Jim Watson promised fiscal responsibility and Clive Doucet promised to put off plans for an LRT tunnel as the campaign for mayor of Ottawa began in earnest on Tuesday.

Mayor Larry O'Brien doesn't officially launch his campaign for re-election until Wednesday, but chief opponents Watson and Doucet got a head-start on the campaign trail Tuesday, with each unveiling part of their campaign platforms.

Capital Ward Coun. Clive Doucet said he wants to implement surface light rail in Ottawa in four years, not the 20 it could take for an underground tunnel. (CBC)

Capital Ward Coun. Doucet, a longtime opponent of current plans to dig a light-rail tunnel in the city's downtown core, announced his transportation vision, saying he would put off the tunnel until the $2.1-billion cost can be justified.

Instead, Doucet said the city should begin work on a surface light rail travelling an east-west corridor along Carling Avenue, as opposed to the current plan, which calls for the LRT to be along the Ottawa River Parkway.

"The choice is obvious," Doucet said. "Do you want to ... see no new rail service in Ottawa, Orleans, Kanata, Riverside South and the airport until 2031? Or do you want LRT in four years?

"Good sense is better transit for our city right now, not in 20 years," Doucet said.

Doucet also called for the use of smaller buses to improve access to transit in areas not well served by the city's transitways, saying riders don't like the larger articulated buses currently in use.

"Right now we have two levels of service in the city — one for those who live near the transitway, and one for everyone else. I want to change that by making community service a priority and providing small buses for community service," he said.

He added that his transportation plans call for Ottawa to become a national leader in urban bicycling, by improving street safety for residents who commute to work by bike.

Watson wants wages frozen

Former Ottawa mayor Watson called for "restraint" at the city in the form of wage freezes for the mayor, council and senior managers and a hiring freeze until the next budget.

Mayoral candidate Jim Watson unveiled his fiscal platform on Tuesday, calling for four-year wage freezes for the mayor and city council and temporary hiring freezes for most municipal departments. (CBC)

"Some will say that this is tokenism, but I say it's leading by example," said Watson.

He said that despite lofty promises from Mayor O'Brien — in particular his "zero means zero" pledge of no tax increases from last election — the city has been unable to keep property taxes from going up 14 per cent over the last four years.

"I'm not promising zero means zero.... It's not realistic without significant deep cuts to the services the public expects," he said. "But I am committed to bringing a greater fiscal discipline to city hall.

"In the last four years, too many decisions at city hall have not been made wisely, and as a result there is a level of anger and mistrust directed at our municipal government that I have not seen in some time."

Watson said if elected mayor he would not support any tax increase above 2.5 per cent.

His fiscal platform also calls for a hiring freeze for all departments except for emergency services until after next year's budget. He also proposed a 10 per cent reduction in both the budget of the mayor's office and the amount paid out to outside consultants.

He had earlier called for shrinking municipal government from today's 23 councillors to between 14 and 17.

The municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 25.