Nosé enters Ward 5 race at last

CARP – It was a last-minute entry, but it wasn’t a last-minute decision for Dylan Nosé who entered the race for West Carleton-March councillor on the last day 2026 municipal elections were open (Aug. 21).

Nosé is an Espanola, ON, native who moved to the Carp area about three years ago after several years living in the urban area of the city. Nosé started a small construction business when he came to Ottawa after a career in the financial industry but always had his eye on politics.

Nosé sat down with West Carleton Online last Wednesday (Sept. 9) at Alice’s Village Café just a couple of hours before he was set to stand on the Rogers TV studio for its televised Ward 5 debate.

“It’s probably to my advantage to be honest,” Nosé said of filing his papers on the last day of eligibility. “Because I’m getting my profile out. It does help for sure.”

Growing up in rural north, gave Nosé a love for the country life.

“It was always a goal of mine to move out to the country,” he said. “I always had that desire to get back to my rural roots. I’ve lived all over the city. I went to Algonquin College for radio broadcasting. I went to Ottawa University for political science. And then I started a financial career in the banks, and I moved from the banks into mortgage brokering, and I concurrently wanted to get into construction, so I did that as well. So, now I am an owner-operator of my own residential construction business. It’s called Nosé How Construction. So, yeah, a play on words there. I’ve basically built it from the ground up through things like trust and reliability and word of mouth, and I built myself a very reliable team of employees, and it’s been very successful.”

Nosé has volunteered to coach minor hockey in West Carleton and shared his time in a few other endeavours and has grown to love rural west Ottawa.

“The one thing I missed about growing up in rural northern Ontario was the friendliness and the neighbourliness, and I really didn’t feel that too much everywhere else,” he said. “I’ve lived in the city, but the moment you moved to West Carleton, you get that neighbourly feeling. Everybody waves to you, no matter whether they know you or not. Everyone’s there, to sort of help each other out.”

Nosé says that life experience is what will help him in the world of politics.

“I’m trying to take that same level of business and accountability and bring it to some politics,” he said.

But why get in to politics anyway?

“Yeah, there was a couple of different factors, and I think I’ve always had a desire to get into politics at some point,” Nosé said. “That’s why I got my political degree 20 years ago, so I didn’t want to let that go to waste, and I felt like I was prepared to do that. Given all the experience I’ve had in finance and construction, I have a lot of transferable skills. Now, from that, I can use it to help lead the community.”

Nosé says his platform is a simple one.      

“My platform is one promise,” he said. “A new standard of leadership, and I’m hoping to bring that standard to politics and just dig in to what’s happening in our municipality and our tax system and help make decisions for people.”

Nosé will use that standard to guide what he thinks are the biggest issues in the community.

“A lot of the things that come up time and again,” he said. “Roads and especially road safety, so that’s going to be a big concern of mine to look into and understand. My focus will be, how can we be more proactive in road safety and road maintenance? Also, making sure that infrastructure is on pace with development, because I know that’s a big concern for residents who want to maintain their rural lifestyle. So, there’s going to be a balance between developing and providing affordable housing and jobs in the community and helping the community economically but also making sure we’re respecting long-time residents who want to retain the importance of that rural lifestyle. A lot of people who live out here probably work from home as well. So, we want to look at how do we provide more services without increasing taxes?”

Nosé’s late entry in to the race means his competition, Coun. Clarke Kelly and candidate Christine Harrison have had all summer to get their names and platform out there, but he’s not concerned he will be playing catch up between now and Election Day (Oct. 26).

“Based on my personality, I’m a pretty enthusiastic, energetic guy, so I don’t think I will have too much to catch up to,” he said. “But I think at the end of the day, when I bring that energy forward and meet people in social settings like this, I mean, it’s going to be hard to go door-to-door in a rural community, right? So, my goal is to visit the pubs and the bars and the coffee shops and the restaurants and the business owners and meet people that way. So, I think I have a pretty good strategy to get caught up. I’m coming in late and a bit unexpected, so maybe there’s some curiosity around it as well that I can take advantage of.”

And getting that message out begins tonight (Sept. 9) at the televised debate.

“I’m really going to have to reach back into my early 2000s in my radio broadcasting training to help support me through that,” Nosé said. “I’m the type of person that feels normal in front of the camera. There will be nervous energy, like anybody else, but you have to find a way to try to channel that into something positive. And that’s what I’m going to do, and I’ve spent hours and hours since I signed up for the race, preparing, studying, listening, taking notes, and that’s all you can really do. It’s like an exam in school.”

And Nosé says there’s lots of work left to do in the less than six weeks until election day.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot of work already I’ve done, being someone who’s so new,” he said. “In this process, I have some fellows running, what I call them is running mates, in other wards where I know some people who are running. So, I’m relying on them for some support and my family and my close circle to help with the campaign and help me get out and meet people. But again, in a sprawling community like Ward 5, you got to go to the events, you got to go to the community centres, the seniors’ residences. So, I’m just showing up, and I want people to know that. That’s the type of leader I will be. I will be visible in the community, whether it’s a bake shop or a hockey tournament, I’m going to be there, because I love being out. Being around people, talking to people and engaging with them. I’m really looking forward to this, and I know that I’m a new candidate, and that people don’t really know me. So, I invite people to reach out. I’m always available to talk to people. I love hearing the stories and getting the feedback about what’s important to them. I want to get my message out as well, that I’m here to try to make a difference in my community and set a new standard for leadership.”

For more information on Nosé, you can visit his website here.