Incumbent Diane Holmes and challengers Don Fex and Barkley Pollock shared their views on everything from public transit and cycling to affordable city housing and taxes during a televised debate Wednesday night.
The one issue all candidates agreed on was the proposed light rail project and the downtown tunnel. Fex, Holmes and Pollock all say they want to see the project get underway.
“One hundred per cent, let’s get the tunnel done,” Pollock said during the debate in advance of the Oct. 25 election.
Public transit, and particularly the 2008-09 transit strike, was also discussed.
“OC Transpo is broken,” Fex said at the debate. “Nobody wins during a transit strike. We had 51 days of, essentially, hell.”
The city is now trying to head off problems before they arise by having monthly meetings with OC Transpo, Holmes said at the debate, rather than trying to handle them all at once, under the pressure of a strike.
“We have to have a (transit) system that works,” she said.
The Chinatown BIA expressed concern over the Somerset Street segregated bike lane pilot project in a video question.
Holmes said she understands their concern, but she’s waiting for a report from Vélo Québec on the best location for segregated bike lanes in the city.
“We’ve heard from businesses, now we are waiting to hear from the experts,” she said.
Fex said he was disappointed that cyclists lost another season of safe cycling due to consultation and would have liked to see the pilot project implemented right away.
On the subject of taxes, Pollock said he wants a one-per-cent tax increase each year for the next four years, whereas Holmes made no promises.
“We’re a growing city and growth costs money,” she said.
There is a balancing act between keeping taxes low while a city grows, and
that’s a major problem, she said.
The three candidates were in agreement that Ottawa needs more social housing and that maintenance needs to continue on the existing housing.
Currently, Ottawa Community Housing needs $60 million every year for the next five years to keep up with maintenance, Holmes said, and she is asking the federal and provincial governments for that funding.
Fex said existing public housing should be cheaper because right now, it’s almost at market value and barely affordable.