2022 Ottawa Municipal Election

[SL123]

Has anyone found a map or something that shows mayoral votes by wards? I can only find the overall result.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Was interesting how things broke out. Prominent Liberals supported McKenney but I guess on city issues we are more conservative than you'd expect. Though he seems very centrist and far from an anti-wok candidate.

I voted for Sutcliffe but am also a bit disappointed at the same time. We do need some bold leadership I just wasn't convinced her boldness was what I was looking for.

He may not be anti-woke but he's clearly non-woke from what I have seen.

One can be centrist and even slightly to the left and not be woke.

A politician doesn't have to be Maxime Bernier or a crazy Republican to not be woke.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

Status Quo is the way to go around here. Enjoy it Ottawa... You get exactly what you deserve.

I expect Ottawa to experience the same type of degradation under Sutcliffe as Toronto saw under Tory. And it will be well earned.

[J.OT13]

CTV is the only news outlet with good coverage (via their website), but the sound doesn't work. Very frustrating. CBC's coverage was garbage, with no election night type graphics and it ended at 10pm.

Disappointed Sutcliffe won, but I expect him to be slightly better than Watson, at least I hope so. Biggest disappointment for me is that honestly terrible human beings like Darouze and Hubley won re-election.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

He may not be anti-woke but he's clearly non-woke from what I have seen.

One can be centrist and even slightly to the left and not be woke.

A politician doesn't have to be Maxime Bernier or a crazy Republican to not be woke.

I guess the definition of woke isn't clear. He's non woke in the sense he's a priveleged white male who thinks we should focus on business but can be talked into huge wasteful spending for the right group if it doesn't impact his sacred cows. The Watson Tewin decision being a prime example.

In terms of actual barriers being removed I'm less confident.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

It's going to be a long 4 years....

It is.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I expect Ottawa to experience the same type of degradation under Sutcliffe as Toronto saw under Tory. And it will be well earned.

Ottawa has the benefit (?) of at least having more land to sprawl out into, which will keep the ponzi scheme going for another few years.

Toronto has no choice but to keep intensifying the two square miles where single-family homes aren't considered sacred.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Was interesting how things broke out. Prominent Liberals supported McKenney but I guess on city issues we are more conservative than you'd expect. Though he seems very centrist and far from an anti-wok candidate.

I voted for Sutcliffe but am also a bit disappointed at the same time. We do need some bold leadership I just wasn't convinced her boldness was what I was looking for.

There are few politicians more conservative than local Ottawa "Liberals".

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I guess the definition of woke isn't clear. He's non woke in the sense he's a priveleged white male who thinks we should focus on business but can be talked into huge wasteful spending for the right group if it doesn't impact his sacred cows. The Watson Tewin decision being a prime example.

In terms of actual barriers being removed I'm less confident.

90% of the political spectrum is not woke, including lots of space to the left of the centre.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Ottawa has the benefit (?) of at least having more land to sprawl out into, which will keep the ponzi scheme going for another few years.

Toronto has no choice but to keep intensifying the two square miles where single-family homes aren't considered sacred.

Are we blaming Tory for this?

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

There are few politicians more conservative than local Ottawa "Liberals".

And yet they lined up behind McKenney.

[rocketphish]

'What a beautiful night in Ottawa': Political newcomer Mark Sutcliffe wins mayoral election
“Tomorrow the hard work begins but I am filled, as I always am, with hope and optimism for our city.”

Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen
Oct 24, 2022 • 7 hours ago • 4 minute read

Overcoming a late entry and his relative inexperience, Mark Sutcliffe crossed the finish line a surprise winner Monday night as he claimed Ottawa’s top city hall job in his very first political race.

Sutcliffe, a broadcaster, entrepreneur and dedicated marathon runner, was greeted with raucous cheers of “Mark, Mark, Mark” as he entered his victory party at Lago, a restaurant in Dow’s Lake Pavilion.

“Wow, what a beautiful night in Ottawa,” declared Sutcliffe, 54, a political novice who will succeed veteran Jim Watson as Ottawa’s mayor. Watson has been mayor since December 2010.

