Who will end secrecy at city hall?

News media, candidates’ materials and letters to the editor point out the symptoms of many things that need to be fixed during the next municipal term. However, identifying the causes requires information, and therein lies a major rub: secrecy at city hall. A chafing issue for many residents in recent years is Mayor Jim Watson, who created a dome of secrecy around city hall to the point that citizens do not have timely, informed access to council deliberations and contracts (for example, LRT, waste diversion, Civic Hospital expansion, Lansdowne redevelopment, road paving and repaving, pumping stations). The pitiful City of Ottawa website is brutal to navigate, and its designers have yet to take advantage of advances in geographic information systems. It is more hindrance than help to many citizens. Moreover, even councillors play the catch-up game, as the mayor makes budgetary, financial, contractual, development and other announcements based on supposedly public information that he has kept to himself rather than making it readily available. A critical question deserving of honest answers from candidates is, “What will it take to establish open, online information access at city hall, so that citizens can examine budget proposals, development deals, contracts, and other matters of public business in a timely manner?”

Barry Wellar, Ottawa