INCUMBENT RUNNING

Ward 6

Central-north London — Old North · Western University · Gibbons Park

Researched July 2, 2026 · updated July 3, 2026 · 4 candidates registered

Your ward at a glance

Incumbent Sam Trosow, first elected in 2022, faces three challengers: Ian Sterling Leishman, Stephanie Marentette, and Naomi Nadea. Nominations stay open until August 21, so this four-candidate field may grow. In a ward that takes in Western University's campus and Old North, the race turns on speeding and cut-through traffic, oversized infill builds, student rentals, and north rapid transit. Ward 6 appears to have kept largely the same lines in the December 2024 boundary redraw.

What Ward 6 is wrestling with

Honestly told: the situation, the numbers, and what to ask the people who want your vote.

■ CITY DECIDES

Speeding and cut-through traffic in Old North

Residents have told the City about speeding, cut-through traffic, and streets that feel unsafe to walk or bike. The Central North London Traffic Study (the area bounded by Richmond Street, Oxford Street, the Thames River, and Adelaide Street — largely the Old North part of Ward 6) backed that input with traffic counts, speed studies, and collision history. Councillor Trosow has been directly involved in convening resident input on this file.

Ask your candidates

Which Old North street would you calm first, and what exactly would you put on it?

■ CITY DECIDES

Big new builds on old streets

Neighbours in Old North have fought large new-build infill homes they say clash with the streetscape of an established, partly heritage-character neighbourhood. These homes get approved by the City's Committee of Adjustment through zoning variances. The tension is citywide, but it has been reported specifically in Old North.

The honest numbers ▾

In one Victoria Street case, the allowable floor area was increased from roughly 4,000 to 7,400 square feet by variance. CBC News ↗

Ask your candidates

When an infill proposal needs variances that neighbours oppose, what test would you apply before supporting it?

■ CITY DECIDES

Student rentals and nuisance party houses

Party houses are a recurring headache here: Old North, alongside Richmond Row and Downtown, is one of the areas most affected by unlicensed or poorly regulated short-term and student rentals. A City staff report tied nuisance party houses to unlimited-guest occupancy, called them a recurring enforcement challenge, and recommended tighter occupancy limits and higher fines.

The honest numbers ▾

Staff recommended raising fines from $500 to as much as $1,500–$10,000 for repeat or company violators. Western Gazette ↗

Ask your candidates

Name one enforcement change you'd make for nuisance party houses that doesn't shrink student housing.

□ SHARED — CITY + PROVINCE

Homelessness and encampments along the river

Encampments have concentrated along the Thames Valley Parkway and in Gibbons Park, both partly within Ward 6. Homelessness is a citywide issue, but the riverside is where it lands here. Council's 2024 Community Encampment Plan set buffer-zone rules, including no encampments within 100 metres of a residence with a habitable dwelling, which affect riverside areas like Old North.

Ask your candidates

What would you vote to fund for the encampment response in riverside parks like Gibbons Park?

□ SHARED — CITY + PROVINCE

Renovictions and tenant protections

Many Ward 6 residents rent, in purpose-built buildings and student housing, so landlord-tenant policy hits home here; the underlying tenancy law is provincial. Council passed a renoviction bylaw in 2024, but amendments pushed by councillors Trosow, Rahman, and McAlister for stronger tenant compensation and relocation requirements were voted down.

Ask your candidates

What specifically would you change about London's renoviction bylaw, if anything?

□ SHARED — CITY + PROVINCE

North rapid transit through the ward

London's 2050 Mobility Master Plan proposes a north Bus Rapid Transit leg along Wharncliffe Road and Western Road, through or next to the Western University campus, to a hub at Masonville Mall. It replaces an earlier Richmond Street alignment that council rejected. The City is now asking the province for capital funding for the leg.

The honest numbers ▾

The City is seeking roughly $100 million in provincial capital funding for the north BRT leg. CBC News ↗

Ask your candidates

Do you support the Wharncliffe/Western routing for north rapid transit, and what happens if provincial funding doesn't come?

Who’s running

Listed alphabetically. Identical treatment for every candidate — that’s the deal.

LEISHMAN MARENTETTE NADEA TROSOW

Ian Sterling Leishman

Born-and-raised Londoner with a 15-year on-air career at Corus Entertainment, most recently as Program Director and morning show host for 103.1 Fresh Radio in London, and president of the revived Old South Business Association.

SPECIFICITY0 concrete proposals · 6 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

Neighbourhood safety. — theme, no mechanism given campaign site ↗
"Responsible growth management" — smart planning as London expands. — theme, no mechanism given
Infrastructure and green space investment. — theme, no mechanism given
Local business support. — theme, no mechanism given
Transparent, accountable governance focused on "everyday concerns people talk about at home." — theme, no mechanism given
Support for businesses disrupted by major city construction, pressing the city to plan around and support businesses affected by Bus Rapid Transit work (raised via the Wellington Gateway project). — advocacy stance; no specific city measure proposed campaign site (media page) ↗

NOTES

A Royal LePage real estate broker listing exists under the same name; it was not confirmed whether that is a current role, a past role, or a different person with the same name. His campaign site details his radio and business-association background but does not mention real estate.

