Email: perry@perrysimpson.ca

ISSUES AFFECTING THE CITY OF OTTAWA

<still under construction!  If you have any City-wide issues not represented here that you'd like to see addressed, please contact me>

· LRT; word on the street is that the cost is too high, and while I understand that logic, I think we have to look at the costs over a longer period.  30 years from now, I’d hate to hear my grandchildren say “If only they’d put in the LRT 30 years ago when it only cost $3 Billion, since we need it and now it’s going to cost $40 Billion.”   Ottawa is spreading, and shows no sign of stopping.  BC’s Skytrain is an incredible service, and makes a very strong environmental statement.

· Green Bins; yet another issue where you hear the words "too expensive" and "inconvenient".  Again, you have to look at the  costs over a longer period. The future environmental benefit is worth far more than the few tax dollars we'll spend to make this program work.  As for it being inconvenient, so too were paper and glass/plastic recycling when they first started, but they are now the accepted standard.  

· Taxes; all too often I hear the campaign promise of “no new taxes”, but let’s be realistic.  Taxes pay for all those services on which we’ve come to rely. You can’t buy a loaf of bread for the same price as you did 10 years ago.  Why?  Prices went up.  The same thing happens when the companies that provide those services raise their prices to reflect their increased costs, and the need to maintain a profit margin.  If you want no tax increase as a resident, or if you promise no tax increase as a candidate, you must be prepared to identify how you’ll pay for the existing services and/or what will be cut.  This is a simple fact of business, and I won’t tip toe around it.