2022 Ottawa Municipal Election

[Marshsparrow]

Originally Posted by Ottawa Champ

Of course he's allowed. It would be disappointing because it would drive Ottawa's priorities to be even more suburban/exurban. The power base of the Watson club is currently suburban, that will only continue with suburban growth outpacing urban.

Very elitist thing to say and reeks of privilege... guess the inner greenbelt should grow population more!

[daud]

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by daud

Yeah, Watson not entirely wrong, and unsurprisingly the Horizon club supports the illegal protesters, wonder if they would be so supportive if it was for another cause... others feel that there protests are just and worthy causes of "civil disobedience."

[DEWLine]

The human rights of BIPoC citizens is worth respecting, I think. The idea of protesters being "illegal" makes a point of disrespecting all legitimate complaints the protesters have. I am not comfortable with that disrespect.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by DEWLine

The human rights of BIPoC citizens is worth respecting, I think. The idea of protesters being "illegal" makes a point of disrespecting all legitimate complaints the protesters have. I am not comfortable with that disrespect.

Surely there's a distinction between "illegal protestors" and protestors who engage in illegal activities.

[daud]

I threw the tweet up because I thought the response was absolutely hilarious.

There's definitely room for improvement in the ottawa police department, I have personally heard an officer I know say something just blatantly racist and the context in which it was said was even worse. I've heard another officer use a code name for afro-Canadians and similarly made a disparaging comment. I was absolutely horrified with what he said. Of course, I know many great officers-they're a big force and the job takes its toll on their psyche. So, while I am not fully up to speed on BIPOC's current efforts, I do support efforts to raise awareness and push for change. Blocking an intersection is not altogether different than marching the streets for climate change whcih also blocks traffic.

I also thought comparing Anti Vax protests to these ones a really bad take by watson. He got royally burned on that tweet from a number of others too. I almost feel like watson is losing his ability to appeal to a wide audience-something he was so good at. I don't know if its the issues themselves or a change in approach or maybe he's just grown very tired of doing the dance he was so good at doing.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa LRT inquiry — Doug Ford takes a page from the John Baird playbook
The Ontario government’s public inquiry into light rail, in the middle of next year’s municipal election, feels like déjà vû all over again.

Mohammed Adam
Publishing date: Nov 25, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read

The Ontario government’s public inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT, in the middle of next year’s municipal election, feels like déjà vû all over again. It looks like 2006 redux.

The Progressive Conservative Ontario government says Ottawa residents deserve better than a light-rail transit system that has been a disaster so far, and is launching an inquiry to determine what went wrong. Several councillors, and indeed many Ottawa residents, have hailed the move, but there is more to it than altruism. Party politics is written all over this, and it seems we are going to relive 2006, when Conservative cabinet minister John Baird used the issue to derail the campaign of another Liberal, then-mayor Bob Chiarelli. Now its Premier Doug Ford’s turn to have a go at Jim Watson, and we’ll see how that turns out.

Then as now, rail transit was dogged by controversy, with council divided on the issue. In 2006, the argument was whether to approve the north-south line. Today, it’s about how best to investigate problems that have plagued the $2.2-billion Confederation Line. Baird’s decision in the middle of the 2006 municipal election campaign to withhold federal funding for the north-south line destroyed Chiarelli’s campaign and boosted rival Larry O’Brien, who went on to win.

Today’s LRT inquiry, which will take place in the middle of next year’s election campaign, is the worst that could happen to Watson — if he decides to run again. Imagine the campaign in full swing, and Watson being summoned to give evidence about the LRT fiasco, with the attendant media circus. It will knock him off message. And then, potentially, a preliminary or final report is tabled before voters cast their ballots. It doesn’t matter what the report says; Watson would be on his back foot. It would be a nightmare for him and a bonanza for his rivals. Watson says he welcomes the public inquiry, but he should really be worried about the PC government dipping its toes into the LRT crisis.

There’s no denying the dysfunction that has dogged the Confederation Line since its launch in September 2019. The contractor, Rideau Transit Group, and train manufacturer, Alstom, have failed spectacularly to provide reliable service, with derailments and a host of other problems. This, no doubt, is a failure of the contractors. But Watson and city executives cannot escape blame, especially after emails obtained by the CBC show the city knew of reliability issues afflicting the Confederation Line before the official handover.

Watson’s tight control of the LRT file has certainly backfired, and one can argue he gave the PCs the excuse to get involved. But opting for a city auditor general’s investigation because we need immediate answers — rather than a judicial inquiry that could take years — was not a bad decision. The problem was the way Watson went about it.

Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon’s investigation is now on hold until the scope of the Ontario inquiry is known. But given that government officials are saying the inquiry will wrap up before the municipal election in October 2022, this won’t be a judicial inquiry of the kind some Ottawa councillors were demanding . It will likely be a shorter probe, and we’ll just have to wait and see what the Ontario public inquiry will do that an auditor general’s investigation would not have achieved.

The provincial government certainly has a responsibility to ensure the city can run LRT, especially with construction of the $4.6-billion Stage 2 underway, and the $5-billion Stage 3 to Barrhaven and Kanata on the horizon. Still, the speed with which the government announced the inquiry, the lack of notice to the city, and the fact that it would be happening during an election campaign, leaves little doubt about the politics at play. It’s been 15 years since Baird took down Chiarelli. The question now is whether history will repeat itself as Ford sets his sights on Watson.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/ad...baird-playbook

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Ottawa LRT inquiry — Doug Ford takes a page from the John Baird playbook
The Ontario government’s public inquiry into light rail, in the middle of next year’s municipal election, feels like déjà vû all over again.

Mohammed Adam
Publishing date: Nov 25, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read

The Ontario government’s public inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT, in the middle of next year’s municipal election, feels like déjà vû all over again. It looks like 2006 redux.

The Progressive Conservative Ontario government says Ottawa residents deserve better than a light-rail transit system that has been a disaster so far, and is launching an inquiry to determine what went wrong. Several councillors, and indeed many Ottawa residents, have hailed the move, but there is more to it than altruism. Party politics is written all over this, and it seems we are going to relive 2006, when Conservative cabinet minister John Baird used the issue to derail the campaign of another Liberal, then-mayor Bob Chiarelli. Now its Premier Doug Ford’s turn to have a go at Jim Watson, and we’ll see how that turns out.

Then as now, rail transit was dogged by controversy, with council divided on the issue. In 2006, the argument was whether to approve the north-south line. Today, it’s about how best to investigate problems that have plagued the $2.2-billion Confederation Line. Baird’s decision in the middle of the 2006 municipal election campaign to withhold federal funding for the north-south line destroyed Chiarelli’s campaign and boosted rival Larry O’Brien, who went on to win.

Today’s LRT inquiry, which will take place in the middle of next year’s election campaign, is the worst that could happen to Watson — if he decides to run again. Imagine the campaign in full swing, and Watson being summoned to give evidence about the LRT fiasco, with the attendant media circus. It will knock him off message. And then, potentially, a preliminary or final report is tabled before voters cast their ballots. It doesn’t matter what the report says; Watson would be on his back foot. It would be a nightmare for him and a bonanza for his rivals. Watson says he welcomes the public inquiry, but he should really be worried about the PC government dipping its toes into the LRT crisis.

There’s no denying the dysfunction that has dogged the Confederation Line since its launch in September 2019. The contractor, Rideau Transit Group, and train manufacturer, Alstom, have failed spectacularly to provide reliable service, with derailments and a host of other problems. This, no doubt, is a failure of the contractors. But Watson and city executives cannot escape blame, especially after emails obtained by the CBC show the city knew of reliability issues afflicting the Confederation Line before the official handover.

Watson’s tight control of the LRT file has certainly backfired, and one can argue he gave the PCs the excuse to get involved. But opting for a city auditor general’s investigation because we need immediate answers — rather than a judicial inquiry that could take years — was not a bad decision. The problem was the way Watson went about it.

Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon’s investigation is now on hold until the scope of the Ontario inquiry is known. But given that government officials are saying the inquiry will wrap up before the municipal election in October 2022, this won’t be a judicial inquiry of the kind some Ottawa councillors were demanding . It will likely be a shorter probe, and we’ll just have to wait and see what the Ontario public inquiry will do that an auditor general’s investigation would not have achieved.

The provincial government certainly has a responsibility to ensure the city can run LRT, especially with construction of the $4.6-billion Stage 2 underway, and the $5-billion Stage 3 to Barrhaven and Kanata on the horizon. Still, the speed with which the government announced the inquiry, the lack of notice to the city, and the fact that it would be happening during an election campaign, leaves little doubt about the politics at play. It’s been 15 years since Baird took down Chiarelli. The question now is whether history will repeat itself as Ford sets his sights on Watson.

Mohammed Adam is an Ottawa journalist and commentator. Reach him at [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/ad...baird-playbook

Here's my best attempt at a TLDR of Adam's article: "The problem here is that THEY (the big mean conservatives) are playing politics by investigating MY nice innocent guy whose only failing is that he went about something the wrong way."

Piss off. I find this particular flavour of uncritical Liberal partisans like Adam so tiring.