As of July 3, 2026 his campaign site still shows template placeholder text in its header and footer blocks (e.g., "Street Address / Your Custom Text Here" and sample Latin text), though the main pages now carry real campaign content.

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

WEBSITE ↗EMAIL PHONE FACEBOOK ↗INSTAGRAM ↗

Stephanie Marentette

Commercial litigator and associate senior counsel at Co-operators General Insurance Company who chairs the London Transit Commission, serves on the St. Joseph's Healthcare Board of Directors, and was profiled in London Inc. Magazine's "20 Under 40" (2025).

SPECIFICITYNo platform published yet — checked July 3, 2026

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

NOTES

No campaign website or platform statement was found as of July 3, 2026 (searched July 2 and again July 3), despite a substantive professional and civic-board background; this may change before the August 21, 2026 nomination deadline. The City's candidate list shows an email contact only.

An X/Twitter account exists under her name but was not confirmed as a campaign account rather than a personal or professional one.

A "Stephanie Marentette Di Battista" appears on CBC's 2018 London municipal candidate list as a Ward 5 council candidate; whether this is the same person was not confirmed in this research pass. CBC News (2018 candidate list) ↗

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

Naomi Nadea

Describes herself as a public safety advocate with grassroots and community involvement; her campaign site provides limited biographical or professional detail.

SPECIFICITY0 concrete proposals · 7 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

Community safety and neighbourhood security — a "zero-tolerance, no-nonsense approach to crime and community disorder," with stronger crime-prevention and community-patrol initiatives, neighbourhood watch programs, and increased visibility in high-concern areas. — elaborated priority list; no costs, timelines, or specific city measures campaign site (community safety page) ↗
Local business support and economic growth. — theme, no mechanism given campaign site ↗
Public accountability and law-enforcement collaboration, including "trust-based relationships between residents and law enforcement" and transparency at City Hall. — theme, no mechanism given
Support for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, including a "2SLGBTQIA+ partnership with law enforcement," and protections for abuse survivors. — named commitment area, not costed or scheduled
Youth outreach initiatives, mentorship, and mental-health resources, framed as crime prevention ("reduce crime before it starts"). — named commitment area, not costed or scheduled
Services for newcomers and immigrant integration, including immigrant support services. — named commitment area, not costed or scheduled
"Restoring pride in the Forest City": public-space enhancements and advocacy for safer parks, streets, and transit, tied to tourism and local-business appeal. — named commitment area, not costed or scheduled

NOTES

Her stated community-safety advocacy history could not be independently verified: her site (including its expanded "why I am running" page, re-read July 3, 2026) describes decades of advocacy but does not name specific organizations, employers, or prior campaigns.

No social media links were found on her site as of July 3, 2026.

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

WEBSITE ↗EMAIL PHONE

Sam Trosow

Incumbent Ward 6 councillor, first elected in 2022, and Emeritus professor at Western University, where he held a joint appointment in the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and served on Western's Board of Governors (2019–2023).

RECORD · 2022–2026 →

SPECIFICITY2 concrete proposals · 6 aspirational themes

PLATFORM, RECORD & CONTACT▾

Platform — WHAT THEY SAY

Street racing and traffic noise: enhance the Noise By-Law to cover vehicle modifications designed to increase noise, push London Police to publish aggregate location data on complaints and violations, and add traffic-calming and redesigns on speed-prone arterials (Wonderland, Oxford, Highbury, Richmond). — named bylaw change and data commitment; no timeline given campaign site ↗
Housing conditions and affordability: tighten code enforcement "through programs such as RentSafe" and negotiate the maximum number of set-aside below-market units in development deals. — names a program model (RentSafe); no unit targets given
Stabilizing the homelessness response, with more weight on civilian front-line workers alongside police. — direction stated, no mechanism given
Public transit improvements. — priority area, no mechanism given
Enforcement of property-standards and vacant-building rules. — priority area, no mechanism given
Core-first sustainable development: build on underutilized core spaces (vacant offices, storefronts, surface parking lots) rather than expanding into greenspace, and respect existing area plans, zoning, heritage policies, and growth boundaries. — directional planning position, no specific projects named
Year-round "town and gown" coordination between the city, Western University, student groups, residents' associations, and rental property owners in near-campus neighbourhoods. — theme, no mechanism given
Supporting music, culture, arts, civic engagement, age-friendly programming, and animal-welfare programs. — priority areas, no mechanisms given

Record — WHAT THEY DID

How they voted — the landmark-vote scorecard →

NOTES

In September 2024, Trosow was seen on a livestream drinking what appeared to be a beer while attending a council meeting virtually from out of town. He told Global News he could not be certain whether it was alcoholic or a "zero beer," called it poor judgment, said he expected integrity commissioner complaints and would accept any resulting consequences, and expressed regret that the incident distracted from the debate underway. Global News ↗

His personal bio site and the City's official bio differ slightly on which committees are current; both list Community and Protective Services and Strategic Priorities and Policy.

