Latest news with #MarkSutcliffe
CTV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Former City of Ottawa lawyer pleads guilty to defacing National Holocaust Monument
The words 'FEED ME' are seen painted in red on the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS) A former City of Ottawa lawyer has pleaded guilty to a charge of mischief to a war memorial in connection with vandalism to the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. The words 'feed me' were painted on the side of the memorial west of downtown Ottawa on June 9. The paint was quickly removed, but the act prompted widespread condemnation from residents, Jewish groups, and political leaders. Ottawa police charged Iain Aspenlieder on June 27 with mischief to a war memorial, mischief exceeding $5,000, and harassment by threatening conduct. The remaining two charges are being withdrawn. The Crown is consenting to his release on bail pending his sentence. Police did not initially release his name in a news release announcing his arrest, but he was identified in court documents. According to the Ontario Salary Disclosure list, Aspenlieder was a 'Legal Counsel' with the City of Ottawa. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said in late June that Aspenlieder had been fired. 'The city's legal department has confirmed that the individual charged, who was on leave at the time of the incident, is no longer employed by the City of Ottawa,' Sutcliffe said on social media. The National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa commemorates the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and the millions of other victims of Nazi Germany and its collaborators. The monument was inaugurated by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in September 2017. With files from CTV News Ottawa's Joshua Marano
CTV News
7 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Ottawa mayor opposes pay hike for councillors amid talk of raise proposals
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he won't back pay raises for city councillors as some members of council mull bringing forward a motion to give them a significant salary increase. CTV News Ottawa has learned councillors are considering several options for pay raises, where proposals could go up as high as $18,000, from $119,654 currently to $138,000 – a 15 per cent increase. Speaking in a media availability following the meeting, Sutcliffe said that while he respects the hard work of councillors, it would not be appropriate to consider a pay raise at this time. 'I think we need to take a look around at what's going on in the community right now. There's an affordability crisis, there's the prospect of significant federal job reductions, there are lineups at food banks,' Sutcliffe said. 'I hear all the time from my colleagues on city council and from members of the community that they want to see more resources being invested in critical areas to support the most vulnerable.' Sutcliffe added that considerations about a pay raise could impact ongoing salary negotiations with public sector unions representing city staff. 'I think it would be imposing a significant burden on the staff who are negotiating those contracts with those unions if we were to introduce for ourselves a larger than cost of living increase for our salaries,' he said. Ottawa's 24 city councillors each earned $119,490 in 2024 and $111,111 in 2023. Elected officials received a 2.5 per cent raise in each year of the three-year collective agreement for 2023, 2024 and 2025, tied to raises for non-unionized managers. In January, councillors received a report conducted by consulting firm MNP that found the current renumeration rates for elected officials in Ottawa aligned with the median market rate. 'Therefore, data-driven results across comparators' research do not indicate that a salary increase is needed presently,' the report said. Toronto councillors voted in March to increase their salaries by 24 per cent from $137,537 to $170,588. The Ford government unfroze Ontario MPP salaries held at 116,500 since 2009 last spring. MPPs saw a nearly $41,000 raise to a total of $157,350. Coun. Riley Brockington tells CTV News Ottawa he believes an independent assessment should be done to come up with the right figure. Brockington says outside of inflationary increases, councillors have not had an in-depth review on pay raises for members in over two decades. 'I've met with the mayor on a number of occasions. I floated six, seven different options for us to consider, while talking about the pros and cons of each,' he said. 'I just want something that is reasonable, that is backed up by an independent study.' Brockington says there are different opinions on council for the process moving forward. 'The timing is also a concern but at the end of the day, what we really need is a process that council agrees with so that this does not come up every term of office for city councillors and council as a whole to deal with,' he said. No motion on councillor pay was put forward at Wednesday's city council meeting and it's unclear if or when one will be. with files from CTV News Ottawa's Josh Pringle
Ottawa Citizen
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Hersh: Free Transit isn't just possible, it's popular
At the beginning of the month, our Mayor Mark Sutcliffe announced on social media that it was a record day for the LRT Line 1. Article content 'Almost 250,000 trips were recorded,' he said. 'The highest single-day ridership in the history of Ottawa's LRT, and a 66 per cent increase over Canada Day last year.' Article content Article content He forgot to mention an important detail: it was free. Article content Every year on Canada Day, the City offers residents a day of what they call 'no-charge' transit. They did the same thing at the beginning of May to encourage people to take the new LRT line. The result was similarly positive. Ridership was up 54 percent that weekend, according to OC Transpo. Article content Article content In December 2021, OC Transpo offered free transit for the whole month as a way to make up for the failings of the LRT. Despite it being a bit of a gimmick, the transit riders group Ottawa Transit Riders reported, based on a survey they conducted, that 'people chose to ride transit more often because it was free and some people changed their travel patterns.' Article content Other cities have also shown us that free transit is a popular idea. Article content Last month, Zohran Mamdani was elected as the candidate for the New York City Democratic Party. One of his biggest and most prominent promises was 'making buses fast and free.' Article content According to his campaign, it would save New Yorkers 36 million hours every year and generate $1.5 billion in economic benefits. The promise was also popular; according to a poll from the organization Data for Progress, 72 per cent of New York voters approved of the idea. Article content Article content Several other cities across the U.S.