Why all the admiration for Peter Hume?

I was surprised to read so much admiration by members of the Ottawa Citizen’s editorial board for Councillor Peter Hume in his run for office in the 2010 Ottawa municipal election campaign (“No self-immolation”, The Ottawa Citizen, April 9, 2010 and “No guts, no glory also true in Politics”, Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, April 6, 2010).

The April 9 editorial piece observes that because Hume acknowledges he would likely not win the mayoral competition he has wisely decided to run as councillor again in Ward 18; otherwise he would likely be jobless. This suggests, what some already believe, that Hume is in the competition for the job and not because of any personal convictions. If Hume really believes he would make a change as mayor, he should step forward. Even if he loses it is unlikely he will be out of a job for too long, given the depth of his personal contacts in the Ottawa development community.

As the incumbent in Alta vista, he stands a very good chance for reelection. Someone observed to me yesterday “One always hears the comment ‘Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know’, but nobody ever says ‘Better the devil you know than the angel you don’t know.’” It’s really time somebody else was given a chance in Ward 18.

Hume has been in the media a lot recently, it’s worth noting some of his comments:

On the issue of homelessness Hume is proposing a question on a citywide funding initiative with the goal of ending chronic homelessness in Ottawa by 2014. Several people have commented recently that Hume fails to note that homelessness is really a symptom of larger issues: abuse, poverty and lack of physical and mental health care for people of low income. All levels of government must be brought to the table and people who have a better level of understanding must be consulted. Simply investing in low income housing will not solve the problem. Interestingly there is a candidate running in Ward 18 who has a far better understanding of issues surrounding poverty and homelessness than “Red Tory” Peter Hume.

In the April 3, 2010 release from Hume’s office he states that “My work in Ottawa is not yet finished…Intensification and infill building proposals are heating up in Alta Vista…I want to make sure that the highest quality urban development occurs – the City of Ottawa and Alta Vista deserves no less.” I’m not sure that all residents of Ward 18 would agree that Hume’s stewardship over development in the Ward under his tenure deserves many accolades. If what Hume means is to turn quiet neighborhoods into combined industrial/residential ones that are so noisy as to make life uncomfortable for residents who have lived here for years then Hume simply proves that he is not a man of vision and care but rather an opportunist seeing an open spot on a map and saying “That would be a good spot to develop” with little or no understanding of the effects of development on communities.

It was also interesting to watch his recent rant on CBC TV over Via Rail plans to develop their property around the Ottawa Train Station. He appears to be upset that neither he nor his beloved planning and environment committee have been consulted about Via Rail’s plans; sour grapes? His own failure to effectively consult his local community is one of the reasons that local residents have some serious concerns about the haphazard way that the community is being developed. As an example, objections to and concerns about current O.C. Transpo plans to expand the new bus garage on Industrial Avenue adjacent to Riverview Park communities have largely fallen on deaf ears of Hume, City Council and O.C Transpo.

Then there’s Lansdowne Park! The current design competition that Hume helped negotiate is a long, long way from the original proposal he supported in cooperation with Councillor Clive Doucet - shame on Hume for his about-face on this issue.