Larry O’Brien

In the fall of 2010, Ottawa will dedicate a magnificent ceremonial gate at Somerset and Bronson, a gift from China’s capital city to Canada’s in honour of the 40th anniversary of Canada’s diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China. For most, the gateway will be one to Ottawa’s Chinatown, but I will see a gateway to social and economic prosperity for both nations.

Those who joined me on a recent economic development mission to China were welcomed by a unique partnership of government and industry capitalism eager to do business with Ottawa, and actively seeking cross investment with Canada. We visited the worldwide headquarters of Huawei, a telecommunications giant who this week opened a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Kanata. Ottawa’s Plasco signed a contract in Beijing that should be the beginning of a large and profitable project to turn China’s considerable municipal garbage into clean energy. We inked reciprocal tourism promotion and economic development deals and extended invitations for return visits by investors, R&D firms and environmental groups. We found that the pace of business, though coloured by custom, is no longer slowed by suspicion or formality.

In many ways Canada represents an aspiration ideal to the Chinese; educated, orderly, clean and safe. What we have done for 32 million citizens they aspire to do for their 1.3 billion. I visited the Beijing urban planning centre and saw a commitment to reforesting the capital so comprehensively that no citizen will be more than 500 meters from parkland. At the same time, they are planning to build their transportation infrastructure to allow the city to grow even more rapidly in the next ten years.

Helping China clean up its environment alone is a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and I encourage Ottawa companies to be well represented at ECO Expo Asia this fall. Training Chinese workers in Canadian best practices could be profitable for Algonquin and La Cite, and educating scientists, engineers, and doctors is an important role for Carleton and the University of Ottawa. Ottawa business can help shape this tiger into a great citizen of the world.

Canadians may be blessed by a common border with the largest single economy in the world, but the second largest economy is now equally open to us- eager for our mineral resources, but also for the resources of our inventive minds; engineering, computer science, environmental science, and management. They are a nation that has moved from the 19th century to the 21st century in a matter of decades, and are looking for partners in that progress.

It’s easy to see poverty and repression in China, but equally easy to see progress and results. Economically, this powerhouse has created middle class prosperity for over a quarter of its citizens in just thirty years and daily is spreading that wealth from the coastal cities to the inner rural regions. Socially, it is tackling environmental and health issues at a pace we can only talk about. Politically, it is beginning to talk about transparency and “sunlight”.

China is a dynamic work in progress, and Ottawa has an opportunity to contribute. And by becoming their gateway into the lucrative but elusive North American technology markets, we stand to profit from the largest work-in-progress the world has ever seen.

Today, Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong and I signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Continuing Cooperation between the City of Ottawa and the Municipality of Beijing.

In 1999, Ottawa and Beijing entered into a sister city agreement that pledged to promote cooperation between the two great cities in the areas of environmental protection, municipal administration, technology, and tourism.

The relationship between the capital cities has continued to provide mutual benefits and our continued cooperation has allowed for a fruitful exchange of ideas, commerce and culture.

By way of the MOU signed today, we have pledged to continue the principles of the original 1999 cooperation agreement and to continue to expand the friendship and economic cooperation between the two cities.

I am currently leading a business delegation from Ottawa to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The mission, coordinated by OCRI, the city’s lead economic development agency, will strengthen existing relationships and further establish Ottawa as a valuable strategic partner.

Today City Manager Kent Kirkpatrick presented to Council the third phase of restructuring the operations at the City of Ottawa.

The results of this latest round of restructuring streamlines our management structure and citizens will now have a single point of contact to access important City services. The City Manager’s objectives are to clarify accountability for client’s service outcomes, establish a single access point for related services and improve the City’s ability to be more responsive to Council and the community.

I have heard from many people about the difficulties they have experienced dealing with various departments at City Hall. What seems to be a simple request requires multiple phone calls or transfers. We are now implementing a single point of client contact. 

