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With three debates already set for this fall, Ottawa taxpayers and youth alike will be quizzing mayoral and council hopefuls on everything from bike lanes to capital spending.
The first debate, on Sept. 12, will connect youth in person and through social media with three of the city’s top mayoral candidates — Larry O’Brien, Jim Watson and Clive Doucet.
Those not part of the audience at the NAC’s Fourth Stage will be able to watch a live broadcast on Rogers Television and pose questions via Twitter and Facebook, said organizer François Levesque.
Topics for the debate — one that’s meant to attract, but is not limited to, youth — will be transit, environment and governance.
Levesque said the debate is meant to counteract youth-voter apathy and also educate young people about important election issues. It’s sponsored by the Institute on Governance and blogsite Apartment613.
“We want more youth to be interested … because they’re going to be the ones who are living and managing Ottawa in the future,” Levesque said. “We want them to participate.”
The next day, the Ottawa Taxpayer Advocacy Group hopes to hold candidates accountable for their monetary campaign promises.
The theme for the Sept. 13 debate is “no new money,” an idea credited to Citizen columnist Randall Denley, said Ade Olumide, a co-founder of the group.
The argument is that city departmental spending can be facilitated through cuts to existing services or administration costs instead of inflating budgets.
Olumide said each year candidates propose a plan for the city’s budget, whether it means a zero-per-cent or a 2.5-per-cent tax increase, but often fall short on the delivery.
“We really want to be focused on the how,” Olumide said. “They have to tell us how they are going to achieve their promises.”
Olumide said the group is putting its own ideas to the test by proposing solutions, including hiring a city ombudsman to mitigate potential costly lawsuits and producing monthly budget variance reports to help keep better track of spending.
“It’s not a debate about Lansdowne, it’s not a debate about the transit file, it’s a debate abut how do we reduce spending at city hall,” he said.
The third debate, planned for Sept. 26 and hosted by Ecology Ottawa, will bring together local environmental groups to question candidates on city sustainability issues.
Questions posed by the moderator will be selected from submissions by participating groups, including the Ottawa Riverkeeper and Citizens for Safe Cycling — so questions will range from food issues to water issues to bike lanes.
“We want to know in very broad terms how they’re going to make Ottawa a sustainable city,” said Ben Liadsky, the organization’s communications officer.
Elections for mayor, city councillors and school board trustees take place Oct. 25.
For more information about the election and for a list of candidates, go to www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/elections.
The Debates
Sept. 12: IOG and Apartment613 debate, NAC’s Fourth Stage, 53 Elgin St., time TBA. Free.
Sept. 13: “No New Money” presented by Ottawa Taxpayer Advocacy Group, Haydon Hall council chambers, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier Ave., 5-9 p.m. Free. Donations welcome.
Sept. 26: Environmental issues mayoral debate presented by Ecology Ottawa, St. Paul’s University auditorium, 223 Main St., 7-9 p.m. Free.
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