Ottawa was never going to feel as much love as Toronto during this, or any, provincial election campaign, but it certainly deserves better than the mixed messages on infrastructure from Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak. While Hudak has big plans to break Toronto’s crippling gridlock, his message on Ottawa’s traffic concerns has effectively been: “There, there … we’ll get to you in due time.”
Funny how a close election, and as many as four local ridings in play, can change a person’s priorities. Hudak returned to Ottawa on Monday to complete his flip-flop on Phase 2 of Ottawa’s LRT plan, expected to come in at around $3 billion (contingent on $1 billion coming from the province). He now supports it, despite delivering an emphatic “no, we can’t afford it” when asked earlier in the campaign if the funding would be there in 2018. There’s one caveat, however: he must balance the budget first. His commitment to Toronto has been much more specific and clear throughout the campaign. And Hudak hasn’t shied away from making long-term plans in other areas of his platform.
“We have seen the Liberals take Ottawa voters for granted for far, far too long,” Hudak said Monday, after doing that himself just last week. In response to Mayor Jim Watson’s questionnaire to the party leaders asking how Ottawa fit into their plans, the PC leader sent a vague, mildly insulting form letter back, annoying the municipal government and a good number of citizens here.
It’s odd that Hudak, in trying to spin this mess back in his favour, would offer up a comparison to the Liberals, who not only committed early to Phase 2, but also to the Ottawa River Action Plan, another priority for the city. Hudak has been saying nice things about the latter, but where is the $65 million commitment? Will we have to wait until the budget is balanced before we can be reasonably confident that our river won’t be pumped full of sewage?
Here’s a tangible, relatively cheap, politically saleable idea, and still Hudak hasn’t been as clear as he could have with the file. It’s a bizarre omission from a leader who has otherwise given Ottawans several good reasons to consider voting for him, as we pointed out in our endorsement of the party.
Hudak needs Ottawa, and Ottawa could well need Hudak if he’s elected Thursday. A stronger commitment to, and more clarity on, Ottawa’s infrastructure needs would assuage fears that the province’s second largest city will be left jumping up and down and waving our hands in the air just to get noticed if the PCs take over at Queen’s Park.