Yes, sure. The problem is just "the way Watson went about it". That's the worst thing they can bring themselves to say. Yes, the "it" in this sentence being that Watson used procedural measures to ensure that an inquiry would be launched under his leadership, by people who submit reports to him and who don't have the power to investigate him or his friends in council. Yeah that's not bad according to Adam, the only bad thing is "the way Watson went about it"? Give me a break!

[caveat.doctor]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

Yeah, Watson not entirely wrong, and unsurprisingly the Horizon club supports the illegal protesters, wonder if they would be so supportive if it was for another cause... others feel that there protests are just and worthy causes of "civil disobedience."

Originally Posted by DEWLine

The human rights of BIPoC citizens is worth respecting, I think. The idea of protesters being "illegal" makes a point of disrespecting all legitimate complaints the protesters have. I am not comfortable with that disrespect.

Originally Posted by daud

I also thought comparing Anti Vax protests to these ones a really bad take by watson. He got royally burned on that tweet from a number of others too. I almost feel like watson is losing his ability to appeal to a wide audience-something he was so good at. I don't know if its the issues themselves or a change in approach or maybe he's just grown very tired of doing the dance he was so good at doing.

I think Watson actually did this one well, politically - by taking a clear stance it by inference casts those possibly running against him (e.g. McKenney, who demanded an apology) and those generally opposed to him (e.g. Horizon) as disruptive and not trustworthy; and at the same time not opposing the reforms that are (rightly) being sought. He also very clearly said it was the illegal blockages he's throwing in the same boat as the hospital blockages, not peaceful protests which he "welcomes".

He's absolutely right that, in our democratic context, regardless of the cause, protests should never interfere with others. It's also very unlikely that the blockages actually got the message across in any better way that simply protesting at City Hall or police HQ would have done; certainly didn't win any new supporters amongst those they actually blocked and were understandably irate.

For the broad swath of Ottawa voters that are generally progressive but also not tolerant to disruption/disorder, I think it bolsters his moderate image. If it comes down to him (even with the O-Train public inquiry on the table) vs someone that is seen as too "extreme", he'll probably still have plenty of support.

[JayBuoy]

Originally Posted by caveat.doctor

He's absolutely right that, in our democratic context, regardless of the cause, protests should never interfere with others. It's also very unlikely that the blockages actually got the message across in any better way that simply protesting at City Hall

Gonna have to disagree with you on this one, champ. If protest interferes with no one it goes unheard.

For non violent protest to work it has to be massive, and even then it will be easily crushed by the state which has free license to do violence and interfere. That license is enshrined in law.

There is a speech which I love, by Mario Savio which perfectly encapsulates this,

“ There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!”

I ask you this, does a labour strike not interfere with the owner, who after all is merely another citizen going about his business?

It is exactly by interfering that protest is effective. With some notable exceptions, this is how it is.

Even the non-violent mass protests led by MLK, who is essentially deified now in the American political consciousness, engaged in mass disruption. The Montgomery bus strike comes to mind. Didn’t the strikers interfere with the state by refusing to take the bus (denying the resulting fare), disrupting the city ledgers? The city responded violently, with mass popular support.

If you think the cause is unworthy, that is a legitimate point of argument. But disruption, interference, sabotage, and even violence are all elements of protest past and present which we now deem “cool” and “good”. Protests that achieved victories that later became popular are essentially retconned into our culture as good and acceptable (MLK, labour movement), but any further protest is viewed as “bad” and “cringe” because it engages in disruption.

[Ottawa Champ]

Originally Posted by Marshsparrow

Very elitist thing to say and reeks of privilege... guess the inner greenbelt should grow population more!

How is it elitist? The inner greenbelt may include some rich folks but so does Kanata, Manotick, etc. Also, the urban area includes a lot more apartments and community housing compared to the suburbs/exburbs.

Privilege is the city appealing to the supreme court to prevent development of a private golf course to appease well off NIMBY neighbours.

[daud]

WOW!

Jim Watson is not seeking re-election and will step down at the end of this term.

[kwoldtimer]

Best news of the day!

[mykl]

This is so exciting!

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Best news of the day!

Based on competence or you assume a candidate more favorable to your politics will be elected? A lot will of course depend on who emerges but I'd say despite his centre- centre right stances it could go either way.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson won't seek re-election in 2022, says he's enjoyed 'almost every hour of every day'
'I look forward to watching from the sidelines,' Watson says after recently marking 30 years in politics.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 10, 2021 • 39 minutes ago • 4 minute read



Mayor Jim Watson has known for three years that he would leave Ottawa City Hall in 2022.

Watson said he kept it secret until Friday for fear of being considered a “lame duck” mayor during the term.

