2022 Ottawa Municipal Election

[J.OT13]

Very strange position indeed.

I do question the need considering the events of the past 2.5 years. I think it's worth asking if the entire Stage 3 plan is still valid. Building to Fallowfield in Barrhaven (to complete the VIA grade separation) and either Eagleson, Terry Fox or Palladium in Kanata might make more sense the the full-buildout currently on the books.

No reason why we can't proceed as planned for at least part, and re-visit the rest.

One decision I absolutely want reversed is the detour between Knoxdale and Hunt Club to save townhomes that are already being renovicted.

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

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One decision I absolutely want reversed is the detour between Knoxdale and Hunt Club to save townhomes that are already being renovicted.

Absolutely! This is important.

The houses should continue to be expropriated – at the price they were at the initial announcement. There should be no benefit to a builder who swoops in to buy up properties at a rock-bottom price (because the price drops after an expropriation is announced). In my mind, this is predatory behaviour and can not be rewarded. The new owner should be given only what the City would have given the original owners, the price just before the expropriation announcement.

Staff are saying that it will ‘only’ cost an extra $50M to detour the line. Well, first, I believe that they are low-balling the estimate. Second, I think that it would have cost much less than $50M to expropriate when it was first announced. (I would be surprised if the new developer spent $50M for all of the properties, not just the ones that need to be removed.)

This was a MAJOR, MAJOR FAIL on the City’s part. They need to fix this, and help those who used to live there. The City’s behaviour has been shameful.

[J.OT13]

This I'm sure might spark quite a debate.

If we're going to consider giving anything in the Ottawa region the "National Park" treatment, it should be Gatineau Park. That should be the NCC's priority.

I think we need a review of the Greenbelt to determine what's worth preserving and what should be redeveloped (along highways and O-Train lines). Redeveloping farm land in the Greenbelt means preserving farm land outside the Greenbelt.

Then, and only then, should we consider protecting the most sensitive lands and important recreational areas by giving them "National Park" status.

In any case, this is one promise any Mayor would be unable to control. It will not influence by decision one way or another.

McKenney: Make the Ottawa Greenbelt a National Urban Park

Posted by Craig Pickthorne on September 20, 2022

OTTAWA, September 20, 2022 – Today, mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney announced that they will work with the National Capital Commission, Parks Canada, and local elected officials at all levels of government to preserve the Greenbelt and turn it into a national urban park, if elected Mayor.

“Ottawa has the largest publicly owned Greenbelt in the world and it must be preserved,” said McKenney. “At a time when our city urgently needs bold climate action, turning the Greenbelt into a national urban park will increase Ottawa’s sustainability and protect our natural areas.”

Making the Greenbelt a national urban park will also enhance the health and well-being of Ottawa residents, offering mental health benefits that come with time spent in nature, such as stress reduction and opportunities for social connection.

“Importantly, the creation of a national urban park will provide Ottawa’s tourism sector and economy with a competitive advantage,” highlighted McKenney. “Our city’s economic prosperity rests on its ability to attract a talented workforce. And we know that quality of life, including access to outdoor recreation and nature, is ranked as a key factor when deciding to move to Ottawa,” they added.

The Greenbelt was created in the 1950s to protect rural land around Ottawa from sprawl. Yet the Greenbelt is often under threat of development.

McKenney is a longtime climate action advocate, who has often stood up against nature loss in Ottawa. Today’s announcement is the first of two environmental announcements that McKenney will make this week, in addition to hosting a rally before the Ottawa Climate Strike March.

https://www.mckenney2022.ca/greenbelt

[J.OT13]

Another thought, having a National Park (or two) in the region could maybe further boost tourism numbers. Gatineau Park is probably fairly well known to tourists, but I doubt many are aware of the Greenbelt and what it has to offer.

[Acajack]

Any real world polling for this race?

Haven't heard much of anything in the media.

Family and friends who live in Ottawa seem to be leaning Sutcliffe but that's totally inconclusive.

These are all Liberal voters in federal and provincial elections BTW.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Fading Isle

That is a seriously weird position for these candidates to take. Are there honestly people in Barrhaven that don't want the LRT as soon as possible? Realistically, I can't see Stage 3 starting until 2026 at the earliest and I would hope that any lingering issues with Stage 1 have been fully ironed out long before that. I don't get it.

There are people who think it takes away from roads.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Any real world polling for this race?

Haven't heard much of anything in the media.

Family and friends who live in Ottawa seem to be leaning Sutcliffe but that's totally inconclusive.

These are all Liberal voters in federal and provincial elections BTW.

If Sutcliffe were doing well in the polls, David Coletto would be crowing about it.

[bartlebooth]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Any real world polling for this race?

