Photo courtesy of Jim Watson for Mayor/à la mairie on Flickr.
Post by guest writer Jeremy Dumont, who has been blogging since 2003 about politics and Ottawa-area stories, events and initiatives. He helped found the old Manufacturing Dissent from Carleton University about a decade ago and has worked for the Carleton’s Charlatan, IndyMedia, and OPIRG. Here he writes about Jim Watson’s campaign launch and his own views on the upcoming campaign.
On April 18th, Jim Watson launched his campaign at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral Hall on Byron St. to once again become mayor of Ottawa. An impressive display of major forces in Ottawa politics were on hand, including such names as Mary Pitt, former mayor of the pre-amalgamation city of Nepean, and former Vanier mayor Guy Cousineau. All were introduced at the door of the church and greeted supporters and media alike. Former pre-amalgamation Ottawa mayor Jim Durrell showed his support by standing up and vouching for Watson on stage, describing him as a great consensus-builder and someone who would never compromise his principles – in short, what’s needed to be a great Ottawa mayor.
In his previous run at the city’s helm, Watson served only three years, from 1997 until 2000, before stepping down. In 2003 he was elected MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean and became a provincial cabinet minister, but earlier this year Watson left Queen’s Park to concentrate on this campaign.
I showed up at the launch, not just as a blogger for Apartment613 but also as a voter with a ravenous appetite. As I nibbled on a tuna sandwich and drank my black coffee, I was impressed by the Monterey Jazz Band, who were playing dixie and swing. Then the music on the PR system started: “… and tonight’s gonna be a good, good night…” Turns out the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” is Watson’s fight song!
Introducing the main event was Watson’s campaign manager, Doug Wotherspoon. His introduction was followed by gushing from Pitt, Stavinga, Cousineau and Durrell. I wondered, after seeing Bob Chiarelli sitting in front of the room, just what all of this meant. Was it a throwback to pre-amalgamation? Were all these esteemed individuals meant to make a statement about something?
Watson seemed to address a lot of the issues that have been on the minds of citizens during Larry O’Brien’s term as mayor. Here’s some of the issues he brought up in his platform (with some stats that will hopefully foster debate):
- homelessness (7,000 people currently use homeless shelters in Ottawa)
- not wasting taxpayers’ money on studying whether an inflatable cow on a storefront rooftop is acceptable (Orleans Coun. Bob Monette asked city staff to conduct a $20,000 review of Ottawa’s bylaws for rooftop signs.)
- greening the city
- giving a definite date when raw sewage will stop being pumped into our rivers
- limiting urban sprawl (Coun. Rick Chiarelli had once, not too long ago, moved to expand the urban boundary by up to 842 hectares. Council voted against that, deciding to stick with the current expansion of only 222 hectares. Ottawa’s home building industry wants 2,000 hectares. Critics of reducing the amount of land for urban projects say people would move to outlying areas like Rockland, Almonte and Kemptville.)
- preparing Ottawa for its sesquicentennial by hosting one or all of the following: the Grey Cup, the NHL outdoor winter classic, the Junos, and the Genies
It’s likely that, unless O’Brien enters the race, this is going to be a cake walk for Watson. The odds are not in Alex Cullen’s favor, as he’s yet to mount any real type of opposition so far. Unless he pushes hard from here on in, sparring with Watson while getting his message across, he’s facing an uphill battle. Fringe candidates like Jane Scharf and the rest really don’t stand a chance, unless they can convince voters there needs to be substantial change at city hall.
