[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Actually, from what I read from Le Droit, the issue from the Ottawa people is that they don't want to pay one cent for this bridge, and it's not their problem if Gatineau people want to work in Ottawa. They can't have both, low mortgage and fast ride.

Well, people are going to decide at some point once and for all if we’re going to be one region or not. A lot of people like to talk a good game on “Ottawa-Gatineau” but then when there’s talk of improving links between the two sides of the river, there’s always a big hue and cry in Ontario about people from Gatineau coming over to work in Ottawa. On the other hand, other than from the urban planning crowd, there is interestingly enough very little public controversy when new roads and bridges (that will of course funnel more traffic into downtown Ottawa) are built on the Ontario side.

Last time I checked, people in Gatineau are still Canadian citizens (some of them fiercely loyal in fact) who are fully entitled to work pretty much wherever they wish in Canada, and their needs are no less valid than those of people living in Carleton Place, Manotick and Arnprior, no matter what language either group primarily speaks.

In Gatineau, there is already a buzz about how the “improvements” on King Edward (with fewer, narrower lanes) are actually meant to make life more difficult for people from Quebec coming into Ottawa and, more broadly, how Ottawa cops supposedly take their sweet time cleaning up rush hour accident scenes on any of the interprovincial bridges’ approach roads.

No one is claiming that they don't have the right to work in Ottawa the question is should the City of Ottawa and Ontario pay for 1/3 or more of the project. I would argue no, and as someone who lives next to King Edward I would have the most to gain personally by re-routing the trucks. Ottawa's money is better spent on projects that benefit Ottawa/Ontario taxpayers (even thought many of those commuters continue to claim Ontario residency for income tax purposes