The City staff contact will be responsible for navigating the workings inside City Hall and these changes will make it easier for you to work with your municipal government and that’s just common sense.

After all, it is your money and you want City Hall to run effectively. I believe that these changes will not only save money, but they will improve service to our customers – not an easy task but one that is being accomplished and I congratulate management for a job well done.

These changes are also the end of a process we started last October and now staff can focus on working within the new structure. We have a lot of work to do and we are now positioned to do that work in the most effective way possible.

It is always hard to make changes that result in job loss, but it is our responsibility to do what is in the best interest of the taxpayer. Council’s direction was to achieve $100 million in savings, while improving customer service. This latest phase means that 340 reporting relationships at City Hall have been redefined and management staff levels have been reduced by 45 positions, for an administrative cost savings of 7% and total savings of $3.7 million annually. 

Please let me know what you think.

Please see below a press release I issued this morning.

For immediate release:
March 5, 2009

Mayor reacts to release of Taskforce Report on Governance

Mayor believes status quo isn’t good enough - changes required to bring more accountability to City Hall

Mayor launches website for public input

OTTAWA- Today the Mayor’s Taskforce on Governance, under the chairmanship of David Zussman, released its report containing recommendations on how to bring more strategic thinking, accountability and operational effectiveness to City Hall.

In June 2008 Mayor Larry O’Brien appointed this independent Taskforce, with members from the academic and business community, to review the current governance model at City Hall and identify ways to help Council become more accountable, strategic and focused on the long-term.

The Taskforce report, entitled Governing Ottawa: Strategic Thinking for a Winning City, is being released in support of the City’s mid-term governance review beginning with a series of White Papers on governance. The City Clerk and Deputy Clerk, in consultation with Councillors, are preparing a series of position papers for consideration as part of the mid-term governance review mandated by Council.

“After two years on the job, I constantly hear from the public that they want to see more accountability at City Hall and I strongly believe that the status quo is simply not good enough anymore,” said Mayor O’Brien. “Now Council has the first real opportunity since amalgamation to make immediate changes that will streamline our decision making process and change the way we do business forever.”

The City’s governance review takes place in two stages. The first is a mid-term review between March and April 2009 and the second is a full review that will occur in conjunction with the next election in 2010. Some of the Taskforce report will be considered for implementation after the next election, while the City’s White Papers support changes that can be made during the current term of Council.

“I am pleased to see City staff will be identifying changes that can be put in place immediately to transform the way we do business at City Hall,” said Mayor O’Brien. “We will be able to implement changes today that will increase accountability, in particular when it comes to our current budget process.”

One of the Mayor’s main motivators in creating the Taskforce on Governance was his belief that the current budget process at the City of Ottawa is flawed.

Both City staff and Taskforce members have endorsed the creation of a Finance and Audit Committee that will keep an eye on spending year round and see City Council develop the budget rather than leaving the heavy-lifting to City staff.

“I fully endorse this and many other positive recommendations from both the Taskforce and City Clerk’s Office including giving more delegated authority to committees on issues outside of the budget that will no longer rise to City Council,” said Mayor O’Brien. “We can no longer afford to spend numerous hours during Council meetings debating matters that do not have a city-wide implication. Committees need to be more accountable on matters within their jurisdiction while Councillors need to be directly accountable for matters in their wards.”

Mayor Launches Website

Members of the public are encouraged to visit http://www.governance-ottawa.ca/ and provide comments on the website’s online forum.

“Today we are starting the conversation and it is important that we consult with the residents of Ottawa to ensure we make changes that benefit the public,” said Mayor O’Brien. “This will be one of the most important debates we have during this term of Council and with the Zussman Report and the City’s White Papers, Council has all the tools it needs to significantly improve the way we do business at City Hall now and after the next election.”

Mayor O’Brien would like to thank members of the Taskforce on Governance for their work. For more information on members and to view the Taskforce report please click here.