Jim Watson Campaign Launch
Sunday, April 18th, 2010 • 2:00 pm
Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral Hall
1000 Byron Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario

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Good afternoon! Bonjour!

What an amazing turn-out today!

Thanks to each and every one of you for taking time out from your busy lives and families to be here.

Let me also thank my honourary co-chairs, members of my campaign executive and volunteers for all of their hard work organizing today's campaign kickoff.

Today, we launch the campaign to bring stability, reliability and credibility back to city hall.

And although the October 25th election is still 193 days from today, I have already spent hundreds of hours and travelled thousands of kilometres connecting with all parts of our great city.

Most importantly, I have been meeting the people of Ottawa and listening to their issues, frustrations, hopes and ideas for the future.

The people of Ottawa feel that these past four years have not been the city’s finest.

• From the costs, anger and inconvenience of the city's longest bus strike;

• To the largest tax increases in the new city's history;

• To a sense of drift and confusion emanating from city hall;

Many feel betrayed by promises of a tax freeze and better services – only to see the opposite unfold.

And so they seek a new style of leadership that values collaboration over confrontation;

They seek a new approach that favours problem-solving over finger-pointing;

One gentleman who stopped me in the Byward Market a few weeks ago best summed it up, when he said "you know the city appears to have a new slogan." To which I replied, “really, what’s that? " and he said with a big grin "We're not happy till you're not happy !"

I have heard your message loud and clear – you need to believe and see that City Hall can ONCE AGAIN be ON YOUR SIDE.

Now, I want to briefly introduce the five broad themes that will underpin our campaign.

These themes reflect the values that would guide me, and they reflect what I have been hearing across our City.

Working together, I want us to realize a vision of Ottawa as:

An Affordable City

A Caring City

A Safe City

A Green City

And a Dynamic City

Between now and election day, I will outline a series of realistic commitments that strengthen our dedication to these values.

Let me start with some thoughts on what an Affordable City means to me.

All of us, whether it's in our businesses, or our homes, have to live within our means.

We're taught that the day our parents bring us to open our first bank account; or when we get our first summer job; or when we buy our first car or take out a mortgage.

Yet something strange happens to too many people on their way to City Hall.

They appear to lose that sense of fiscal discipline and responsibility- because it’s no longer their money.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will NEVER lose sight of the fact that every dollar being spent by City Hall is not my money, or city council’s money – IT’S YOUR MONEY!!!

So one of the first things we need to do better is to develop a clearer sense of what’s important;

If I gain your trust on October 25, I will work with Council to set clear priorities – to clearly distinguish things we really need from those that are nice to have.

I will also work to instil a new culture of frugality at City Hall.

Everything that we do must be framed in the context of what is affordable for our taxpayers, for the City’s bottom line, and for future generations’ ability to pay.

The era of $20,000 consultants studying plastic cows on roofs;
Or of by-laws that harass gardeners in rural Ottawa or buskers in the market;
and the era of cost overruns on bus garages must come to an end.

It also means moving forward with a transit plan that is within the budget constraints of the city, and not hoping AND PRAYING that other levels of government will ride to our rescue when we go over budget.

HOPE is a great thing to have, but it is not a strategy.

Another part of an affordable City is our ability to create jobs that can sustain our families, businesses, schools, colleges, universities and services we value so dearly.

Economic Development will be a key component of our city if I am successful in earning your confidence this fall.

I also want to work with our partners in the private sector, as well as our federal and provincial partners and our colleges and universities, to make sure Ottawa joins the Green revolution.

This City can attract and create green jobs – and I will champion that effort with our community and business leaders.

I also believe that City Hall can become a catalyst for entrepreneurship and innovation.

But to move in that direction, we need to start rebuilding Team Ottawa. We need to bring people together from all walks of life and all areas of our great City – and get them working like a team again.

Let me speak briefly on the notion of a CARING CITY.

It was Sir Winston Churchill who once said the sign of a truly great and civilized society is how we treat our most vulnerable.

I am PROUD of my record as a Cabinet Minister.

I am PROUD to have played a role in tackling the issue of poverty and homelessness, not because it was a vote getter, but because it was the right thing to do.

