So, there is one more week left before nominations close for the 2010 Ottawa Municipal Election.  Have you paid your $100 nomination fee to have your name on the ballot in your favourite ward?
It looks like 99 Ottawans feel that the entry fee for this election is worth it because we have the most ever candidates registered.  I say “registered” and not “running” because I have tried to contact some candidates directly and have had no response.  I don’t know why they have registered but I’m sure they have a …

It was only 12 short days ago that I mused about Ward 7 in Ottawa following the lead of Ward 7 in Toronto (What’s up with Bay Ward?).  The story is about where an incumbent decides to run for mayor but then when it doesn’t look likely they can win, he jumps back into the ward race.  I was half kidding when I wrote that because I believed that Alex Cullen was more than a politician who was in it for himself.  I believed him when he said that it …

First it’s in the news for the rash of crime related incidences over the past few weeks and now, a flood of new entrants for councillor for the upcoming election.  I think the number is up to ten registered candidates.
Last week I blogged about the “candidate who we shall not name” and now former Kitchissippi Ward councillor (1997-2006) Shawn Little.  CFRA broke the news yesterday that Mr. Little will make a political comeback attempt in Bay Ward.  
After doing some investigative research, this may not be the end of weirdo …

I have long contended that it doesn’t really matter who the mayor is if we elect a weak council.  The mayor ultimately is one vote and as we saw with the budget vote for the 2009 budget even if the mayor is trying to do the right thing, bad councillors can carry the day.  For the 2009 budget, a majority of councillors usurped Mayor Larry O’Brien’s process to go through the budget line by line because it would take too long.  So without the mayor onside, council passed a budget …

I could only smile when I saw the headline in today’s Ottawa Citizen, Watson decries Cullen’s office-paid ads – City official says no election policy breached. This is the second time in as many months that mayoral candidate, Jim Watson, as implied that his opponents are using their office budgets to bolster their own political agendas by disguising it as city business and not electioneering.
Well, at least I’m glad to see the topic is getting some print. Ward challengers have forever complained about the use of office budgets …

So Clive Doucet has decided to take on Larry O’Brien for the Mayor’s chair. And that’s exactly what it is. I don’t believe the severance idea that many have speculated is the cause behind this run. Doucet is not in this for the severance he will get if he loses. I think that might apply more to Alex Cullen who maybe using his Mayor’s run to position himself to take on Yasir Naqvi in Ottawa Centre next provincial election.
But I digress. Doucet hates Mayor O’Brien and …

I said that I don’t want to focus my blog on the Mayor’s race.  I want to focus on the ward races and give readers the chance to learn what options they have to replace their current councillors.  If the last elections taught us anything, you can change the Mayor as much as you want but real change starts by changing the Councillor.
But it always gets me going when people say that Jim Watson has this race in the bag.  Watson will be the next Mayor of Ottawa.  If his …

This week’s Ottawa Sun/Leger Poll on the mayor’s race has put Jim Watson in a bind.
The poll all but declared Watson the winner in a landslide for an election that is 4 ½ months away. It would be hard pressed but to conclude that any erosion in his 53% support over the next few months would mean that Watson is losing voters. There is a lot of time before the actual election and anything is possible. You may recall that the front runner in the 2006 election …

Let me start by saying that from a financial perspective, I agree that the city should take advantage of the discounted buses being offered by bus manufacturer New Flyer. Circumstances have given Ottawa the chance to upgrade its bus fleet at a lower cost than otherwise would be. Furthermore, I believe that the projected savings are understated as I think that the long-term maintenance costs would be higher than forecasted since these come from OC Transpo management in whom I have little confidence whereas the financing costs are …

If Mayor Larry O’Brien does not run for re-election and with Peter Hume having already declared he will not seek the mayor’s chair, the door is wide open for a right wing candidate to enter the race. Of the currently declared mayoral candidates that are considered front runners, Alex Cullen would ideologically represent the left and Jim Watson would represent the centre right. So, who would qualify to run for the right?

Walter Robinson is the leading name being tossed around to represent the right. The …