Sutcliffe earned the support of more than half of Ottawa voters in what proved to be a comfortable victory over his chief rival, Catherine McKenney.

The mayor-elect told supporters Monday night he was filled with humility, excitement, joy, relief and “incredible gratitude” for the tens of thousands who supported his vision for the future of Ottawa.

“The people of Ottawa voted for positive change,” he told supporters, “they voted for compassion and fiscal responsibility, they voted for a safer, more reliable and more affordable city…

“Tomorrow the hard work begins, but I am filled, as I always am, with hope and optimism for our city.”

With all vote tabulators reporting, Sutcliffe had 161,679 ballots marked with his name, about 42,000 more than McKenney, the two-term councillor who had long been the presumed frontrunner.

Sutcliffe said he had no idea what to expect on election night since few opinion polls were available.

“I had a good feeling in the last couple of weeks,” he added. “It felt like more and more people were responding to what we were saying … I’m overjoyed seeing the result.”

In his first interview with reporters as mayor-elect, Sutcliffe vowed to reach out to McKenney’s supporters on city council.

“Job one, I think, is get everyone working together … I really heard that over and over again from residents, that they want city council to work together,” Sutcliffe said. “I’m ready to work with the re-elected councillors and the newly elected councillors to start building Team Ottawa.”

He praised McKenney as an “incredibly passionate” advocate for the city’s most vulnerable and vowed to continue listening to those who voted for them in an attempt to find common ground.

“I promise I will be a mayor for all of Ottawa,” he said.

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi said Sutcliffe’s stunning victory reflected his ability to listen and to bring people together. “He worked really hard, and he criss-crossed the city,” Naqvi said in trying to explain the success of Sutcliffe’s four-month campaign. “He was able to build a really broad coalition.”

Sutcliffe did not enter the mayoral race until June 29. He ultimately threw his hat into the ring, he said, to give voters a viable alternative to McKenney’s vision for the city.

But his late start meant he had less than four months to build a team, design a platform and sell his message across 24 municipal wards.

His decision to enter the race transformed it from a coronation into a compelling contest of platforms, personalities and political strategies.

It was the most competitive mayoralty contest in Ottawa since 2006, when businessman Larry O’Brien defeated former Kanata councillor Alex Munter and incumbent mayor Bob Chiarelli.

Sutcliffe ran an energetic and determined mayoral campaign that took advantage of his extraordinary skills as a communicator.

Positioning himself as a cost-conscious centrist, Sutcliffe branded McKenney a hard-left activist whose platform would cost Ottawa taxpayers dearly.

He criticized McKenney’s plans to invest $250 million in bike lanes and to provide fare-free transit to young people at a time when OC Transpo is facing an $85-million budget deficit.

“It’s a matter of proportion,” he said during the campaign. “I’ve heard over and over again that people don’t want to see $250 million — a quarter of a billion dollars — spent on bike lanes in the next four years when we could use those resources for something else.”

His own platform promised $100 million over four years for better road maintenance and snow clearing, an increased police budget, one million new trees, a functioning LRT, and 100,000 new homes over the next 10 years. He also promised to revitalize Ottawa’s downtown, impose a one-year transit fare freeze, develop a doctor recruitment strategy and hold annual property tax hikes to no more than 2.5 per cent.

Sutcliffe put together a long-list of endorsements and pointed to cross-partisan support from people such as Liberal Yasir Naqvi and Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod as evidence he could work with people from all political stripes and end the rancour at city hall. He also earned the public support of five former National Capital Region mayors, including Jim Durrell, Jackie Holzman and Andrew Haydon.

McKenney said Sutcliffe did not have the experience to take on the city’s top job, but he touted that outsider status as a strength, adding he had deep ties to the city’s non-profit and business communities and could act as a consensus builder at city hall.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...yoral-election

[rocketphish]

'It’s tough and it’s disappointing, but we are going to move forward'
McKenney said they aren’t sure what comes next after losing the race to become Ottawa's mayor but that they expect to continue working on issues surrounding social justice, housing and homelessness

Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen
Oct 25, 2022 • 7 hours ago • 4 minute read

Catherine McKenney was choked up but able to make jokes in a gracious concession speech Monday, made an hour after polls closed when it became clear that Mark Sutcliffe would be the next mayor of Ottawa.