From increasing the minimum wage, to creating the Ontario child benefit; to reducing income taxes for the lowest paid in our community, to building new affordable housing - we took a holistic approach in dealing with poverty.

I am also proud of my history of working collaboratively with other levels of government to secure the funds that our community needs for its priorities.

In that spirit, we must redouble our battle against homelessness, to ensure that affordable housing remains on the provincial and federal government’s radar.

Today, I make the commitment to you that it will be one of my top priorities, because it is inconceivable for a rich society like ours to have men, women and children living in the streets or in shelters.

Now, everyone wants a safe city – but creating a safe city can not just be left to the dedicated police, fire and paramedic officers who display their bravery each and every day.

A safe city means spending as much time and effort dealing with the causes of crime as it is with dealing with crime itself.

We have to be tough on crime. But we also have to be smart ABOUT crime.

We can be more creative when it comes to some of our more economically challenged neighbourhoods.

We can engage Young people in communities that don't have access to the mentors they need – mentors that can open doors to jobs, opportunity, networks and hope.

I know that the people of our City want our city to be GREENER. They want to see measurable progress on protecting our environment.

Like you, I was horrified to see our City – the nation’s capital – discharge billions of litres of raw sewage into the Ottawa river.

I want you to know that I will spare no effort in solving the raw sewage issue.

I will not rest until we have provided the people of our City with a definite date by which this issue will be resolved for the foreseeable future.

I will also work to protect the Urban boundary –
Because we cannot allow Urban Sprawl to continue unchecked as it puts a tremendous strain on our roads, transit, recreation facilities and other services.

Finally, like everyone here, I want to live in a Dynamic city.

To be a great city we must embrace our diversity, celebrate our many cultures, indulge the arts, and celebrate the heritage found from our downtown core to our rural countryside.

By promoting the arts and our heritage, we send an invitation to the world to come and visit this less well known G8 capital city.

In just 9 years, we will be celebrating Canada's 150th anniversary -our sesqui-centennial.

Those of us who were around in 1967, remember the sense of pride and patriotism we all felt celebrating Canada's 100th birthday.

In 2017, we must ensure that the nation's focus and attention is on our capital city.

As Jean Pigott once said, Ottawa should be every Canadian’s second home town.

We need to own 2017 as Montreal owned 1967 or as Vancouver owned the 2010 Winter Olympics.

My goal is to ensure that Ottawa prepares to roll out the red carpet in the lead up to 2017, so that every major event and convention knows that our city is the place to be in 2017.

I will also work with our community leaders to attract leading events like:

The Juno's,
The Genies
The NHL’s wildly popular outdoor Winter Classic
The Grey Cup

And when the world comes to Ottawa, we will be prepared to greet them with world class convention facilities; and the tremendous hospitality and friendship that Ottawans are capable of.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m running for Mayor because, for far too many years we have seen City Hall as more of a hindrance than a help.

We’ve lost some of the civic pride that has been felt in Ottawa in years gone by.

Last week I ran in to one of the most dedicated and competent city employees you will ever come across, and he told me – quite sadly – that he is no longer proud to say that he works for the City of Ottawa.

Above and beyond being a city employee, this gentleman is a tremendous community volunteer, and of course a tax payer.

We have to pull together to allow our city to reach it’s potential and ensure that we can all be proud of this beautiful and generous community we call home.

I will work day in and day out to earn and keep your confidence.

At the end of the day, my philosophy is similar to the founder of the scouting movement, Lord Baden Powell, when he said:

“Always leave the campsite in better shape than you found it.”

Whether it’s balancing the city's books;
Or cleaning up the Ottawa River;
Or reducing the number of people on waiting lists for housing;
Or championing our small businesses;
Or planning for the joys and challenges of an aging population;

My pledge to you is to leave our city in better shape than I found it.

I need your help to make sure that we inspire our fellow residents to participate in the municipal election, and vote on October 25.

Today, I humbly ask for your support.

I ask you to stand with me to fight for our city, for our hometown, for our nation’s capital, together we can start to restore the pride and confidence our beautiful city so greatly deserves.

Thank you!