Haven't heard much of anything in the media.

Family and friends who live in Ottawa seem to be leaning Sutcliffe but that's totally inconclusive.

These are all Liberal voters in federal and provincial elections BTW.

I was wondering this myself earlier today. Would love to see some legit polling. I live centrally and there are many McKenney signs on people's yards/windows but like you say, it's totally inconclusive. Haven't seen a single Chiarelli sign anywhere whether it's someone's yard or in publicly designated areas, which is surprising. Feels like it's a two person race (McKenney v Sutcliffe).

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Any real world polling for this race?

Haven't heard much of anything in the media.

Family and friends who live in Ottawa seem to be leaning Sutcliffe but that's totally inconclusive.

These are all Liberal voters in federal and provincial elections BTW.

According to a Mainstreet poll, McKenney is leading at 34%, with Sutcliffe behind at 20% (up from 15% in July) and Chiarelli a distant third at 11%.

https://www.ipolitics.ca/news/mckenn...oral-race-poll

2006 taught us that polls can be deceiving. While Munter was leading, O'Brien came from behind to win it all.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa's mayoral candidates talk about housing, but offer few solutions
The degree of government scrutiny given to the housing sector is wildly inappropriate for an industry that is producing new neighbourhoods, not nuclear waste.

Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen
Sep 20, 2022 • 7 hours ago • 3 minute read

It’s no surprise that the major candidates for mayor are talking about housing. The shortage of it is one of the biggest problems Ottawa faces.

Unfortunately, housing-policy debates quickly bog down in the swamp of complexity created by the politicians and planners who micromanage every aspect of the industry. The pressing question of how we build more houses can easily get lost.

Politicians and their bureaucratic underlings at city hall weigh in on every imaginable aspect of a proposed housing project. Is it located in just the right spot? How will it affect the environment? Is it too high? Is it dense enough? Is it near the new city rail line? Is it esthetically appealing to city councillors?

The degree of government scrutiny given to the housing sector is wildly inappropriate for an industry that is producing new neighbourhoods, not nuclear waste. The surprise is not that the city is short of housing, but that any gets built at all.

The Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association says Ottawa is nearly 24,000 homes short of what is required to serve our population right now. Eliminating that shortfall and meeting future demand would require about 100,000 new housing units over the next decade, the Smart Prosperity Institute says, substantially more than the 76,000 dwellings Ottawa’s new Official Plan promises.

This is not just an Ottawa problem, of course. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said earlier this year that 2.3 million housing units will be built in Canada by the end of the decade, but an additional 3.5 million units would be required to restore housing affordability. That’s defined as housing costing no more than 40 per cent of your disposable income. The last time we had that kind of affordability was in 2004.

The first step to resolving the problem is for governments at all levels to treat housing as a normal consumer good, the production of which is largely a matter between buyers and builders. Rather than employing planners who want to create the future they would personally prefer, leave choices up to homebuyers.

Let’s stop pretending that most of the city’s future housing needs can be met by intensification. It’s part of the solution, but land in the core is expensive and little boutique projects won’t produce the required housing volume.

Instead of trying to figure out exactly where the housing should go, increase development land supply by allowing new development anywhere that is contiguous with existing development.

Perhaps most important, realize that developers are not the enemy. They’re the solution to the housing shortage.

Too many people in Ottawa seem to loathe developers because they are in business to make money. That anti-business feeling is what’s behind the complaints about a routine fundraiser held by mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe.

The progressive group Horizon Ottawa, which has endorsed Sutcliffe’s opponent Catherine McKenney, called Sutcliffe’s event “cash for access.” The group purported to be scandalized by the event, hosted by sports entrepreneur Jeff Hunt “at his private multi-million-dollar condo.”

There were apparently no developers at Sutcliffe’s event and he’s not taking any donations from people in the development industry, but that’s still not pure enough for Horizon Ottawa because other types of wealthy people were in attendance. It’s a silly critique. Nothing could be more normal during an election campaign than a fundraising event.

If you’re going to run for mayor, you’d better have a few supporters with some money in their pockets. Mayor Jim Watson raised just over $410,000 in the 2018 election, a contest in which he faced only the mildest of competition. The mayor certainly didn’t turn his nose up at development industry donors, according to his campaign filings. Sutcliffe is setting a higher standard, which would seem to be the main point.

Sutcliffe, McKenney and candidate Bob Chiarelli all favour more housing. Who doesn’t? They are offering various tweaks and adjustments that might make some difference at the margins, but that’s it. That’s the real scandal.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa political commentator and author. Contact him at: [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/de...-few-solutions

[waterloowarrior]

FYI, I am going to reset the forum poll when advance polls open on Sept 24th

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

FYI, I am going to reset the forum poll when advance polls open on Sept 24th

Thanks!