A boisterous crowd of about 200 McKenney supporters grew increasingly quiet as both CTV and then CBC declared Sutcliffe the winner.

Sutcliffe won with 51.37 per cent of the vote (161,679) while McKenney had 37.88 per cent (119,241).

In a speech, McKenney (who uses they/them pronouns) urged supporters to continue fighting for the issues they had championed in the campaign, such as affordable housing and real action on climate change.

“It’s tough and it’s disappointing, but we are going to move forward,” said McKenney.

“Tonight, we’ll share some drinks —but not on me though, I’m unemployed,” they joked.

The work of building a better Ottawa isn’t stopped by one loss, McKenney said. They said they had a lot of respect for Sutcliffe.

“Like me, he believes in this city and its potential…and I sincerely wish you every success.”

McKenney’s voice broke with emotion as they thanked their wife, Catharine Vandelinde, and daughter, Kenney, who stood beside them.

Speaking to reporters afterward, McKenney said they aren’t sure what comes next, but that they expect to continue working on issues surrounding social justice, housing and homelessness.

The election featured a record turnout and well-run campaigns on both sides, said McKenney.

McKenney and Sutcliffe had been widely assumed to be the front-runners. A Mainstreet poll released last week indicated McKenney had a narrow lead, reported iPolitics.

But voters chose Sutcliffe’s vision, said McKenney.

“People came out, they voted. We had two very clear and different visions for the city and one was chosen over the other. It’s as simple as that.”

Supporter Kath Clark, who was among the crowd at the event watching results roll in, said: “I’m surprised and not surprised.

“This is Ottawa and Ottawa loves the status quo. This isn’t what Ottawa deserves. People here have worked so hard. A lot of people who had such a positive vision for the future. It’s such a shame.”

McKenney, a two-term Somerset Ward councillor who had promised a new direction for the city and emphasized the value of their long experience at city hall, had formerly worked for two former city councillors and in the bureaucracy as a policy advisor to a top city manager.

McKenney’s campaign focused on several key issues: climate change, affordable housing, improving transit and increasing transparency at city hall. They promised to make no cuts to city services.

Their slogan during the campaign was to make Ottawa the greenest, the healthiest and the most connected city in Canada.

McKenney’s key promises included a freeze on transit fares and free rides for people age 17 and under as well as an increase in the transit operations budget; a plan to provide housing for people living on the street or in family shelters; various proposals to tackle climate change; extending the season at city beaches and keeping libraries open on Sundays; and spending $250 million to improve bike lanes.

Sutcliffe seized on the bike-lane promise, criticizing it repeatedly as too expensive.

The tax increases proposed by the two candidates were not drastically different — McKenney pledged a cap of three per cent annually and Sutcliffe promised between two and 2.5 per cent in the first two years.

Their priorities for spending were different, however, with Sutcliffe saying he would direct more money to fix the roads and hire more police officers, for instance.

McKenney criticized Sutcliffe for a “hole” in his proposed financial plan because it did not fully account for inflation.

The McKenney campaign also challenged competitors to follow their lead in releasing a list of campaign donors before election day.

McKenney’s campaign said Monday that it had raised $535,000 from 4,300 donors. The list of people who contributed more than $100 was posted on the campaign website. Sutcliffe had said he would follow regulations, which require candidates to reveal donors after election day.

McKenney’s campaign attracted endorsements from former federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, and Gerald Butts, the former principal secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and was also backed by NDP activists.

Sutcliffe was endorsed by a roster of both Liberal and Conservative politicians and five former mayors.

Mayor Jim Watson, who was not running again, did not endorse any candidate.

By election day, both McKenney and Sutcliffe were intensely focused on getting their supporters out to vote.