—like Albuquerque, New Mexico and Kansas City, Missouri—have also made transit completely free. The small Ontario town of Orangeville introduced free transit in 2023, and its ridership increased by 160 percent. Article content So, if fare-free transit is popular and might help encourage people to ride the bus or LRT, why hasn't our city jumped on the free transit train yet? Article content The argument is often made that there is a binary choice, that we must choose between reliability and affordability of our transit services. Article content Detractors argue that if we spend money on making our transit system free, then we would not have enough to increase reliability — something that is admittedly sorely needed in Ottawa, especially after Mayor Sutcliffe and our council approved the largest service cut in a decade in the last city budget. Article content This premise, however, presents a false choice — we can and we should have both. Our current approach makes clear that higher fares do not lead to a better, more reliable system, and the pandemic made it clear that solely relying on transit fares for revenue is not sustainable. Article content Ottawa's fares have now crossed the $4.00 threshold and are some of the most expensive in North America, yet our transit system has continued to disintegrate because of a lack of political will to improve it. Article content If ridership was up to pre-pandemic levels, free transit would cost the city about $200 million, according to OC Transpo's own estimates. This might sound like a lot. Article content However, when you consider other unnecessary expenses like the $258 million the city is projected to spend on road widening in the next couple of years, then the number does not seem that out of the ordinary. Article content Free transit on its own will not solve our transit woes. What it does do, however, is signal our city's willingness to prioritize the climate crisis, a cheaper alternative to car travel, and improve our most valued public services like health care, schools, roads and sidewalks — which by the way, are all free.
Ottawa Citizen
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Gay: The last thing OC Transpo needs is new electric buses
Article content Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and council continue the push to phase out Ottawa's diesel buses and replace them with electric ones. While this may sound like an environmental and fiscal win, it's not the solution Ottawans need. Article content If the city wants to lower emissions, the priority shouldn't be replacing buses; it should be getting more people to ride them. Public transit becomes attractive when it is three things: fast, reliable and affordable. People choose it when it's more affordable than ordering an Uber or paying for parking, and when it's faster than sitting in traffic. The real question OC Transpo needs to ask is: What will convince more people to leave their cars and choose the bus instead? That should be the first goal. Article content Article content Gas-powered buses emit far fewer emissions per passenger than individual gas-powered cars. Shifting more people onto buses will have a much greater environmental impact than shifting from diesel to electric buses — especially if ridership rates remain the same. Article content Federal and provincial subsidies should focus on boosting ridership. Expanding routes, increasing service frequency, lowering fares and offering competitive wages for drivers are all ways to incentivize a fast, reliable and affordable transportation system. Article content The need is clear. An active petition signed by more than 1,000 frustrated Kanata residents highlights the quality-of-life impact of poor OC Transpo service. 'Buses are less reliable'; 'The buses are never on time'; 'It takes us more than 2 hrs to get to downtown'; are just a sampling of the comments on this petition. Electrification won't fix any of that. Article content Article content Over half of Ottawa's buses are between 14 and 22 years old and should be replaced. But are electric buses the right choice? According to a recent article, the fleet still seems to be operating well for its age: just 0.4 per cent of trips were cancelled in May due to mechanical issues, and only 0.2 per cent due to unavailable buses. Replacing the older half of Ottawa's fleet should be a priority, but replacing them with electric buses — a $1.3-million dollar price tag compared to diesel buses at $650,000 — would double the upfront costs. Article content Article content Unlike many transit systems, OC Transpo must also take into account the extreme cold that Ottawans and their vehicles face. In extreme cold, the range of electric buses can be reduced by 40 per cent. Diesel buses are much more able to put up with Canada's winters. Article content Even the rollout of electric buses seems tumultuous. Coun. Tim Tierney recently voiced his frustration: 'Electric buses sound like a great idea, it's all rainbows and unicorns, but unless they actually get delivered, we have a problem and they're already years behind schedule.' At this point, he said, 'I'm not confident we'll see them.'
CTV News
08-07-2025
- CTV News
Ottawa police called to physical ‘incident' at city hall security area
The sign outside City Hall in Ottawa (CTV News Ottawa) Police were called to a physical incident between security and a visitor at Ottawa City Hall Tuesday morning. The Ottawa Police Service says it was called to the Laurier Avenue West building shortly after 10 a.m. after receiving reports that security personnel had detained an individual. In a statement, the City of Ottawa says the incident started at the entrance of the building where security gates were recently introduced for visitors wishing to enter city hall. The incident involved 'physical contact' and was witnessed by several bystanders, the city says. 'This was an isolated incident, and there is no ongoing concern for public safety,' said an emailed statement from the City of Ottawa's director of public safety service Beth Gooding. 'At this time, an internal investigation is underway to determine the full circumstances, and we are taking the matter seriously.' Ottawa police say no arrests were made. The city announced new security measures for all visitors wishing to enter the building in May, requiring members of the public to have their bags checked and to go through a metal detector. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said at the time the additional measures were required because of increased incidents threatening political leaders and major landmarks around the world.
