and bus network actually perform.
3. Third, honest infrastructure renewal and climate adaptation that ends the quiet deferral of costs onto residents’ basements and property values.

I will read the budget line by line, ask uncomfortable questions, and treat the Municipal Act role of councillor seriously.