From metric system to better governance

The Citizen quotes Mayor Jim Watson as saying: “These are likely the same people that are probably fighting the metric system. We’ve got to move on. Lansdowne has been a very good success. It’s taken acres of asphalt — it was cruddy asphalt — a bunch of rundown buildings .... You compare what’s there now and what was there 10 years ago and it’s night and day to the good.”

As a former teacher who taught the metric system, I also taught citizenship and the elements of good governance. Once upon a time, Ottawa had the prospect of an international design competition for Lansdowne Park, open to innovation and creativity.

The citizens of Ottawa were sold out by our council to a sole-source proposition. It may have given us a better quality of asphalt but it has not given us transparency or accountability or the possibility of excellence, all necessary for good governance.

Now, again, the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group seems on the verge of capturing council with another sole-source proposal that will not serve the citizens of Ottawa, only its own commercial interests. As a strong supporter of both the metric system and good governance, I cry “Shame” on Watson for being so willing to relinquish of public space to private interests without any benefit to citizens.

Diana Rivington, Ottawa