Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, August 12, 2009

We deserve no less: Any announcements need to clearly state where Ottawa is going

With the mayor back in his big chair at City Hall, we have been promised what could amount to a “state of the city” address in the coming weeks.

Although usually delivered at the beginning of each calendar year, with the sense that our city is adrift and given the distraction of the last three months, a new address is warranted.

As Susan Sherring wrote in yesterday’s Sun, Mayor Larry O’Brien has signalled he’ll make a major announcement on his vision for the city in the coming weeks. He also said dealing with the sewage waste strategy is at the top of the priority list. And things like a transit plan update and status report on the future of Lansdowne Park remain on the table from before he took a leave of absence during his trial.

His response to these issues needs to have meat on the bones.

To start, we need a financial update on how flush or broke the city really is. Given the ambitious plans for transit, the necessary sewer repairs that must occur, a potential downtown library along with a host of other major capital projects in terms of roads, sidewalks and community centres, it is clear there are more dreams than dollars right now.

This is not to say our city shouldn’t think big. But a simple ledger of what funding is committed from property taxes or other levels of government for all these initiatives and consequently, where we fall short is imperative.

This ledger will not only hold our current mayor and council to account for the remainder of their term, but it will also help voters conduct their own reality check on candidates who will be offering up new project priorities during the 2010 fall election.

Next up, the mayor should outline the city’s plans — at a high level — for the anticipated second wave of the pandemic H1N1 virus. As I’ve noted before, kudos are due to Medical Officer of Health Dr. Isra Levy and the city’s emergency management team for proactive communications with the right tonality and transparent and ongoing community engagement to date. However, as we are seeing in the southern hemisphere, in Australia and Argentina, the seasonal flu strains and H1N1 are stretching local resources.

Citizens deserve to know, in advance, what business continuity measures are in place for transit services, client service centres, uninterrupted power supplies and city facilities such as day-care centres and long-term care homes.

Businesses have rightly been advised by the medical officer of health and federal and provincial officials to plan for up to 30% absenteeism in the extreme if H1N1 is very virulent and prevalent this fall and winter. What is the plan if this same level of impact is experienced across city services?

Finally, council must take the lead and push forward with a real, sensible and winning economic development strategy. We’re comfortable, content and complacent with the federal government presence keeping us afloat. With Nortel being feasted upon during insolvency proceedings and other hi-tech downsizing, our claim to fame as Silicon Valley North is now a joke, and while our embryonic clean energy cluster initiative is promising, more in terms of diversification needs to occur.

This lack of an economic vision for our city could be a key issue in next year’s mayoral race.

Any forthcoming mayoral address must be encompassing in its scope and compellingly clear as to where our city is going; the citizens of Ottawa deserve no less.