Larry O’Brien

I indicated in my City Address last month before City Council that reaching an agreement with the federal and provincial governments on transit and infrastructure funding were our number one and number two priorities.

So where are we on these files? 

Transit

Earlier this week the City Manager and I sent a joint letter to both levels of government to formally ask for their support on our long-term transit plan and their share of the $3.2 billion cost.

We are encouraged with the level of dialogue at the staff and political levels with the province and the federal governments and we are confident that we will reach an agreement shortly.

I am also glad to report that the City will be able to apply for stimulus funding from the Government of Canada for projects that can be completed over the next two years as part of our transit plan. That means the shovels will hit the ground soon!

The City of Ottawa also received a number of endorsements from different community partners and updated its transit page on www.ottawa.ca. Click here to read the latest.

Infrastructure

On Monday City staff will be releasing and recommending to the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee a list of priority projects to request as part of our share of the $4 billion stimulus budget by the Government of Canada.

At the top of that list will be transit projects and asset renewal - we shouldn’t be building anything new until we have fixed our aging infrastructure. 

The criteria for this list was based primarily on two things. First, it has to be an incremental project - something the City wasn’t planning on doing. Second,  it has to be built and completed in two years.

Committee had directed City staff to revise the list to fit this criteria and work with both the province and the federal governments to make it happen. Councillors have also been consulted. Monday we will see the results.

Finally,  let’s not forget about our other partners - the industry. 

I have now met twice with the construction industry. Our meetings have been helpful to identify and fix some of the red tape that would have otherwise occurred.

The results of those roundtable discussions will be circulated to members of Council next week. I want to acknowledge the efforts of the industry to work with the City of Ottawa and my office to ensure we are ready to put the stimulus money to work to create jobs and leave a lasting legacy for future generations.

I welcome Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird’s announcement today on his intention to lift the exemption of federal safety regulations for OC Transpo.

Minister Baird is taking action to enforce eights hours of rest between shifts and eliminate the option bus drivers currently have to book back-to-back 11 hour shifts.

Today’s announcement is a victory for all of us and is a reinforcement of Council’s united position on the safety of Ottawa residents and OC Transpo drivers – something we were not willing to compromise on during the transit strike.

The details of Minister Baird’s announcement can be found here. I look forward to hearing from the citizens of Ottawa on this important issue.

Colleen and I enjoyed a fantastic vacation in Sunny Isles Florida but I have to say it is great to be back. When you are away, you get a better perspective on just how good we have it here in Ottawa.

Ottawa is a safe and secure place to raise our families and build careers and even in these very uncertain economic times, we have reason to be thankful for living in this fabulous city.

The cost of success is constant vigilance and the next few months will be very busy times. There is much hard work to complete on important files such as Lansdowne Park, securing funding to build our new transit system and municipal governance reform.

I am looking forward to pushing ahead on my agenda to ensure Ottawa remains the best place in Canada to live, to work and to play.

Today I delivered my State of the City Address to Council. Please see below a copy of my speech. 

This morning I would like to provide Council with some thoughts relating to priorities for 2009.

We have just passed the halfway point of our mandate and I think it is important to put our priorities in the perspective of what we as a Council have accomplished in the last two years.

In the hectic blur of dealing with so many different issues, sometimes people forget all that we’ve accomplished together so I thought I would take a few moments to congratulate you on your many successes.

In the past two years we have improved on the following:

Tourism

You approved the funding for an amazing new Ottawa Congress Centre. The new OCC will be an incredible addition to the Capital. This was long overdue but you made it happen.

Environment

You have approved an organics waste diversion green bin program after years of failed starts. Again, this was long overdue. You made it happen.

Transportation

You have improved the mass transit plans for Ottawa. Ottawa now has a magnificent plan that will transform the City for decades to come. This was an emotional and difficult debate, but together we got it done. This new plan has significant public and almost unanimous Council support. Together we made it happen. 

Technology

You approved a multi-year technology enhancement program for the City that will see Paperless Council and many additional improvements by 2010. Again, a few years late but you got it done.

Budget

During the last two years you have improved the budget process in many other ways.

You started in 2007 by developing a fiscal framework through a facilitated planning process in our first summer. This year you introduced a budget challenge function that saved our taxpayers about $10 million from our baseline. We got there because most of you worked with staff to find savings at the start of the budget process.

