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Ottawa Citizen

Today's letters: Keep evening street parking free to foster downtown vibrancy

Article content City staff are currently proposing paid evening and weekend street parking in many areas of downtown Ottawa. This proposal has two parts: paid daytime parking, including on weekends, and paid evening parking. I believe the evening portion is a mistake that disproportionately impacts evening-centric businesses including restaurants and bars. Article content Article content If passed, this proposal will continue to hollow out our core of locally owned and operated nightlife. In areas such as the Glebe, Little Italy, the ByWard Market and Westboro, on-street parking could soon be charged and limited to a two-hour maximum, until 9 p.m. daily. Many restaurant guests, especially in larger groups, spend more than two hours dining. Watching a game at a bar or going to a show takes longer than two hours. Article content Paid evening parking will also act as an added tax on these downtown areas, encouraging many to spend more of their nights out at big-box places in the suburbs where parking is free and abundant. Article content I strongly recommend the committee choose to stop parking fees and two-hour restrictions at 5:30 p.m. daily, removing these barriers to entry and helping to preserve the vibrancy and diversity of our nightlife in Ottawa. Article content Article content Maybe the procurement specialists at DND who tendered the Ranger guns from Colt Canada should have spoken to the procurement specialists at DND for cars. Surely when DND buys cars and trucks, they come with warranties that take effect after delivery. Article content To give a sole-source repair contract to Colt for $10 million to repair their own guns tells me the profit on repairs would be at the level where a bonus should be paid to their marketing force. Article content Maybe the DND staffers were trained at CBC where you pay bonuses and give salary increases during mismanaged periods. Article content Mr. Carney, this is fuel to get procurement under control. The taxpayers should not pay a cent for deficient goods.