Methinks thou doest protest too much

It is interesting to see Councillor Peter Hume re-emerge, responding to Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson’s “attack” on the city’s performance (Councillor seething over minister’s sewage remarks, Ottawa Citizen, Aug 8, 2009). Hume challenges the accuracy of Watson’s remarks; he notes that the city has a five year, $203 million plan to stop spills and reduce the number of overflows following storms. But he misses the point that the city continues to be tardy addressing sewer problems in Ottawa overall. Witness the lack of a solution to the latest round of flooding in Kanata. Further to this, it is likely that city plans to develop the Fernbank community will lead to further flooding problems in this area. Expansions like this can only contribute to an already overloaded sewer system.

Watson makes the point that the problem is getting worse and that much of the work will not even be started before 2010. So we can expect flooding and overflow problems to persist for years. How come things were ever allowed to come to this point? Perhaps because councillors and bureaucrats prefer to punish farmers posting quirky homemade signs and people who don’t manicure their lawns to some imaginary standard! Clearly the city continues to have its priorities wrong.

Hume’s salvo signals a start to his mayoralty campaign. All he is signaling is his ongoing disinterest in, and aggression toward, anyone who speaks out about the deteriorating state of the city and suggests that there is a better way forward.