City of neglect or a city for all?
City of neglect or a city for all?
By Rianne Mahon
The start of the 2026 municipal election campaign is a good moment to reflect on the city we have, the one we want and what we need to do to realize it.
Do we want a city that primarily benefits corporate landlords, car dealerships and stadium owners, or do we want a city where housing, transit and other services are of such good quality that everyone wants to use them?
Step out the door, and it is not hard to see the cracks in the city. Too often, we look around our city and wonder what our tax dollars are actually being spent on.
Public transit is unreliable and downright unusable for most people. The LRT? What LRT? When buses aren’t cancelled due to mechanical failures, they are often late, with the shortage of shelters leaving riders exposed to the elements.
The streets are full of potholes, and many sidewalks are so uneven they aren’t useable. Basic services like snow removal are dangerously inadequate. Beaches and wading pools are often closed through want of supervision. Without good public facilities, recreational and cultural participation remain unaffordable for large segments of Ottawa’s residents. Even more pressing, some 20,000 people languish on waiting lists for social housing, and much of what we have is badly in need of repair. A growing number of people are living (even dying) on the street. with many more struggling to find adequate housing.
Responsibility for this sorry state of affairs lies with our mayor and city councillors, who have chosen to keep tax increases below the rate of inflation in the name of “affordability.” Poor services cost us far more. Every one-per-cent tax increase deferred saves ratepayers only $45 a year on average. By contrast, lousy bus service compels people to spend $16,000 a year in car payments while a lack of affordable housing has the average renter spending $1,900 a month for a one bedroom and $2,400 a month for a two bedroom.
In addition to affordable housing, we need a functional transit network. With the Glebe’s population and traffic on Bank Street set to grow exponentially due to Lansdowne 2.0, we urgently need more buses, dedicated lanes to keep them out of traffic and fare relief to get people riding again.
No candidate for mayor or council should be taken seriously if they don’t call for a five- or six-per-cent property-tax increase, a realignment of spending priorities and strong public services that meet the needs of the average person. A six-per-cent tax increase would only cost the average household an extra $275 a year.
Of course, progressive taxation must be the backbone, but we can raise revenues in other ways too. Substantial revenue could be gained by increasing Ottawa’s parking rates, which are among the lowest of any major Canadian city, and parking is free in huge swaths of the city. Development fees on new single-family dwellings could be increased, discouraging urban sprawl with its attendant increase in car-dependent communities.
Measures to increase revenues ought to be accompanied by others that reallocate current or planned expenditures away from unproductive uses. Spending $50 million a year to widen roads may reduce congestion but it also attracts more cars. The $484-million police budget does not address the homelessness and despair that make parts of the city chaotic, and spending on quasi-military police gear only duplicates resources available through the OPP.
It is possible to make Ottawa a city for all. We just need a mayor and councillors with the political will to do so.
Rianne Mahon is a long-time Glebe resident, supporter of Free Transit Ottawa – and of course the Charge!