October 23, 2022
On August 24, municipal election signs sprouted in Ottawa faster than flowers in the spring. Like overnight. They set the election for October 24. The candidates heavily sprinkled all major street intersections with signs in assorted colors. And there were a few humongous signs, noticeable from a distance; the candidate probably thought a few large signs are as good as numerous small ones.
I have followed the candidate debates in the media and in person, and I attended a meeting with the local ward candidates organized by my community association. My local candidates avoided arguing with each other at the request of the moderator, making it less of an interesting meeting except for a few eruptions when one candidate threw mud on another one.
Then I attended a larger, ward-wide meeting with all the local candidates, which attracted up to a hundred interested, and polite residents. I could almost read the attendee’s priorities from their comments – they were homeowners wishing for no property tax increases. As well, they expressed concern over densification via high-rise development and attendant construction with all the mess that comes with it. So the key issue to these attendees was to conserve the single-family residential character of our ward by preserving the R1 zone.
Although lip service was paid to affordable housing, the attendees had only a passing interest in the subject. They were homeowners.
Judging by the age of the participants – many retired, with a car at home – better bus service, or the construction of the light-rail transit (LRT), serving downtown were of mild concern. Especially considering that direct access to the LRT will be very limited for most residents of Ward 9.
Most candidates seemed to echo the attendees’ sentiments, hoping to garner support.
But these local objectives within wardscreate hard choices for the mayoral candidates who must deal with housing and transportation issues. For example, ridership pays for only forty-five percent of the city’s transportation budget. Should fees be raised? One candidate proposes to provide free transport for all people under seventeen years of age; that would create additional costs for the city’s transportation budget.
The two leading candidates have published detailed plans for housing, transportation, the environment, the economy, and the growth of Ottawa. With few exceptions, I found a large overlap between the two candidates’ proposals. For example, there is talk about net-zero buildings, electric buses, and the LRT in the campaign literature of both candidates. The differences are in the way the proposals would be implemented.
The leading mayoral candidate in this very close race is a two-time councilor who calls herself “they”, and proposes to increase the city’s budget by ten percent, which includes a plan for a 250-million dollar build-out of a bicycle system for Ottawa. Considering that Ottawa is not a bicycling town for six months of the year, this is a questionable proposal at best.
The other leading candidate has never been a publicly elected official, comes from a business and media background, and promises to keep the property tax to the two to two and a half percent annual increase. And he proposes a “balanced” transportation budget, improving streets and addressing the inadequate bus system.
I believe the choice between the two leading candidates comes down to additional spending versus fiscal discipline. And I think your voting preference most likely wouldfollow your stage in life. If you are young and live in an apartment with limited resources and starting a family, then you would be interested in affordable housing and bicycle paths, and good urban transportation. If you already have a house and a backyard for your children, or are an empty-nester and maybe retired, then you would be interested in keeping property taxes at current levels.
And again, there are the candidates ’personalities and backgrounds that may be important to voters. One is a Centretown activist whose platform reflects the values of downtown residents (either single, childless, and most likely apartment dwellers), who have also declared that they (she) would accept no donations from developers. The other leading candidateis a family man and marathon runner with a long history in the volunteer sector who has yet to disclose his donation list.
There is a real choice for Ottawans between two candidates in this election. One is a “progressive” leaning towards additional expenditures for city services while the other one is more to the middle, leaning towards fiscal discipline. I believe demographics and voter turnout may be decisive factors in who will win.
andrasthehun.ca 