I personally was not happy with the result of 2009 budget, but I was encouraged that we moved ahead with a more transparent and easier to understand process. We have now set the stage to improve even more in 2009 and 2010.

Infrastructure renewal

You approved a 2 per cent infrastructure levy in 2007 that helped us invest over $300 million in infrastructure in 2008.  This was an important and critical decision.

Education

City Council donated land to help build two new trades schools at Algonquin College and Cité Collégiale. This will ensure we train and keep the future of our workforce here in the Nation’s Capital. Good decision for the long term.

Ottawa River and environment

You also committed to investing  $100 million with the help of the federal and provincial government in to repairing the sewer systems in Ottawa so that we will reduce all accidental spills and 65 per cent of the planned spills into the Ottawa River. This was the right decision for our future.

Transformation

You have also approved the de-layering of and re-organization of City Hall that will result in reducing staff levels, the elimination of management silos, and better operational control of city operations. This is the most significant management change at City Hall since amalgamation. You have given management the okay to restructure and that took courage.

Public safety

You have worked with the Police Services Board to approve a budget in 2007 that resulted in officers back on the beat and a new squad focusing on street crimes. As a result the City feels safer and is safer. Congratulations!

And we did this along with conducting the regular business of Council and all that it entails. This Council has done an amazing amount of high-quality work. People forget all that we’ve accomplished together. Well done to all of you.

We have come a long way, but there is still much important work to be done. 

After public safety and security of our water, electricity, police, fire and paramedics, the next priority for a municipality is the prosperity of its residents. The single most important economic tool we have is our public transit system.  

Transit

Now that the strike is over, we are working hard to get all our buses back on the road and grow our ridership levels. Our next priority is achieving funding for our new public transit plan.
 
Already our staff is working with the provincial and federal governments to reach a common understanding of the technical aspects of our plan. 

Once that is complete we will invite the federal and provincial government to become fair funding partners and become part of our shared vision for the City of Ottawa transit plan.

As a Council we will also explore and debate the various alternate funding models that may accelerate the implementation of the entire plan. City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick has made it a priority of his own.

We as a Council will have important policy debates around these issues as we proceed in the best interests of the taxpayers.

Spending infrastructure stimulus money

The next priority we have will be to maximize opportunities provided by federal and provincial government stimulus funding.

Next week we will be producing a list of shovel-ready infrastructure projects and this Friday I am meeting with industry representatives to ensure we are ready to meet the challenge of spending this money effectively by the spring and in the best interests of the Citizens of Ottawa.

Lansdowne Park

Another priority is the renewal of Lansdowne Park.  

Lansdowne Park is the largest and most significant City owned property. I know all of us agree it has the potential to be the most important meeting place in our City. It should be the jewel of Ottawa.

It is time to bring Council together on this city building project and work out a process to establish the principles for this property development, reach a conclusion and move forward.  

During this debate we will also look at two competing proposals to bring new important sporting assets to Ottawa.

High quality contributors are presenting MLS Soccer and CFL Football to Ottawa and we owe it to our citizens to make a thoughtful choice of which proposal to support and what is in the best interest of the taxpayer.

Accountability and governance

We have committed to reviewing our governance process in 2009…how will Council decide to structure itself to make decisions in the future.

I believe this is an important long-term improvement that we should make in the coming year.

Our citizens have made it clear – they want our governance process to improve. 

My Task Force on Governance is set to release their report in the coming weeks.

City staff will also be circulating a series of discussion papers to help facilitate our deliberations.

These white papers are a direct result of consultations and interviews they have had with each member of Council.

Finance committee

According to staff, Council has made many valuable suggestions on how to improve our decision making process.
My belief is that we also need to include in this debate the potential of altering our committee structure to create a standing committee on finance.

I hope we can reach an agreement on creating this committee to keep an eye on spending year round and give this committee the tools and the human resources to build and recommend a budget to Council instead of leaving the heavy lifting to city staff.

The budget process is one of our most important responsibilities.

The budget is far too important not to have the checks and balances of the budget process going on all year long.

In closing I want to congratulate you again for the work you have accomplished in the past two years. 

It has been rocky at times but that is the nature of transformation.  

We are past the halfway mark in our 1,000 days of transformation and we are doing well.

Thank you and lets start the meeting.