The McKenney campaign said it had about 1,700 volunteers who on average donated 25 hours of time. McKenney knocked on 110,000 doors across the city, and the campaign handed out 4,100 lawn signs, according to organizers.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...o-move-forward

[rocketphish]

Ottawa makes a bet on the inexperienced, but safe Mark Sutcliffe
The issues the mayor-elect faces are myriad and complex. Hopefully, he brings as skilled a team to city hall as he did to his campaign

Bruce Deachman
Oct 24, 2022 • 7 hours ago • 4 minute read

In a gripping turn of events, Ottawa voters made clear on Monday that they were more comfortable backing an inexperienced horse moving at a safe and steady pace, over a more seasoned one looking to gallop perhaps a little too speedily into the future.

Throughout the campaign, Mark Sutcliffe countered Catherine McKenney’s promises to make Ottawa a “world-class” city with a more measured hand promising safety and fiscal responsibility. That clearly resounded with voters: as Monday’s results came in, Sutcliffe held steady with just over 50 per cent of votes cast, about 14 points ahead of McKenney, to become Ottawa’s 60th mayor.

Coincidentally, Sutcliffe overcame a 14-point deficit in polls early in the campaign, whittling it down late last week to a 4.2-point disadvantage, according to Mainstreet Research. Despite having no previous electoral experience, he billed himself as the candidate of change while at the same time wrapping his campaign in numerous endorsements from establishment figures, including past mayors and current MPs and MPPs.

And while affordable housing, roads, transit and taxes were uppermost in many voters’ minds, the issue that drew some of the most heated debates between the two frontrunners was McKenney’s quarter-billion-dollar plan to compress 25 years’ of cycling infrastructure construction into just four years.

The plan, which McKenney said would be cost-neutral, nevertheless carried a massive price tag, and voters, currently facing high inflation and the threat of a recession in the New Year, simply didn’t buy in. The issue was a significant one in pushing Sutcliffe over the top.

The issues Sutcliffe now faces are enormous and complex: an affordable housing crisis; Phases 2 and 3 of LRT, plus other transit woes; Lansdowne 2.0; the development of LeBreton Flats; crumbling roads and other infrastructure issues; a downtown core emptied of workers, a result of a pandemic that has also (a) exacerbated the need for more and better social services, and (b) hasn’t yet ended.

Then there’s The Ottawa Hospital development, zoning and intensification, and garbage and policing to deal with. Even a veteran mayor would blanch at the enormity of it all. One hopes that Sutcliffe will bring as skilled a team to city hall as he did to his campaign.

What Sutcliffe likely won’t have to contend with is the so-called Watson Club and accompanying acrimony that left council badly tarnished throughout the last term and the public dismayed at its dysfunction.

Watson’s repeated roundup of the usual suspects to get the votes he needed to steer the city in the direction he wanted, however, more often than not worked for him.

And that’s part and parcel of being mayor. You’ve got to do some horse-trading, back-scratching, and strategic committee- and board-appointing to help further your agenda, and once you determine which councilors you can rely on, you’ll likely return to them again. Hopefully, Sutcliffe’s promise to operate otherwise, saying he can lead by conciliation and consensus, giving all parts of the city representation, will hold.

For if he creates committees that represent the city as a whole — both geographically and ideologically — it’s more likely they’ll bring policies and recommendations to the council table that have already undergone the necessary compromises to make them palatable to the majority.

But as a first-time mayor without previous council experience, Sutcliffe will find himself surrounded in three weeks by the least-experienced council in memory. Everyone would do well not to alienate the others as they muddle their way through protocols, rules of governance and points of order, nevermind learning where the washrooms are.

Although a fresh-faced council means that many of the old scores have been settled one way or the other, also gone is a large chunk of council’s institutional knowledge. Beacon Hill-Cyrville’s Tim Tierney, re-elected in a landslide, and Kanata South’s Allan Hubley, seemingly re-elected by splitting the opposition vote, are the only councilors to have served continuously since 2010.

Steve Desroches, who was elected Monday night to represent Riverside South-Findlay, could be added to that list, although he is returning to council after an eight-year hiatus, so it’s unlikely he’ll walk into his new office fully up-to-date. Former Osgoode mayor and candidate in that ward, Doug Thompson, who has similarly been away from council for the last eight years, was in a tight race but trailing incumbent George Darouze with most of the votes counted.

