Mayoral candidates spar over transportation, convoy in CBC Ottawa's debate
Chiarelli, Kadri, McKenney and Sutcliffe appeared on a CBC Ottawa News at 6 panel
Four candidates vying to become Ottawa's next mayor exchanged heated back-and-forths during a special edition of CBC Ottawa News at 6 Tuesday.
Bob Chiarelli, Nour Kadri, Catherine McKenney and Mark Sutcliffe appeared on a panel moderated by the CBC's Omar Dabaghi-Pacheco.
Here are some highlights from the mayoral debate.
Transportation
Dabaghi-Pacheco pushed McKenney on how their transit plan would appeal to people who live in Navan, Kanata and other rural or suburban areas, as well as people living in the core.
"My transportation plan will get you out of traffic," they said. "If you need to drive or you choose to drive — by getting more people onto transit, you get more people out of traffic. That benefits everyone."
WATCH | The plans for travel in the city:
Sutcliffe took aim at McKenney's plan to build bike lanes, which McKenney has said would be financed through a $250-million green bond.
"With the added interest that's going to cost $450 million, almost half a billion dollars," Sutcliffe said.
He added the debate around transit needs to respect residents living in rural areas — who can't bike their children to hockey practice or a doctor — saying many he's spoken with decry the condition of city roads.
"They find the state of our roads deplorable. I will also fix public transit and LRT," Sutcliffe said. "We can't just do bike lanes."
Kadri said he'd review transit scheduling to optimize routes and retain drivers and mechanics to improve reliability and increase ridership.
Chiarelli talked about how a new mayor and council will need to complete an assessment of the system.
Police and the convoy
In one of the most pointed exchanges, Chiarelli raised concerns about the Ottawa Police Services Board's goal to hire a new police chief by the end of the current council term and took aim at Sutcliffe's potential conflict of interest.
Chiarelli and McKenney sent a joint letter asking the civilian police oversight body to investigate the potential conflict on Tuesday — Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, head of the police services board which will select a new police chief, is an honorary co-chair of Sutcliffe's campaign.
"El-Chantiry is pushing to hire a new police chief before the new mayor and council are in place," Chiarelli said. "After totally inadequate public engagement."
Sutcliffe is the only leading mayoral candidate who supports the move.
McKenney positioned themselves as supporting residents during the truck convoy while pressing Sutcliffe about a column he penned in the Ottawa Citizen on Feb. 14 about a need for understanding the protesters, although the exact quote McKenney cited isn't found within the text.
WATCH | Policing after the convoy:
Inflation and cutting costs
Each of the candidates was asked to choose one city service they would protect at all costs.
Chiarelli said he would protect people on social assistance and experiencing homelessness. McKenney echoed Chiarelli, saying they'd make it a priority to end chronic homelessness.
Kadri said he'd maintain the number of city employees — as opposed to Sutcliffe who has promised to cut 200 city jobs — while Sutcliffe talked about doing a line-by-line review to find efficiencies and savings in non-essential areas.
"Catherine is trying to present themselves as a fiscal conservative. It's simply not true," Sutcliffe said.
"And Catherine is attacking my responsible fiscal plan as a way of distracting from the fact that Catherine is a spender who will not be able to keep expenses under control at City Hall."
He said their financial plan would deplete the city's reserves.
WATCH | Strategies for managing inflation:
McKenney pushed back.
"My priorities have always been people. My priorities are transit, my priorities are housing, my priorities are climate action," they said.
"That is what is in my plan. We have a fully costed plan, we've got a solid plan, and we have accounted for inflation across the entire budget."
Seeing an opportunity, Kadri took aim at the frontrunners.
"Sutcliffe's plan is not progressive. Catherine's plan is not pragmatic."
Donor lists and Watson 2.0?
Residents have grown used to a divided council, often split between those who support Jim Watson and those who don't.
"Bob Chiarelli and Mark Sutcliffe both are competing. Who's going to be Jim Watson 2.0?" Kadri said. "OK, perhaps one of them is Jim Watson 2.0. The other one is not a fully fledged version. [They're] Jim Watson 1.5."
Sutcliffe pushed back against Chiarelli's suggestion that his campaign had "corporate backers."
"I said very clearly at the beginning of the campaign that I would not accept donations from developers, and I've not accepted donations from developers," Sutcliffe said.
"We'll see the numbers later," Kadri responded.
WATCH | Who has given money to candidates?
McKenney challenged Sutcliffe and the two candidates to release their donor lists. McKenney has already released their donor list.
"It would be easier if you just showed us your donors list," they said.
WATCH | Watch the full mayoral debate on CBC Ottawa News at 6:
