OttawaMark Sutcliffe says public safety has been a key priority since he ran for election three years ago, but his challenger for mayor says his latest announcement looks like a political event for the next campaign.Critics say public safety plan offers nothing new as mayor repackages budget announcementsListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, centre, flanked by Ottawa Police Service Chief Eric Stubbs, left, and Ottawa Fire Services Chief Paul Hutt at a public safety action plan event. (Patrick Louiseize/CBC)The mayor’s public safety action plan is getting mixed reviews at city hall, as critics see a “PR stunt” that simply repackages budget announcements. Sutcliffe adressed the plan at a news conference in his office on Thursday, flanked by the chiefs of the police, fire and paramedic services. He said safety has been a key anxiety he’s heard from residents ever since his election campaign three years ago.”Our goal is to ensure emergency services are available whenever residents need them. Our goal is to make Ottawa safer for everyone,” he said. “This plan brings into focus the actions and investments we’re making to improve public safety in Ottawa, many of which are in the 2026 budget that is currently being considered by council,” the mayor added. In fact, almost all of them are in that budget, which council will vote on next week. It includes funding that will pay for 21 new police officers and 23 new paramedics next year. It would expand an alternate crisis response program and pay for new breathing apparatuses for firefighters.The only new spending Sutcliffe highlighted on Thursday is $1 million for a two-year pilot project to use private security to fill policing gaps in the ByWard Market. “Policing is not always the solution that’s needed in a particular situation,” he said. “People need to feel a presence and it doesn’t always need to be a police officer.”Challenger calls announcement ‘campaign event’Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who is running against Sutcliffe for mayor next year, said he’s getting tired of Sutcliffe announcing new spending through the media — before even mentioning his plans to city councillorsHe said this is the first time councillors have heard about the private security funding, which follows similar surprise news conferences on Lansdowne Park, the 2026 budget directions and a pledge to end youth homelessness that Leiper said also caught them off guard. Leiper called that “disrespectful” of the role councilors play in local democracy.“It’s a clear pattern now of bypassing city council to make announcements in an attempt to control a narrative in a fraught budget process ahead of what will certainly be a very fraught election,” Leiper said.Aside from the private security funding, though, he said Thursday’s announcement simply repackages prior announcements and turns the budget process into “a campaign event.”“I think residents of Ottawa will see it for what it is: a PR stunt,” he said.Leiper wasn’t the only one to accuse Sutcliffe of politicizing the budget process. Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster, who recently appeared with Leiper in a social media video calling for different budget priorities, said the mayor’s habit of springing surprise announcements on council is “really frustrating.”Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster poses for a photo in Ottawa Nov. 22, 2022. (Francis Ferland/CBC)“Generally speaking, council should be able to see something first,” she said. “We should be able to have a democratic discussion at the table before it’s promoted broadly. But it’s pretty clear we’re into election season less than a year out, and voters will just have to make their own decisions.”She argued that the action plan is more reactive than proactive, since it devotes far more money to policing than to tackling underlying causes of crime like homelessness, poverty and addiction. She said the $700,000 for the alternate crisis response program is “a drop in the bucket” that should be scaled up more quickly.Councillor backs mayorSutcliffe brushed off the criticism, saying the budget is a big document with a lot of numbers. He sees his news conference as a chance to explain clearly how it delivers for residents.“Any opportunity I get to talk about public safety and what we’re doing to invest in public safety, I’m going to highlight the investments we’re making,” he said. One city councillor attended his event — and backed up that argument. Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney said there’s an advantage to putting the budget into “plain and simple language for people to understand what we’re actually dealing with and why.”“We really want to see some of the hardest hit areas in the city improve,” he said. “We want people to feel comfortable going out in their own communities.”ABOUT THE AUTHORArthur White-Crummey is a reporter at CBC Ottawa. He has previously worked as a reporter in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature. You can reach him at arthur.white-crummey@cbc.ca.
Action plan or ‘PR stunt’? Mayor’s public safety event gets mixed reviews
