By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, February 14, 2018
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson vowed Wednesday to make it his top priority to protect taxpayers from the growing cost of the LRT delay, threatening to withhold payments and, if necessary, go to court to recoup the city's losses.
Last week the city gave Rideau Transit Group (RTG) a new deadline of Nov. 2 to hand over control of the new $2.1-billion light rail line it's building from Tunney's Pasture to Blair Road.
By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, February 15, 2018
There is plenty wrong with a report released this week about how the property for the proposed central library — and the land around it — should be developed.
Experienced planning consultant Fotenn wrote the report last May, asking to consider a conceptual plan for six buildings ranging in height from four to 25 storeys at 557-584 Wellington St. and 55 Albert St., land just west of Bronson Avenue.By CBC News Ottawa, February 15, 2018
Ottawa cyclists will be welcome to bring their bikes aboard the city's new light rail trains, as long as they're not travelling during rush hour.
According to a staff report to the city's transit commission next Wednesday, bicycles wouldn't be allowed on trains between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m., and 3 and 6 p.m. According to staff, such restrictions are common among North American transit systems.
'I'm afraid that transit is just not going to work for my commute, and that's disappointing.' - Alex deVries, Bike OttawaOttawa's proposed rules would generally mirror those in Calgary, Montreal and Washington, D.C.
By Sabrina Marandola, CBC News Ottawa, February 13, 2018
Quebec Coroner Jean Brochu hopes his latest report into a fatal crash in 2016 involving a ride-sharing service will raise awareness about the dangers of getting into a stranger's car — but his report stops short of making any recommendations to the Quebec government.
"I just wanted to make sure that people are aware that with all these enterprises of ride-sharing, there is absolutely no guarantee that things will go well," Brochu said.
Brochu's report examined a collision that occurred on Highway 40 between Ottawa and Montreal. It claimed the life of Katy Torres, a 30-year-old PhD student who was in the passenger seat of a vehicle that swerved into on-coming traffic and slammed into a van.
By Laura Osman, CBC News Ottawa, February 12, 2018
Ride-hailing service Lyft, Uber's greatest rival, plans to start picking up passengers in Ottawa in the next few weeks.
The company has confirmed its plans to expand into Ottawa after moving into the Toronto region late last year.
"We've very deliberate and intentional about which cities to enter into, and Ottawa was a natural fit for us," said Aaron Zifkin, the managing director of Lyft Canada.
The company is staying quiet about an official launch date, except to say that it will be in the next few weeks.
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, February 11, 2018
All the contenders to lead the Progressive Conservative party are now against a carbon tax, pledging to either destroy their own party’s platform or conjure billions of dollars in cuts nobody will notice.
What happens when they have to sell this to voters outside their own party, let alone maybe actually do it, isn’t clear. Worry about it later.
Doug Ford was against a carbon tax from the moment he launched his leadership campaign after ex-leader Patrick Brown’s sudden flame-out in January. Christine Elliott and Caroline Mulroney flopped around briefly before realizing where the leadership votes were to be had.
By John Ivison, Ottawa Citizen, February 12, 2018
It would be hardly possible to eviscerate your own party with more precision than Andrew Scheer managed last week.
The Conservative leader is firmly ensconced as the leader of a Official Opposition that is united against a carbon tax.
His problem is that, unless he can persuade voters he cares about the environment and has a plan for tackling climate change, he will still be the Opposition leader after the next election.
By Andrew Coyne, Ottawa Citizen, February 12, 2018
Here’s a sampling of headlines from the early days of the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race.
“Carbon tax in crosshairs of Ontario PC leadership contenders.” “Platform in limbo as candidates rethink carbon tax.” “Scrapping carbon tax would blow $4 billion hole in Ontario PC budget.” “By ditching carbon-tax plans, Ontario’s Tories become the Stupid Party again.”
You get the picture. The platform on which the party had previously intended to campaign, in those long-ago days when Patrick Brown was the leader, committed it to a carbon tax. The revenues from the tax, projected at $4 billon over three years, were to fund, in part, the platform’s hefty personal income tax cuts (the rest would be paid for with unspecified spending efficiencies.)
By John Paul Tasker, CBC News Ottawa, February 9, 2018
Ontario PC leadership candidate Caroline Mulroney sought to explain her shifting position on a provincial carbon tax Friday, saying she was never entirely comfortable with former leader Patrick Brown's insistence on using this sort of revenue tool in the first place.
Mulroney, the only person in the race for the Progressive Conservative leadership who is also a nominated candidate in a provincial riding, attributed her initial reluctance to speak out against the carbon tax to the fact that she's been selling it to voters in the riding for months.
By CBC News Ottawa, February 11, 2018
Quebec's auto insurance board needs to do more to ensure the vehicles used in ride-sharing services meet basic safety standards, a provincial coroner said following an investigation into a fatal 2016 crash.
The coroner's report examined a collision that occurred on Highway 40 between Ottawa and Montreal. It claimed the life of Katy Torres, a 30-year-old PhD student who was in the passenger seat of a vehicle that swerved into on-coming traffic and slammed into a van.
Torres was using the ride-sharing service Amigo Express to get to Montreal at the time of the accident. The driver and another passenger were seriously injured.By the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, February 7, 2018
In the grand scheme of things, a six-month delay on Phase 1 of the LRT isn’t catastrophic. Yes, it will cause real pain to some downtown businesses that have lost customers because of years-long construction outside their doors. But for most of us, waiting until November to hop a train at Tunney’s or Blair Station won’t be some grave exercise in human suffering.
What this week’s disclosure of the new “delivery” date for LRT service highlights, however, is the odd culture of secrecy around the project – most of it, in our opinion, utterly unnecessary. Between now and November, both the private Rideau Transit Group and the city of Ottawa can and should do better. Voters must demand openness from our local politicians as they head into (re)election season.
By Chris Selley, Ottawa Citizen, February 9, 2018
The political strategist community seems to be unanimous that you can’t win a conservative leadership campaign while supporting carbon pricing. As such, there was no way the carbon tax proposal in the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ People’s Guarantee platform was going to survive the disappearance of the guy on the cover. After some initial tentative trial balloons, and albeit with some inconsistent language, all three candidates in the race — Christine Elliott, Doug Ford and Caroline Mulroney — now say no to a carbon tax.
It’s awkward, because the platform’s authors clearly felt the party needed a credible climate change policy to win a general election — the date of which, June 7, has not changed — and they came up with a solid approach: scrap the Liberals’ “cap-and-trade slush fund,” opt in to the federally mandated backstop carbon price, and give all of the proceeds back to Ontarians.