Debate turns into Watson-O'Brien showdown

A mayoral all-candidates debate put on by the Ottawa Taxpayers Advocacy Group quickly turned into a sparring match between front-runner Jim Watson and incumbent Larry O'Brien, who argued over spending and the future of light-rail transit.

Monday night's event included a councillor's debate, as well, but most of the candidates in that event were supportive of mandate of fiscal responsibility in government.

The mayoral debate, on the other hand, was the first opportunity for voters to see all the major candidates in one venue.

Watson used the debate to take aim at O'Brien's oft-stated plea for voters to give him like-minded councillors to help him reduce spending and limit tax increases.

"Every time I hear Larry talk about 'Woe is me I have one vote', it's an admission of failure of your leadership sir," Watson said.

O'Brien defended his tenure as mayor, saying he had accomplished more in his three and half years as mayor than has been done in the last twenty years in Ottawa, including the three years when Watson was mayor.

The two candidates also sparred over light rail transit, with Watson chastising O'Brien for cancelling previous plans for light rail transit upon his election in 2006, while O'Brien suggested Watson had his own designs to kill the city's current plan for a downtown tunnel for the rail project.

"I firmly believe that the LRT program and the future of this city will be in jeopardy if the city of Ottawa elects Jim Watson," said O'Brien.

The format of the mayoral portion of the debate frustrated mayoral candidate Andy Haydon, who got up and left before it was finished.

"I think it's very unfair that people who are viable candidates are watching a debate between two people, and that's what you've turned it into," said Haydon, the former regional chair of Ottawa-Carleton, who made a surprise return to the Ottawa political scene when he entered the race last week.

It was the first of what is expected to be many debates between mayoral candidates in the lead up to the Oct. 25 municipal election.