Watson unveils 'integrity platform'

Ottawa mayoral candidate Jim Watson issued what he labelled ashis "integrity platform", calling on elected officials to post expenses online and refrain from sitting on corporate boards while holding office.

Watson said the 10 proposals, issued Sunday, will "restore public trust" in the mayor, councillors, and senior city officials.

The proposals also call for the establishment of a municipal lobbyist registry, the hiring of a part-time integrity commissioner and a ban on sole-sourced contracts, a move Watson said would have made the deal to redevelop Lansdowne Park illegal.

"Between elections there has been a tendency to slip away where the distinction between what is acceptable and what is right is blurred," said Watson.

"When this happens our constituents lose faith and the credibility of our mandate to govern is shaken."

Watson said Mayor Larry O'Brien's decision to stay on the board of directors of Calian Technologies presents poor optics when the company is doing business with the city.

"I think it would be in everyone's best interest that the mayor not sit on a board of directors," said Watson. Mr. O'Brien felt it was a good idea to resign as chair of Calian, my view is this would force any future mayor to make a decision: either you are going to be the mayor on a full-time basis or you break the bylaw."

Mayor Larry O'Brien said Monday that he had no issue with any of Watson's proposals, and said he has abstained from any decisions regarding the company since he became mayor.

O'Brien said he didn't resign from the board, he said, because "it didn't occur to me that it would be an issue."

O'Brien said Watson's proposals don't go far enough, and suggested adding to the list a requirement that councillors fulfill their full term, and resign if they choose to seek nomination elsewhere.

O'Brien's proposal is an allusion to both Watson's abbreviated stint as mayor of pre-amalgamation Ottawa, which he left in 2000 after three years on the job to become the president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commision.

It also is aimed at some councillors, notably current Bay Ward councillor Alex Cullen, who other candidates have accused of gearing up next year for a run at the NDP nomination in Ottawa Centre in anticipation of the next provincial election.

O'Brienwants budget freezes

O'Brien has taken heat from other candidates and taxpayer groups for raising property taxes 14 per cent over four years after promising in 2006 to freeze themwith his now infamous "zero means zero" pledge.

But he scoffed at Watson's plan to limit tax increases to 2.5 per cent a year, saying that could still lead to a 10 per cent increase over four years, and stood by his assertion that it was possible to push for a budget with zero increases and said he would freeze wages and department budgets to make that happen.

"I'm even more convinced after four years of being mayor and taking a look at the budgets for four years, I think there is much more opportunity to freeze the budgets for at least two years and squeeze more efficiencies out of the city of Ottawa than ever before," said O'Brien.