Joel Harden, MPP Ottawa Centre
On March 28, Premier Ford announced a “New Deal” for Ottawa, which Mayor Sutcliffe described as a “big win for Ottawa.”
Hmm. While provincial investment in our city is welcome, I don’t see this as a “big win” for Ottawa, and certainly not for our struggling transit system.
Toronto’s “New Deal” included an additional $600 million for the TTC, but the only mention of transit in our agreement concerns public safety (which is important), and building a transitway corridor in Kanata (which is contingent on federal funding).
When asked about this, the premier said transit ridership must increase before Ottawa could expect more funding to operate OC Transpo; he then pointed to the province’s support for our struggling LRT (and don’t get me started on that).
OC Transpo is short 74,000 service hours in 2024 because of provincial cuts; if the bus is often late, one is less likely to take transit. This then feeds a downward spiral which Premier Ford helped cause. This pushes folks into cars, which then leads to more congestion (and more emissions).
Of course, there are positive aspects to our “New Deal”. Downtown businesses and residents are struggling, and public safety is a concern. Many neighbours are suffering with our housing and homelessness emergency. It is good to note that Ottawa’s alternative 911 response system will benefit from our “New Deal.”
But the terms of Ottawa’s “New Deal” requires the city to come up with a public safety plan within 120 days of yesterday’s announcement, and I must admit my concern at how this will be handled at Queen’s Park.
This is, after all, the same premier who abandoned us during the convoy occupation of February 2022. This absence was noted by the Rouleau Commission, for which Premier Ford refused to testify, and he has never expressed any remorse for doing so. He has rarely been in Ottawa over the last six years.
In fact, at the “New Deal” presser, the premier rebuffed a question on this very topic. Blair Crawford from The Ottawa Citizen noted the premier had only been in Ottawa three times for announcements since being elected.
The premier denied the claim and his press secretary cut off Crawford’s microphone when a follow-up question was attempted. It was not a good look.
The Easter season has just passed, and as someone raised with Christian values, I’m inspired to recall Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
As I explained in a eulogy at Queen’s Park this week for MPP Daryl Kramp, I was raised to judge others by their actions and not just their words. On that score, I am worried Ottawa’s “New Deal” fell well short, notably on transit.
But we won’t stop pushing for better, you can be sure of that.