Why do we have to watch city hall so closely?

For the past four years council’s antics at city hall have required many conscientious citizens to spend an inordinate amount of personal time communicating with individual councillors, speaking at delegations, and mounting protests and rallies. A modest amount of such action indicates a healthy engaged community. However, when it becomes the order of the day because local government is acting irresponsibly it indicates that it is time for a major change.


Unfortunately a large number of incumbent councillors are still running for office, so unless we are vigilant at the polling booth we will be faced with four more years of irresponsible government at city hall. A change of mayor appears to be on the cards but changes at the ward level are equally, in fact more, important.

I started this blog because of my concerns about the performance of my own ward councillor, Peter Hume. His time has passed; we need a fresh face, a fresh start! We need a representative who puts community interests first rather than those of developers who have contributed heavily to past campaigns.

It is my fervent hope that an alternative candidate will be successful, so that I can shut this blog down. We can make this happen. I have thrown my support behind Clinton Cowan. His Fresh Start campaign is right on the mark for Ward 18. Hopefully with new councillors like Cowan at the wheel we can all spend more time enjoying the pleasant pastimes that Ottawa has to offer.