The good news is that most of the incoming councilors aren’t such ideologues that they won’t be able to work with Sutcliffe, or he with them. Newcomer David Brown, elected in Rideau-Jock, may need a little longer than others to earn the mayor’s trust — Brown had worked for councilor Scott Moffatt before running against him in 2018. It remains to be seen whether Ariel Troster, elected to carry on McKenney’s progressive mantle in Somerset ward, comes out of the gates like a combative Shawn Menard (who was easily re-elected in Capital ward), or a more pragmatic Jeff Leiper (also handily re-elected, in Kitchissippi).

Sutcliffe promised to work with everyone, and he’s going to need everyone to right this ship. Hopefully, he’ll pay attention to city managers, and appoint some of the more experienced councilors, such as Matt Luloff, Laura Dudas, Cathy Curry, Glenn Gower, Tierney, Rawlson King, Catherine Kitts, Steve Desroches and Leiper, to significant leadership roles.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...mark-sutcliffe

[rocketphish]

For incoming mayor Mark Sutcliffe, the hard part starts now
Mayor-elect has a slew of priorities for 1st 100 days, but bringing city together may be the hard part

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Oct 25, 2022 6:18 AM ET | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

Now, the hard part.

Mark Sutcliffe is coming into this city's top office after a decisive victory over his closest opponent, Catherine McKenney. It was an exacting campaign — with five debates in the last 11 days alone — that offered different visions for the future.

One promised $100 million on roads over four years, the other $178 million to expand transit.

And yet, their plans were not so wildly divergent. Their tax promises were a half-percentage-point apart, their climate plans not so dissimilar. Sure, McKenney vowed to end chronic homelessness in four years, which isn't your usual mainstream platform plank, but Sutcliffe promised to provide an extra $4 million on social agencies.

The biggest difference between them was the packaging. Sutcliffe framed himself as the middle-of-the-road candidate while casting McKenney as a "hard left turn." Exhibit No. 1: the downtown councillor's $250-million pledge to front-end load 25 years of bike-lane building — a marketing mistake for McKenney and a successful wedge issue for Sutcliffe.

In the end, our mayor-elect came out on top as the centrist candidate in a centrist town.

And as gruelling as the campaign may have been, it pales in comparison to what's coming next.

Nearly half of the 25-member council that will be sworn in three weeks from now will be new to political office, including the next mayor.

To be fair, Steve Desroches — who was elected in the new ward of Riverside South-Findlay Creek — previously served two terms, but returns eight years later to a very different council that includes only two of his former colleagues: Allan Hubley and Tim Tierney, each now elected to their fourth term.

There's a huge learning curve for a large swath of council. It's a transition that's not easy at the best of times, and is now two weeks shorter thanks to new provincial rules. Institutional memory is marching out the door, and Sutcliffe has made promises on a host of priorities in his first 100 days.

Among the most challenging will surely be the line-by-line review of spending ahead of his first budget.

Sutcliffe may already be at a disadvantage even before he starts. Just last Friday, the city issued its latest quarterly financial numbers forecasting a $13-million deficit for 2022 due to derecho and convoy costs. If additional funds don't come through from upper levels of government, the shortfall will have to be made up somehow by the new council by year end.

The mayor-elect has boldly asserted he could find $35 to $60 million in savings, cut 200 positions without layoffs, keep the tax hike to well below the rate of inflation, and fund his election promises, all without reducing any services.

He has about three months to table his first draft budget.

And while his various leadership teams and task forces are crunching numbers and drafting recommendations, Sutcliffe will have to establish a more harmonious tone at council.

During the campaign, the key candidates received kudos for debating the issues and keeping the personal attacks to a minimum.

Indeed, the one-on-one congeniality between Sutcliffe and McKenney seems to be the real deal. Behind the scenes at one debate, Sutcliffe chatted with McKenney about where they bought a particularly cool backpack. The two made a Beavertail date after a round of the game "Never Have I Ever" at another debate revealed that McKenney had in fact never indulged in the fried-dough confection.

