Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe unveiled a 70-page document laying out hundreds of promises for his reelection campaign last week. With days until the election, his plan represents the most comprehensive of any candidate, Sutcliffe told CompassNews.
“We have the most comprehensive and detailed platform of any candidates running for mayor in this election,” he said. “The other candidates have put out ideas, but they’re thin on details.”
Sutcliffe said a key focus of his for the city is preparing for the city’s projected growth of over 500,000 people before 2050.
“The big question that we have in front of us this election is how are we going to prepare for that growth, and who has a plan to do it,” the incumbent mayor said.
“I have an infrastructure plan, I have a plan to improve public transit,” he said. “I have a plan to make sure that our economy is growing and keeping pace with the growth in the number of people.”
The plan also includes significant investment in key infrastructure across the city to close the city’s “infrastructure gap” with an investment between $10 billion and $11 billion.
“I have a plan to fill that [infrastructure] gap, and we’re going to rely on a number of different sources of revenue to do that, and we are going to build the infrastructure we need for a growing city,” Sutcliffe said.
Sutcliffe said that improving Ottawa’s infrastructure is especially important in the wake of the significant flooding that struck the city in July.
If reelected for the city’s highest office, Sutcliffe said he would allocate $500 million for flood prevention and mitigation efforts as part of his infrastructure plan.
“We have the best quality of life in any major city in Canada, we need to preserve that by investing in our roads and sidewalks, our recreational centres, our parks and our public transit,” Sutcliffe said. “And that’s what this $10 billion infrastructure plan is about.”
Another key pillar of Sutcliffe’s plan is improving city services, from emergency response times to filling potholes.
Hiring 350 more police officers, paramedics and firefighters is a promise that the incumbent mayor has made on the campaign trail, and is reiterated in his outlined plan.
In addition to hiring more first responders, the mayor promises to evaluate firefighter staffing, improve paramedic response times and increase special constable postings in Ottawa hospitals.
If reelected, Sutcliffe also promises to overhaul pothole responses by city staff, including expanding the use of Python 5000 pothole fillers, two of which the city has in a rental capacity.
“We hear all the time about potholes, it’s especially tough in Ottawa with the freeze-thaw cycles. We end up with a lot of potholes, and we have a lot of roads,” he said.
As the city faces a number of challenges, Sutcliffe said he believes the city needs candidates who make promises leading up to the election, rather than figuring out their priorities after being elected.
“I think this is a time that calls for serious leadership and a detailed plan,” Sutcliffe said. “I have a 70-page platform with more than 230 different commitments that we’re making for the people of Ottawa,” he added.
