Politicians suggest they influenced interprovincial bridge study

An Ottawa neighbourhood activist suspects politicians may have biased a study on interprovincial bridges after two local MPs and an Ontario legislator took credit for the outcome.

Kettle Island in the east end was chosen in September for the new bridge connecting Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., after a study by engineering consultants Roche-NCE.

'If people are taking credit for the outcome of the study, it's hard to believe they didn't have some influence over the result.' — Judy Lishman, east-end Ottawa resident

The National Capital Commission, which hired the consulting firm, maintains that it was an unbiased process.

But in the past month, Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal MPP Jim Watson, Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird and Carleton-Mississippi Mills Conservative MP Gordon O'Connor have all made statements implying that their lobbying contributed to the choice of Ottawa River crossing.

Both Baird and O'Connor are running for re-election in the Oct. 14 federal election.

Their claims erode the public's trust in the process, said east-end Ottawa residents such as Judy Lishman.

"If people are taking credit for the outcome of the study, it's hard to believe they didn't have some influence over the result," she said.

Lishman, who is organizing opposition to the proposed bridge among residents of the Manor Park neighbourhood, said she thinks political intervention would have been inappropriate before the study was released.

Baird told the Ottawa Citizen days before the report was formally released that the east-end choice was at least partly the result of work he did with Watson and Bay Coun. Alex Cullen. The three lobbied against prospective crossing routes through Andrew Haydon Park and along Moodie Drive.

Since then, during his re-election campaign, Baird has told residents in his riding that he has "worked hard to deliver on key issues, including protecting Andrew Haydon Park."

Following the announcement of the chosen crossing, Watson said he was "very pleased that they [the study authors] listened to me."

And O'Connor told a CBC election panel this week that, along with local councillors, he "moved to block any bridge going through my riding in the west."

At another point in the discussion, when questioned about the leadership of west-end politicians, he responded, "The first issue that came up were the bridges, and you'll notice there's no bridges in the west."

When asked about the claims, the NCC reiterated Thursday that its process was unbiased and speaks for itself, as the study was conducted by independent consultants.

The consultants said they chose the route that would be cheapest and have the smallest environmental impact while diverting the most traffic from downtown Ottawa.