Now, with his decision in the open, Watson feels some relief.

“I’ve enjoyed almost every hour of every day of coming in here,” Watson said during an interview in his office after he announced he won’t seek re-election in the October municipal vote.

“There’s no question the last year has been much more challenging with COVID, with LRT, with the impact of COVID on the economy and the tourism industry, so it’s been an exhilarating, but draining two years,” Watson said.

The current term has been the most acrimonious on council during Watson’s administration. The political divides have never been stronger, to the point where “toxic” has become a regular word to describe the state of city hall.

The new backbone of Ottawa’s transit system, the Confederation Line LRT has ended up causing more headaches than anyone imagined after it launched in September 2019. Watson and city staff were blindsided by a decision by the Ontario Progressive Conservative government to call a public inquiry into Ottawa’s LRT program.

But the LRT woes aren’t driving Watson away from municipal government.

Watson said he knew during the last campaign in 2018 that if he won, it would be his last term has mayor. The victory led to Watson becoming the longest-serving mayor in Ottawa’s history.

He says that knowing it would be his last term hasn’t informed his approach to running the city.

“I suppose I was a little more anxious to make sure that these promises were kept and reflected in the budget in the last three years,” Watson said, three days after he fulfilled another tax promise to cap annual increases at three per cent during the four-year term.

The 2022 budget was the last big policy decision that Watson felt had to be made before he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election next year.

Watson won election in 2010 on a wave of support and optimism. He vowed bring stability to city hall after some dramatic years with Larry O’Brien in charge.

During the first two terms as mayor, Watson often reflected on the rough O’Brien years and contrasted them with the collegiality of the day’s city council. It was so cozy, in fact, that Watson’s council was often dismissed as “bobbleheads” or the “get-along gang” with little political division.

Things changed after the 2018 election.

Councillors who had challenged Watson in the past were more willing to take him on in public, plus there were new progressive voices around the council horseshoe. Suddenly, there seemed to be no middle ground between a perceived “Watson club” of loyal councillors and a group of opponents.

Watson observed that being a politician at a time of social media has been difficult because of the “corrosive” comments made under cloaks of anonymity.

“I think it affects a lot of politicians a lot more than they say it does,” Watson said. “I know in my case, homophobic slurs, attacks on our personality, our family or things like that.”

He said it was too early to know if public life is part of his future.

“It’s hard to go and apply for jobs as mayor,” Watson quipped, “but my time as elected official, I consider that to be over in November.”

Age was a factor in his decision to not seek re-election. Starting a new challenge would be easier at 60 years old, a milestone he reached in July, rather than at 65, he said.

If no job is a good fit after politics, Watson said he would be happy to be a part of community causes, such as sitting on charity boards or volunteering.

“I would be bored to death if I’m not doing something,” he said.

There’s already competition for the mayor’s office inside city hall.

Councillors Diane Deans and Catherine McKenney said they’ll run for mayor. Mathieu Fleury is kicking around the idea.

With interest in replacing him around the council table, Watson will have his hands full in 2022 keeping council on track while slowly releasing his grip from power.

Watson said there’s talent on council when it comes to prospects for the next mayor, but he said, transitioning from ward councillor to mayor — like he did in pre-amalgamated Ottawa — isn’t easy.

“All of a sudden, all the big issues come to your desk and you have to deal with them first,” Watson said.

“I became a better mayor the second go-around as I headed up a Crown corporation, I was a minister of three departments, and I came back with a bigger view of the city than just a ward,” he said.

“Anyone who puts their name forward, God bless them, because it’s long hours and you have to make some tough calls, but a lot of it is very enjoyable. You get to honour people and recognize the good in people.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ection-in-2022

[rocketphish]

The writing was on the wall?

[Williamoforange]

So Bob Chierelli then? https://mobile.twitter.com/JonathanW...59742585913352

Can't exactly be worse then any Nimby horizon club member when it comes to actually getting housing built in this city, can it?

Undeniable fact that Ontario underbuilt housing, so any candidate promising to not get in the way of building housing both publicly and privately funded, will get my attention.


https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/sta...697671170?s=20

[waterloowarrior]

Mckenny running, Deans has a 3pm press conference, Fleury "considering it".

[J.OT13]

Watson just opened the flood gates by announcing he's not running. Looking forward to seeing what Watson Club members will, particularly those that have had bad press the last 3 years, like Harder and Darouze (and Tierney, but he's likable enough that the bad press hasn't had much of an effect).

As for the cops, I don't care too much about salary. I just want them to you know... do their job. Be more proactive, not reactive (think gun violence and the Panda games). Re-define their role.