But the campaign was also punctuated by negativity. And the Sutcliffe team hit first, and hit hardest, on that front.

About a quarter of Sutcliffe's statements were solely concerned with criticizing McKenney, a few of them released even before the councillor had made a single platform announcement. The most egregious was Sutcliffe's news release entitled, "Catherine McKenney's record demonstrates clear opposition to building new housing" — their record shows no such thing — claiming McKenney said the city didn't need to build new housing.

In fact, they were talking about a small group of people who have housing but might need a rental subsidy to keep them from falling into homelessness.

Now, the negativity was by no means one-sided. After the Thanksgiving weekend, McKenney called a news conference to charge that Sutcliffe's fiscal plan was going to lead to cuts. That was followed by a series of back-and-forth arguments that few could follow over whose financial plan had the biggest hole.

But last night, with the competition of the campaign over, Sutcliffe extended an olive branch to McKenney's voters, saying he had heard their concerns and expectations, and that he'll continue to listen.

For someone who is new to office, he already sounds like a practised politician — and not just because he is a skilled communicator in both official languages. In his speech, he promised to "respect every part of the city, the rural areas, the suburbs, and the rural areas."

The council voters are sending to city hall is a similar mix of progressive, centrist and small-c conservative representatives who often clashed.

But Sutcliffe persisted.

"I believe there is common ground for us," he said. "And I promise to continue to listen. I will be a mayor for all of Ottawa."

And that may be his hardest promise to keep.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...enge-1.6628372

[rocketphish]

From transit improvements to the police budget, five challenges Ottawa's new council will face
There'll be lots of learning for everyone to do, between simmering challenges facing city hall, new ones that will emerge as the term gets underway, and veteran councillors adjusting to a new mix of personalities and priorities around the table.

Taylor Blewett
Oct 25, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 5 minute read

After an election campaign full of ideas about what the city’s next council should be doing, the new mayor and councillors get to move into implementation mode.

The current council guard will hold down the fort until Nov. 15, while their incoming replacements get oriented. There’ll be lots of learning for everyone to do, between simmering challenges facing city hall, new ones that will emerge as the term gets underway, and veteran councillors adjusting to a new mix of personalities and priorities around the table as everyone works to deliver for the people who put them there.

From crafting a first budget to a better-functioning transit system, here are five challenges the next council can expect to confront in fairly short order.

More homes, more problems

New councillors will learn quickly that when it comes to city planning, it’s ultimately the provincial government’s world ⁠— we’re just living in it.

A major housing announcement is expected the day after the election, with the Toronto Star reporting that the PC government will table legislation to override municipal zoning to allow duplexes and triplexes within existing square footage of homes across Ontario and limit the role of conservation authorities, among other changes to “accelerate planning.”

The details and how exactly Ottawa will be affected remain to be seen, but recent history shows that even smaller provincial actions in the planning realm can wreak havoc at the municipal level.

Even without intervention by the province, the city hall housing agenda for the next term is supposed to be a busy one. There’s a new zoning bylaw to craft, an inclusionary zoning regime to create more affordable housing to be presented to council, high-profile redevelopments in the works at Landsdowne Park and LeBreton Flats, and the ongoing issue of “renovictions,” which the last council started to tackle.

Building a new council culture

To what extent they want to lead the process is up to the new mayor, but a significantly refreshed council table presents an opportunity to build bridges between councillors new and old, support for the agenda they were elected promising to execute, and trust between the public and their city government, which many argue is suffering for a variety of reasons.

From committee appointments to public consultation to comportment at recorded meetings and on social media, there are plenty of places the new mayor and council can distinguish itself from its predecessors –– or disappoint –– when it comes to building a new council culture.

On the subject of relationships, the new mayor will also have to navigate the displeasure of Premier Doug Ford if they elect not to use the “strong mayor” powers his government recently granted Ottawa and Toronto and will soon be extending to other cities.

Ford told reporters this week that he would be “very disappointed” if any city offered strong-mayor powers rejected them. Unlike Toronto’s John Tory, both Catherine McKenney and Mark Sutcliffe committed to doing as much.

