By Helen Jardine
A National Capital Commission initiative to make the secretive body more transparent has received lukewarm reviews from local activists and politicians.
David Gladstone, chair of the City Centre Coalition, says that although media and interest groups will likely take advantage of the newly opened quarterly board meetings, the general public probably won’t, as many people aren’t even aware of the basic functions of the NCC.
“I dare you to find someone who knows exactly what it is the NCC does,” Gladstone says. “It’s not that they’re secret, it’s just that they don’t advertise themselves.”
But Gladstone says he is pleased by the new measures introduced by the NCC this month, which also saw the creation of an ombudsman position to deal with complaints from the public about the NCC.
“It’s a positive attempt by the NCC to address issues,” Gladstone says. “Previously, little issues were magnified because the only place you could take your complaints was right to the board.”
But Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes says that although she thinks the announcement of open meetings is “just great,” she is also “somewhat weary” of the role of the ombudsman.
“Sometimes they act merely as just a straw man, there simply to deflect inquiries and concerns,” Holmes says.
“They need to have some sort of investigative power as well as a means of enforcement, which requires a staff. We’ll just have to wait and see how many complaints there are.”
The transparency initiative was unveiled by the NCC’s new chairman, Russell Mills, earlier this month.
“The NCC’s ultimate aim is to operate in the open as much as possible and to develop better and more open relationships with the public,” Mills said.
“Transparency is the greatest promoter of accountability.”
Mills said he was unsure of the long-term impact of opening the meetings to the public.
“I suspect there will be (interest) initially just because it’s something new but as time goes on, that might trail off.”
Mills said he hopes the role of the ombudsman will be “that of the Maytag repairman . . . to be as not busy as possible.”
Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar says he thinks the creation of an ombudsman is a “good start” as long as the position is given to someone outside the NCC.
Dewar added that while one should “never look a gift horse in the mouth,” there is still more the NCC could be doing to shed its veil of secrecy.
“It’s like putting the Windex on a dirty window,” Dewar says, “you can now see what’s inside the house, but you still can’t quite see the whole picture, because you’re still on the outside looking in.”
Dewar suggests that to make the NCC more accessible to the public, both Ottawa and Gatineau city councils should have representation on the board.
The NCC’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 7.