Integrity and ethics

Mayoral candidate Jim Watson makes a big issue about his integrity plan and points a finger at one of his opponents, Larry O’Brien, citing his connections with Calian Technologies, a firm that does a lot of business with the City of Ottawa. However, Watson leaves himself open to criticism because he accepts donations from corporate sources, including the development community.


Watson also descends into the mire of unethical conduct by exposing communications between Mayor Larry O’Brien and himself in his role of Ontario minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Mayoral candidates trade barbs as election looms, CBC Ottawa news, Sept. 22, 2010).

Of the leading candidates for mayor, only Clive Doucet has declared publicly that he will not accept corporate donations; in fact this is a key plank in his platform. Also, his campaign takes the high-road, avoiding making inappropriate comments. Instead, he focuses on the issues that serve to distinguish him from his competitors.

Toronto city councillors agree to ban campaign donations from corporations and unions

According to an article in today’s Toronto Star, city councillors have decided they will no longer accept campaign donations from corporations or unions, putting pressure on the provincial government to ban the practice in all municipalities across Ontario (City clamps down on election donors, Paul Mulroney and Vanessa Lu, Toronto Star, Dec 3, 2009).

The vote was passed 29 – 12 following a day-long debate. Council also voted 27-13 to study the feasibility of providing some city funding for campaigns. Robert MacDermid a York University professor and advocate for election reform told reporters. "...It's the first step to get rid of this kind of influence. It's about removing the unfairness and discrimination that's involved in the system…"

Some Toronto councillors now want to lobby Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson to push for a similar ban across the province, by changing the Municipal Elections Act.

This is a step in the right direction. One wonders whether Ottawa City councillors have the ethical foresight to follow Toronto’s lead here.

A Helpful Reply from the Minister

I was please today upon receiving a reply from the Hon. Jim Watson, Minister of Municipal Affairs, regarding my letter (see post: A Request for Assistance.... dated June 27, 2008). The Minister notes that this is really a local municipal matter. However, he courteously forwarded a copy of my correspondence to the Hon. Jim Bradley, Minister of Transportation, for information. Further he forwarded a copy to the Hon. David Caplan, the recently appointed Minister of Health and Long Term Care, regarding the expanding health care services into Ottawa local communities.

While Minister Watson does not make any commitments to help carry this matter forward, at least he and his ministry made a serious and considered response to my concerns - somewhat different from the automated form letter response received from the Office of the Premier (my Provincial representative from Ottawa South!

I intend keeping the Minister informed on progess on this case particularly because he will likely have regular contact with Councillor Peter Hume in his new role as President of the Ass'n of Municipalities of Ontario.

A request for Assistance from the Province of Ontario

I wrote a letter to the Mon. Jim Watson, MPP (Ottawa West - Nepean), Minister of Municipal Affairs asking for assistance addressing potential conflicts of priorities regarding the building of new roads needed to service an ever growing Ottawa Hospital complex at the General Campus site. This is contrary to "smart growth" and the city of Ottawa's "Vision 2020" planning principles that encourage use of public transit, alking and cycling options instead of drivivng.

The need for this new road has been the subject of challenges by citizens groups for a number of years. however City Council elected to proceed with the project and it is currently in the design phase. A local councillor (Peter Hume) claims that the road is needed because of expected growth of the Ottawa Health Sciences Centre that is expected over coming years. It is unclear to me, and many others in the community, what the urgency is to complete this "hospital link" given that no development of ajacent hospital lands can take place for several years and that planned changes to transit in the area might well resolve existing problems anyway.

Further, the Province of Ontario's plan to expand health care services at one site that is far away from where constituents live and increasingly work is questionalble at best. The cost of the hospital link is estimated at $65 million (more likely $100 million). This money could go a long way to building urgent care and other small hospital facilities in suburban areas where they are most needed. This would reduce the transit strain on the hospital lands and likely extend their development shelf life into the next century.

It is clear that different Provincial government departments do not consult closely together when making expansion plans. Unfortunately, the city appears to accept Provincial planning decisions without practicing due diligence. This results in bad planning decisions on the city's part: building roads that might not be needed and reducing the effectiveness of its public transit systems for the long term.

Investigation of this issue also requires consultation with other Provincial government ministries including Health & Long Term Care as well as Infrastructure.