[J.OT13]

Sutcliffe interviewed by Le Droit.

https://www.ledroit.com/2022/09/18/c...f35613c63deb39

Doesn't think Bob's tax freeze is realistic, and I agree. He believes McKenney's 3% tax hikes are reasonable, but doubts they would cover their promises.

He wants to build 100k new homes within 10 years (City has limited control on that front), 10k of those affordable (same as McKenney).

On OC, he might support making the Equipass cheaper, and/or student passes. Maybe making weekend regular fare trips $2. Very vague "maybes", but nothing concrete like McKenney. IMO, decent ideas, but I would prefer lowering all regular fares to $3 instead of weekends only to $2.

He reiterates his support for Lansdowne 2.0, but would be open to further discussions with the community on how to improve the project. Calls it a "necessary evil" ("mal nécessaire"). I don't think "evil" is quite the word, but that's how you'd translate it.

On French services, he believes in their importance and is ready to hear out the francophone community on possible improvements.

On the new official plan, he understands that people don't like change in their communities, but "acceptable" densification is necessary. Doesn't want too much new sprawl.

On the Vanier Sally Anne, he'd like an opportunity to work with the organization and residents to improve the project. One district in the City should not be burden with an entire societal issue (i.e. homelessness, drug abuse, mental health).

In short, he wants to work with the communities to improve things. Very few concrete plans or ideas.

[lrt's friend]

Chris Fraser running in Orleans West-Innes Ward was interviewed on CFRA this afternoon. One of his statements was that we need to reduce bus frequency in order to improve reliability. Specifically, he mentioned that 15 frequency should be reduced to 30 minute frequency as a method to make sure that a bus was available on time. While I understand the intent, further reduction in frequency (which will substantially increase waits at transfer stations), will make for longer trip times on average and have a negative effect on the customer experience. We need to be improving frequency particularly on key bus routes.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Chris Fraser running in Orleans West-Innes Ward was interviewed on CFRA this afternoon. One of his statements was that we need to reduce bus frequency in order to improve reliability. Specifically, he mentioned that 15 frequency should be reduced to 30 minute frequency as a method to make sure that a bus was available on time. While I understand the intent, further reduction in frequency (which will substantially increase waits at transfer stations), will make for longer trip times on average and have a negative effect on the customer experience. We need to be improving frequency particularly on key bus routes.

Oh God no!! How to further kill ridership?

[J.OT13]

'NO WAR ON CARS': Ottawa mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe on his transportation plan

"I'm going to let people choose how they want to get around the city and offer them lots of choices."

Blair Crawford, Postmedia
Publishing date:Sep 22, 2022

Calling it a “balanced” approach to transportation, mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe is pushing a three-pronged plan that adds $100 million for better road maintenance and snow clearing, implements the recommendations of the commission of inquiry into the LRT and modernizes the OC Transpo schedule for a post-pandemic city.

“I’m not going to declare war on cars or any mode of transportation,” Sutcliffe said. “I’m going to let people choose how they want to get around the city and offer them lots of choices.”

Sutcliffe’s plan, released Thursday, is notable in that he reiterates his opposition to promises that his main opponent, Catherine McKenney, has made cornerstones of their campaign. Sutcliffe is against free transit, which he says would add 10 per cent to property taxes annually (In fact, McKenney proposed fare-free transit only for those under 18).

Sutcliffe also opposes McKenney’s promise to pump $145 million into OC Transpo’s budget, which he notes is already running an $85-million deficit. And he calls McKenney’s promise to bring LRT maintenance back into the city’s control “irresponsible.” The city simply doesn’t have the expertise, he said.

“The first thing we have to do is fix our transit system, not make it free,” Sutcliffe said. “I’ve spoken to residents all over the city who don’t think the buses and trains — particularly the buses — are taking them where they need to go. Making it free isn’t going to cause people to use the system if it takes an hour and half to get from home to work. We need a better system, not a free one.”

And while he is committed to closing gaps in the city’s cycling network, Sutcliffe says he “won’t pit cyclists against motorists by racking up a quarter of a billion dollars of debt to focus on one method of transportation, at the expense of a system-wide approach to improving our entire transportation system.”

Sutcliffe lives near downtown and cycles a lot, he said, but that’s not realistic for many Ottawa residents.

“The reality is, no matter how many bike lanes we build, people who live in Kanata or Orléans or Manotick are not going to use their bicycles to take their kids to hockey or ringette practice in February. That’s never going to happen. And they’re not going to take their parents to a medical appointment by bike in January.

“I know if you live downtown it might seem easy to think you can get around by walking or biking all the time, but that’s not the reality for families in the suburbs.”

