Denley: Mark Sutcliffe will unite Ottawans, not divide them

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With less than a week to go until the municipal election, Ottawa voters have two quite different eligible options for mayor. It’s a luxury we haven’t had since 2006.

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It’s too close a race to call. The last main street investigation The poll shows Catherine McKenney with 34 percent support, the same number as in the July and September polls. The poll shows candidate Mark Sutcliffe at 32 percent, a big increase from his 15 percent in July and his 20 percent support in September. The poll is reportedly accurate to ±2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, leaving the two in a statistical tie.

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This is a race where every vote matters. Ottawanians will have to determine the direction they want their city to go in and the likelihood that the new mayor will be able to take them there.

McKenney’s priorities are clear. The candidate’s biggest spending promise is $288 million to increase the amount of bus transit by 20 percent, freeze transit fares and make transit free for those under 17. McKenney is also proposing to borrow $250 million to expand the bike network, completing the city’s 25-year construction plan in just four years.

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The total cost of McKenney’s plan, including spending on affordable housing and climate change, is well over $500 million. In particular, McKenney’s financial plan calls for spending $90 million on reserves. While the city budget lists $583 million in “discretionary” reserves, that money is set aside to protect taxpayers against unexpected costs. It includes sums to stabilize taxes, cover transit deficit, employee benefits, water and sewage projects, green areas, the library and public health.

Sutcliffe’s spending plan is modest by comparison. He plans to spend an additional $100 million over four years, with his priority being repairing roads, sidewalks and bike lanes. Included is $5 million to freeze transit fares for a year and more money for community agencies dealing with mental illness and addiction.

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Sutcliffe has made a lot of promises in this election, but most of them don’t involve big spending. Instead, they are leadership offerings for Ottawanians to work together on issues like the future of our downtown. That is a fundamental part of a mayor’s job.

Voters will have to assess which of the two candidates has the political chops to turn promises into reality. A mayor cannot accomplish much without gaining the support of the council.

That could be a problem for McKenney. For the past four years, the councilman has been part of the leftist faction on the council, a group that rarely supported Mayor Jim Watson and the council majority. A leader at the municipal level has to know how to compromise to get things done, but that was not something McKenney chose to do. Instead, the mayoral hopeful lost vote after vote, preferring confrontation and complaint to compromise and achievement.

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For example, McKenney would not support a 300-unit apartment building at Nepean and O’Connor streets because it would mean the loss of six low-rent apartment units.

Unless the new council swings unexpectedly to the left, McKenney will have to convince centrist councilmembers to back new spending and borrowing. That would require more political savvy than the councilman has previously displayed.

Sutcliffe’s path as mayor would be easier, in part because he has promised to spend much less. The former broadcaster is the definition of an intermediate candidate with a broad-based plan. Sutcliffe is the candidate for those who want the city to fix the roads, not the world.

The fact that Sutcliffe is backed by prominent Liberals, Conservatives and business leaders shows that he can build a coalition. That’s critical for a new mayor with a much changed council.

This city desperately needs a mayor who can unite Ottawans, not divide them. One who is careful with his money and doesn’t deplete the city’s reserves. We need a mayor whose priority is the well-being of all Ottawanians, not one who respects just one area of ​​the city or one worldview.

For me, that candidate is Mark Sutcliffe.

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