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Ottawa Mayor Sutcliffe pledges 10-year, $10B plan to fix roads, pipes and city buildings
Mark Sutcliffe unveiled a C$10-billion, 10-year infrastructure platform: fix the 50 worst intersections, renew rec facilities, add 150 parks; funding mix unclear, city faces an C$11B gap.
Why it matters
With the municipal election approaching, incumbent Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has unveiled a 10-year, C$10-billion infrastructure platform: fix roads, pipes and city buildings — but the funding question remains open.
Full report
CBC and CTV reported October 1 that Sutcliffe's decade-long plan targets roads, pipes and city facilities: he pledged to identify and fix Ottawa's '50 worst intersections,' devote more than C$400 million to renew or replace recreation facilities — 130 of which are expected to reach the end of their useful lives in the next 10 years while the city's financial plan currently foresees replacing only 40 — and open 150 new parks, parkettes and dog parks in 10 years if re-elected.
The funding mix is unclear: Sutcliffe says the plan would be financed through tax revenue, development charges and contributions from other levels of government. The city currently faces an estimated C$11-billion infrastructure funding gap for roads, transit and flood mitigation over the next decade.
Rivals pounced: Alex Lawson asked why Sutcliffe hasn't already fixed the crumbling infrastructure during his four years in office — 'he let it rot in the ground while he spent our money on things we didn't need' — while Neil Saravanamuttoo called the plan 'light on details' about funding and said it ignores City Hall's lack of transparency, overspending and misplaced priorities. Sutcliffe responded that infrastructure spending rose 44 per cent during his term, and that fixing everything in 18 months 'is not realistic.' Voters go to the polls October 26.
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