Our questionnaire QUESTIONS GOING OUT

Identical questions go to every declared candidate. Answers are published verbatim; “no response” is reported plainly.

WEBSITE ↗COUNCIL SITE ↗FACEBOOK ↗EMAIL COUNCIL EMAIL PHONE

Compare side-by-side ▾

	LEISHMAN	MARENTETTE	NADEA	TROSOW
SPECIFICITY	0 concrete · 6 aspirational	No platform published	0 concrete · 7 aspirational	2 concrete · 6 aspirational
HELD OFFICE / CIVIC ROLES	None found	No elected office; chairs the London Transit Commission (appointed), St. Joseph's Healthcare board	None found	Ward 6 councillor, 2022–2026; Western University Board of Governors, 2019–2023
ON TRANSIT & BRT	No position published	No platform published; chairs the London Transit Commission	No position published	Supported Wharncliffe/Western routing for north BRT; lists transit improvements as a 2026 priority
ON TENANT PROTECTIONS	No position published	No platform published	No position published	Pushed for stronger renoviction-bylaw amendments (voted down); voted for the bylaw while calling its penalties "weak"; 2026 platform adds RentSafe-style enforcement and below-market set-aside units
QUESTIONNAIRE	Not yet sent	Not yet sent	Not yet sent	Not yet sent

Same rows for every candidate. “No position published” is information too.

The race

This is a four-candidate race with a contested incumbent, per the June 30, 2026 roster snapshot. Nominations stay open until August 21, 2026, so the field may grow.

Trosow enters with the clearest track record of the four. His documented four-year term includes tenant-protection advocacy in the renoviction bylaw debate and support for the Wharncliffe/Western BRT routing. He voted with council's majority to suspend councillor Susan Stevenson's pay for 30 days after an Integrity Commissioner harassment finding (December 2024), having voted against the separate December 2023 reprimand. He also has his own code-of-conduct-adjacent incident: the September 2024 beer-on-livestream video, for which he expressed regret.

Trosow's campaign site listed only priority areas in early July. Re-read on July 3, 2026, it now carries issue-by-issue positions, including a named Noise By-Law change and a RentSafe-style enforcement program.

None of the three challengers has held elected office. Leishman brings a media and communications background and possibly real estate experience. Nadea presents the most itemized, if uncosted, list of community-safety initiatives. Marentette brings the strongest adjacent civic credential, chairing the London Transit Commission, but currently has no public platform to evaluate. The ward's live local issues (Old North traffic safety, infill tension, renovictions, student-rental enforcement, BRT routing) give voters concrete questions to put to all four candidates — but as of this research date, only Trosow has a documented public record responding to most of them.

Before you go

The rest is showing up

You’ve read the ward. Ward races here can come down to a few hundred ballots, sometimes fewer. In a race that close, your vote is one of the ones that decides it. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show up, informed.

How to vote in Ward 6

ADVANCE

Oct 1

ADVANCE

Oct 3

ADVANCE

Oct 5–10

ELECTION DAY

Oct 26 · 10 am – 8 pm

You’ll need ID with your name and address. Full voting guide — where, what to bring, who can vote →

WHAT WE COULDN’T CONFIRM YET ▾

New Ward 6 boundary not independently confirmed from a primary map or PDF: the boundary description (Adelaide/Oxford/Wonderland/Thames) and the "kept largely the same lines" conclusion come from search-result summaries of City materials, not a direct read of the Final Report PDF or the interactive ArcGIS ward map.
CBC.ca articles returned HTTP 403 on direct fetch in the July 2 pass; on July 3, 2026 both CBC articles cited on this page were fetched in full and the quoted figures (4,000-to-7,400-sq-ft Victoria Street variance; ~$100M provincial ask for the north BRT leg via Wharncliffe/Western Road to Masonville) were verified against the article text. The Western Gazette and Global News sources were also fetched in full and verified.
The Central North London Traffic Study timeline was internally inconsistent in sources retrieved (a town hall date after the stated feedback deadline); current dates need a direct check of the project page.
Trosow's current committee list has a minor discrepancy between his personal bio site and the City's official bio page; not resolved here.
Ian Sterling Leishman's radio career is now detailed on his campaign site (15 years with Corus Entertainment; Program Director and morning host at 103.1 Fresh Radio; Fanshawe broadcasting professor 2011–2014), as is his presidency of the revived Old South Business Association — but the Royal LePage broker listing under the same name remains unresolved. His site's claims about his own career were not independently verified.
Stephanie Marentette has a substantial, verifiable professional and civic profile but no campaign website, platform statement, or confirmed campaign social media was located (re-searched July 3, 2026); revisit as her campaign develops.
Naomi Nadea's claimed community-safety advocacy history could not be independently verified in this pass.
Nominations remain open until August 21, 2026, and certification is not until August 24, 2026; additional Ward 6 candidates may file.
Some cautions and honest-numbers claims on this page are not yet tied to a linked primary source; they are pending primary-link verification before final publish.