The city budget and its police force

The municipal budget is a mammoth effort every year, but its crafting this time will happen under a new mayor and council with their own priorities and property tax promises. What’s in, what’s out and what’s changed is likely to get huge attention when it’s tabled in the coming months, after 12 budgets with Jim Watson holding the drafting pen.

Those who’ve been around the council table know that the size of the police budget, in particular, can be the subject of heated debate within and outside city hall. There’ll be a new chief and police services board involved in that process going forward, with their own ideas about how much money the force needs and what it should be spent on.

Among the complex demands they can expect to face are a different response to the mental health and addictions calls that police deal with now, desire in many parts of the city for more policing than they see currently, and a force that’s more diverse and healthier in culture and community interactions, especially with racialized residents.

Trains, buses and an inquiry report

Between almost farcical challenges with its new LRT system and a pandemic that wiped out much of its ridership base and changed travel patterns, the new council has its work cut out when it comes getting the city’s existing transit system to better serve its residents. A promised mayoral fare freeze means some relief for residents’ wallets but also a restriction to already challenged transit revenues. The crafting of the new transit budget will be a particularly interesting exercise to watch, as will be a promise by the new mayor to revisit transit routing to make sure buses are best serving residents – something both mayoral frontrunners pledged.

Then, there’s the delivery of Stage 2 LRT, scheduled for completion this term, and figuring out what to do about unfunded Stage 3 plans for an additional system expansion to Kanata and Barrhaven. Councillors concerned about implementing lessons learned from Stage 1 should prepare to do a lot of reading in the near future, as the commission leading the public inquiry into its breakdowns and derailments has a deadline of Nov. 30 to submit its final report and any recommendations, which will be made public shortly after.

Climate concerns, from waste disposal to the Ottawa riverbank

The campaign saw plenty of talk about climate change and how the city should tackle it. There’s already a master plan in place for doing so, though it’s been described as underfunded.

Meanwhile, deadlines for emission reduction targets loom, including getting to net zero emissions from city operations by 2040 and across the community by 2050. It’s now up to the new council to put more teeth behind the city’s climate goals.

As far as specific “green” files, some potentially thorny ones include how the city should deal with waste going forward –– work on a new master plan is underway, with staff having predicted the Trail Road landfill will reach capacity in the next 15 years or so –– and the electrification of the city’s bus fleet, which is proceeding with scrutiny by the city’s auditor general.

Then there are the climactic events, like the derecho, tornadoes, and catastrophic spring flooding that have hit in recent years with little warning. One hopes for a term with less extreme weather, but history suggests the new council shouldn’t count on it.

With files from Postmedia

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...ncil-will-face

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Was interesting how things broke out. Prominent Liberals supported McKenney but I guess on city issues we are more conservative than you'd expect. Though he seems very centrist and far from an anti-wok candidate.

I voted for Sutcliffe but am also a bit disappointed at the same time. We do need some bold leadership I just wasn't convinced her boldness was what I was looking for.

For your median Ottawan living in a detached house in the suburbs the McKenney platform offered little benefit.

[J.OT13]

Sutcliffe's cycling platform. Not terrible by any means.

[Davis137]

I think that Mr. Sutcliffe resonated with a larger and more varied audience than the others. I also get the impression that because he is a newcomer to the political spectrum, that he won't bring any prior bias to the roundtable, and will be inclined to hear viewpoints from all sides. I think he will have his work cut out for him, but will likely rise to the challenge, and carry himself well.

[J.OT13]

Article in Le Droit drawing parallels between the 2021 Gatineau election and Ottawa's last night. Progressive Mayoral candidate vs centrist. Progressive was ahead in the polls the whole time, but centrist ended up winning by a decent margin.

Un air de déjà-vu

https://www.ledroit.com/2022/10/25/u...877f678eeaf338

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I expect Ottawa to experience the same type of degradation under Sutcliffe as Toronto saw under Tory. And it will be well earned.

Almost certainly. Without knowing the geographic results of the Ottawa mayoral race it's easy to see how amalgamation has been a failure on a number of urban fronts. Suburban growth, urban degradation, downgrade of most city services in general.