Ford government makes a deal with city of Ottawa

Having suffered capital punishment at the hands of voters, Premier Doug Ford has signed a “new deal” with the city of Ottawa.

In the wake of electoral setbacks in the nation’s capital, Ford on Thursday announced $543 million to help the city.

“This historic new deal reflects our government’s dedication to the economic success of Ottawa and all of Eastern Ontario,” the premier said in Ottawa, noting the city still needs more federal help “funding infrastructure and supporting shelters and asylum claimants.”

Ford’s move comes after his accord last fall with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow that saw the province upload the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway from the city.

Thursday’s agreement is worth up to $197 million over three years in operating supports and up to $346 million over 10 years in capital spending.

It includes a phased uploading to the province of the 27-kilometre Ottawa Road 174, formerly known as Highway 17, which was downloaded to the municipality by former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris in the late 1990s.

As well, provincial cash will help fund a new Ottawa police neighbourhood operations centre in the ByWard Market, which has seen an increase in crime since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe praised the province for stepping up.

“This is a big win for Ottawa,” said Sutcliffe.

“These investments will relieve significant budget pressures for the city and will help us to deliver better services to our residents,” he said.

“It’s also an example of what happens when elected officials do what the voters expect them to do: work together to solve problems and build better, safer, more affordable communities.”

Liberal MPP John Fraser (Ottawa South) said “the premier has ignored Ottawa for five years.”

“There’s no cabinet minister from Ottawa,” said Fraser of the premier’s executive council that doesn’t include any Eastern Ontario representative.

In a joint statement, NDP MPPs Joel Harden (Ottawa Centre) and Chandra Pasma (Ottawa West-Nepean) decried Ford’s “disappointing deal that falls far short of what Ottawa needs.”

Electorally, Ottawa has been a problem area for Ford’s Tories since the provincial government’s tepid response to the so-called “Freedom Convoy” protest that blockaded the capital’s downtown core for three weeks in early 2022.

In the June 2022 election, the only PC incumbent to lose their seat in a landslide provincewide victory was Jeremy Roberts in Ottawa West-Nepean.

Last July, Liberal Karen McCrimmon won the Kanata-Carleton byelection in a riding that had been held by Tory cabinet minister Merrilee Fullerton despite the premier throwing himself into the campaign.

As well, Ottawa residents have endured ongoing problems with the Confederation Line LRT.

That bungled transit project has been a major reason why the government is proceeding with such caution in finishing Toronto’s longdelayed Eglinton Crosstown.

“We don’t want what happened with the Confederation Line to be happening with the Crosstown,” a senior government official, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations, said, referring to the many technical snafus in the Ottawa project.

‘‘ These investments will relieve significant budget pressures for the city and will help us to deliver better services to our residents.

MARK SUTCLIFFE OTTAWA MAYOR