Reporter's Notebook

Wednesday, October 4, 2006


The gloves are off, and I’m not talking about tonight’s NHL season opener. I’m talking about last night’s debate at Immaculata High School.

I wasn’t able to catch the debate between the candidates for Ward 17, but I did arrive in time for the mayoral brawl.

Bob Chiarelli is finally taking aim at Larry O’Brien. Maybe it was the recent poll (see previous post), but the mayor seems to have realized it’s O’Brien, not Munter, who threatens to siphon support from him.

Chiarelli went hard at O’Brien last night, accusing the political newcomer of “rookie mistakes,” and challenging him to come up with a plan to back up his promises. O’Brien opined that the mayor is “past his best before date”…a comment that earned a few titters from the crowd, but didn’t really add to the debate.

Still, pegging the mayor as yesterday’s man seems to be the strategy of choice among Chiarelli’s challengers.

Fun with numbers

... there’s not necessarily more crime, just more tickets.

Chiarelli is also calling O’Brien on his numbers. The mayor loves numbers, and pulls out dozens of them during a typical debate.

City spending has dropped 4.3 per cent since 2000. City Hall staffing’s been cut by 18 per cent. Ottawa spends only 3.8 per cent of its budget on administration.

But numbers are funny things, especially during a debate. They just don’t stick. And they’re open to interpretation.
Just take Larry O’Brien’s claim that crime is “up” in Ottawa — Well, sort of.

The city’s overall crime rate rose in 2005 by one per cent, while the rate in some other cities dropped.

But Ottawa police will tell you that’s largely because of increased vigilance in areas like traffic enforcement — in other words, there’s not necessarily more crime, just more tickets.

Meanwhile the type of crime most people are worried about — violent crime, the stuff that makes the headlines — dropped significantly.

Anyway, those numbers are from last year, and don’t necessarily reflect a long-term trend. Who knows what this year holds?

Bus fare battle

Chiarelli’s war room is also working overtime to respond to jabs from the Munter camp. Take a current Munter radio ad — coming soon in poster form to a bus near you — that claims bus fares here rose to the highest in Canada under Bob Chiarelli.

Again, true…sort of. While the $3 ride is indeed the steepest in the land, the fact is hardly anyone pays it.

Ninety-five per cent of OC Transpo riders pay with bus passes or tickets, which cost far less per trip.

It’s not the first time Chiarelli has issued a statement “correcting” Munter. With headlines like “More Munter Myths,” the releases have become regular arrivals in reporters’ inboxes. In fact, they’re more common than Chiarelli platform announcements.

So while the mayor may be going on the offensive against O’Brien, he still seems stuck behind his own blue line when it comes to “candidate Munter,” as he’s taken to calling his former council colleague.

Railing about light rail

The mayor has done everything in his power to get the deal signed and sealed before November 13th.

The debate reached its fiercest last night when the issue of light rail transit arose, with Chiarelli warning of dire consequences if the plan is derailed, Munter calling for changes to the north-south route and quicker action on the east-west line, and O’Brien renewing his call for a value audit of the whole thing.

A published report suggests Treasury Board president John Baird is about to halt the federal government’s $200-million contribution while his department performs a value audit.

Yesterday Baird would neither confirm nor deny the rumour.
Previously, he’s promised the federal contribution is firm. But he’s never said it’s specifically tied to LRT, only that it’s for “infrastructure.”

One thing is certain: Bob Chairelli’s light rail dream depends on that money.

The mayor has done everything in his power to get the deal signed and sealed before November 13th. If Baird halts it now, this municipal election becomes a referendum on north-south light rail.

But will he? Baird and Chiarelli have never been best friends, but Baird must have realized what’s at stake if he becomes involved in this. Asked yesterday whether he’s concerned about interfering in a municipal election, his only reply is that he isn’t backing any candidate.

Robert who?

One last thing: Where in the world is Robert Larter? Who in the world is Robert Larter? No one knows — and I mean no one. Maybe the last-minute mayoral candidate is also a marketing genius who knows people love to talk about a mystery man.

But it won’t be long before we all lose interest, and stop asking about a guy who can’t be bothered to join in the debate and let voters know what he stands for.


— Alistair
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