With Ottawa’s population expected to grow by 500,000 over the next 20 to 30 years, Sutcliffe said more than new bike lanes will be needed to keep the city from gridlock. “I just think we’re still going to have to build some roads and repair some roads.”

Sutcliffe also promises to double councillors’ budgets for traffic calming measures in neighbourhoods, establish a hotline to report potholes, and to support “Option 7” extension of Brian Coburn Boulevard in the city’s east end.

“If we don’t expand our transportation infrastructure it’s going to have a huge impact on our economy,” Sutcliffe said. “We don’t want what they have in Toronto where there’s gridlock and it’s hard to move people and goods around the city.”

https://ottawasun.com/news/local-new...b-4d59269b072b

[Fading Isle]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Chris Fraser running in Orleans West-Innes Ward was interviewed on CFRA this afternoon. One of his statements was that we need to reduce bus frequency in order to improve reliability. Specifically, he mentioned that 15 frequency should be reduced to 30 minute frequency as a method to make sure that a bus was available on time. While I understand the intent, further reduction in frequency (which will substantially increase waits at transfer stations), will make for longer trip times on average and have a negative effect on the customer experience. We need to be improving frequency particularly on key bus routes.

No, and I cannot stress this enough... no. This has to be one of the worst ideas I've heard in a while. It's obvious this person doesn't take transit.

[bartlebooth]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

'NO WAR ON CARS': Ottawa mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe on his transportation plan

I really despise Sutcliffe's framing here. Allocating part of the city's budget to alternative modes of transportation is not a war on cars. That's absolutely absurd. When it comes to mobility, there's been a war on everything but cars for many decades in this city and serious work needs to be done to reverse this design decision. This article was enough for me to completely rule Sutcliffe out as an option for mayor.

[Richard Eade]

With regards to Chris Fraser’s approach of reducing transit frequency to build reliability; WOW. I’m not sure why he doesn’t just come out and say that he plans to minimize Ottawa’s public transit system – making it useless to all but the very desperate.

For the Mayoral race, I have been disappointed with the lackluster campaign that Sutcliffe has run. His ‘Balanced Approach’ sounds to me as if he has no ideas. He will listen to what everyone wants. He will fix problems (without offering specifics – because he hasn’t been told yet what ‘everyone’ wants). He will not prioritize anything over anything else.

Of course, he is off my list of possible Mayors because of his stand on ‘Option 7’. Opening up a new road corridor through a farm field simply encourages its development. I hope that the NCC holds strong on this one. There is already an approved corridor. This move by the City is just to please land developers.

So, what is Sutcliffe’s vision for the city? Besides encouraging development of farm fields? (How many developers paid that $1,200 per plate for their meal?)

Of the leading candidates (leaving out candidates that I consider ‘one agenda’ candidates – are we really ready to give Ottawa back to the Indigenous People?), I would say that McKenney has the most vision for the city. I might not agree with all of their ideas, but at least they are putting forth their idea of a progressive vision. I expect that, given the other candidates, McKenney should walk away with a decisive win on October 24th. However, as they will only be one person of the Council of 24, it will be interesting to see if they can sway enough of the others to get some of their platform implemented.

[J.OT13]

This is not a "balanced approach" at all! His three pronged plan includes nothing for cycling. Doesn't mention better plowing for sidewalks or bike lanes. His plan ensures the car remains the hands-down best option.

He again miss-leads voters by suggesting McKenney promised free transit for all.

I do question the City's capability of taking over the rail maintenance and operations, especially the legal implications however, hundreds of cities across the world have done it themselves (right off the bat, not by cancelling a outside contract), including Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver when their systems initially opened.

And while he is committed to closing gaps in the city’s cycling network, Sutcliffe says he “won’t pit cyclists against motorists by racking up a quarter of a billion dollars of debt to focus on one method of transportation, at the expense of a system-wide approach to improving our entire transportation system.”

That's pretty vague and probably doesn't mean much beyond the current slow-and-steady approach. How much are we spending on car infra over cycling today? Aren't we now putting the vast majority of the transportation budget in cars?

“The reality is, no matter how many bike lanes we build, people who live in Kanata or Orléans or Manotick are not going to use their bicycles to take their kids to hockey or ringette practice in February. That’s never going to happen. And they’re not going to take their parents to a medical appointment by bike in January.

Those are very specific examples. What about commuting? Getting to the O-Train? Going to a restaurant or the cinema? Grocery shopping (heck, even Costco is realistic with a trailer or cargo-bike)?

When he presented himself, I thought he could be a good alternative. later, I placed my support solidly behind McKenny, but still thought if he won, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, but now...