Larry O’Brien

Last week marked the start of the largest mass immunization campaign in Ottawa’s history. In the face of overwhelming demand for the H1N1 vaccine, our city is off to a good start.

The campaign, slated to begin in early November, started ahead of schedule.

At the end of the first two days, when very few cities across Canada even had clinics up and running, at least 10,000 Ottawa residents had received the vaccine.

In seven days Ottawa Public Health (OPH) staff vaccinated more Ottawa residents than they usually do in an entire annual flu season. That means more than 80,000 Ottawa residents have been vaccinated directly in OPH clinics.

Add to that number the doses distributed to the hospital and extended care sector, and Ottawa is exactly where we had hoped to be at this time.

But an unprecedented campaign of this magnitude comes with its challenges, and long line ups have led to frustration. So I remind everyone that our staff are following the regulations established by the provincial government, and that it has been our staff who have identified, and worked within provincial guidelines to correct, several logistical problems related to the immunization campaign.

While OPH staff strive to deliver more vaccine- and faster, they are also doing the very tough task of juggling issues of supply, demand and capacity.

The federal government has told us for months that there will be enough vaccine for every Canadian who wants it. However, recent news from Health Canada that vaccine supply will be temporarily limited in the coming weeks has put into question how much will be available- and when.

This makes it even more important that we vaccinate only those who are on the priority list at this time- a difficult policy to enforce.

I must remind Ottawa residents that those who are not on the priority list for vaccination should not be in clinic lines yet. I urge you to be mindful of the fact that, if you are not in one of the priority groups, you are taking a dose of vaccine from someone who needs it more than you.

While you do your part, we at the City of Ottawa are doing ours. 

OPH has been making efficiency improvements at their clinics, and we will continue to see improvement over the coming days and weeks:

• Last week they implemented a wristband process which means less time waiting in line-ups;
• Registration forms are now posted on OPH’s website, so that they can be filled out before arriving at the clinics, or while waiting in line;
• We are increasing the number of people delivering the injections to reduce wait times; and
• OPH is working diligently to bring on alternate delivery streams like family doctors. 

Even with this progress, however, wait times are still long, and lines continue to form. This is the case across the country, where citizens are making this vaccine a priority- after all; it’s the best way to protect yourself against H1N1.

This virus is a considerable community challenge, and I urge our community to be patient as we work to confront it.

On behalf of all residents of the City of Ottawa, I’d like to thank Dr. Levy, Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health, for his leadership during this time. Our success so far is also due to the many City staff- OPH, Information Technology Services, Emergency and Protective Services, Parks and Recreation, Ottawa Paramedic Services, Communications and Customer Services and Public Works- all who have been working tirelessly to deliver this vaccine as quickly and efficiently as possible. On behalf of the residents and my council colleagues, thank you for your continued efforts.

Larry O’Brien, Mayor of the City of Ottawa

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.

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.

Last night I saw empty restaurants in the market and fewer shoppers at the Rideau Centre than I would normally see two weeks before Christmas. I want to assure the citizens of Ottawa that we are working hard to end this strike as quickly as possible.

It is unfortunate that after months of negotiations the union leaders chose this time to strike. The City is suffering and nobody is happy.

The City made a generous 7% wage increase offer over three years, increased sick days and a $2,000 productivity bonus. This is a fair offer in these uncertain and rocky economic times. I ask again for the ATU executive to either vote on our last offer or come back to the negotiating table and work through the issues.

Some have suggested that we should simply hand over the scheduling issue to an arbitrator and all will be well. But the City’s offer is an integrated package and to remove one part without renegotiating the balance is unrealistic. By going to arbitration we will be back at the beginning of the process.

Without scheduling, everything starts over—this includes wage increases, additional sick days, banking of sick days and the $2,000 bonus. Removing scheduling simply cannot happen because aside from economic efficiencies for the taxpayers, improved services for the customers and the simple right of an employer to manage staff, there is another very important issue—improving safety!

Currently a driver can book two 11-hour shifts in a single 24-hour period. Management does not agree with this and believes it is unsafe, but today there is nothing we can do to stop this practice. Scheduling is part of our offer to ensure a minimum of eight hours rest between shifts and recovery time after every run.

As we grow our public transit system we must ensure the safety of our citizens and our drivers. I believe that is our obligation.

If the union leadership have proposals, we remain willing to sit down at the bargaining table to negotiate. They walked away a week ago, it’s up to them to return and let’s end this strike as soon as possible.