Mayoral rivals counter Sutcliffe's economic plan

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is pledging to implement free trade with Gatineau, expand local-first procurement policies and attract new investment and jobs to the capital as part of an economic plan to respond to U.S. tariffs and uncertainty in the federal workforce.

Sutcliffe said Ottawa is facing new risks and threats from tariffs, reductions in the federal workforce, inflation and "overall economic uncertainty" as he outlined a plan to diversify and strengthen the local economy.

He pledged to implement a defence innovation strategy to bring "major investments in defence technology and cybersecurity" to the city, to launch a 2027 summit to secure national and international investments in the region, and a free trade partnership with Gatineau to eliminate trade barriers between the interprovincial cities.

If he is re-elected, Sutcliffe said he would implement the economic co-operation agreement that was signed earlier this summer with Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette "to create one economic zone" within the National Capital Region.

"I will work to eliminate trade and talent barriers between the two cities, so that Ottawa-Gatineau becomes a special economic zone with free trade. And we will collaborate on bringing more investment, talent, companies, visitors, and events to Ottawa-Gatineau," Sutcliffe said.

Sutcliffe said he would also continue working with the local tourism sector to bring more large-scale events to the city and would work with airport officials on increasing the number of direct flights to Ottawa.

His primary challengers for the mayor's seat had differing views of the city's economic priorities when reached for comment Monday.

"I think what Ottawa actually needs, if we're going to have a strong economy, is focus on building a city that works," said Jeff Leiper, repeating his campaign slogan. "We need to focus on getting our public transit right so that people can get to work. We need to concentrate on affordable housing that every worker can afford. We need to concentrate on infrastructure that is well maintained in order to be able to attract workers and provide a quality of life.

"Those are the things that are within the municipal purview that Sutcliffe has failed to do for the last four years, and those are the things that I'm going to focus on when I'm mayor," Leiper said.

Leiper has proposed a one per cent infrastructure levy to pay for much-needed repairs on aging infrastructure like roads, sewers and water mains, and to address a backlog of repairs on city-owned assets like arenas and community centres.

"The very low tax approach that Sutcliffe is pursuing, where tax increases are below the rate of inflation, means that he simply can't deliver on the promises he's making to improve and build new infrastructure," Leiper said.

"What is important is actually affordability rather than just a tax rate," he said. "And if you've blown a tire on a poorly maintained road, or if you are bailing out your basement because it's flooded due to inadequately maintained stormwater infrastructure, that's not affordable. No one wants to pay more taxes, but affordability is about all of the costs that the city has some influence over in your day-to-day life."

Alex Lawson said there were few "new ideas" in Sutcliffe's economic announcement on Oct. 5.

"This is what he ran on in the last election, so he's running against his own record. He's running against himself," Lawson said.

Lawson's campaign will be releasing a full economic platform later this week, where he will outline his priorities for providing tax incentives for local employers, cutting red tape and other ways to assist small businesses and startups.

"It's about building the base so that we don't have to increase taxes on the individuals and on the individual businesses. I think it's time that Ottawa started competing for jobs and for employers.

"We're overexposed with our reliance on the federal government as an employer. We're almost a one-industry town, and that industry is contracting. We need to do more to attract more jobs to the tech sector, but we also need to be looking at what other businesses we can bring here," Lawson said. "We need to make sure that our people are better employed."

Lawson said he agreed with promoting free trade between Ottawa and Gatineau, but said those decisions rest with the provincial and federal governments, not with city hall.

"We absolutely need to help the businesses that are being impacted by tariffs, and we need to make sure that the city is looking to local businesses for procurement and businesses within Ontario or within Quebec," Lawson said. "But if (Sutcliffe) is trying to capitalize on the fear of Trump and the fear of tariffs and trade wars, I think the people of Ottawa are going to see right through it."

Neil Saravanamuttoo, an economist by trade, dismissed Sutcliffe's announcement as a "greatest hits package of economic development" that formed a large part of the incumbent mayor's 2022 campaign.

"He's talking about direct flights to Ottawa. He's talking about a free trade agreement with Gatineau. He's talking about major events. These are all things that Mr. Sutcliffe has been talking about for four years now, and he's had all that time to get some results, so I'm not sure what he hopes to achieve with another four years of doing the same."

Sutcliffe's campaign pointed to several economic highlights over his four-year term, including the creation of the mayorʼs economic council, a shop-local, buy-Canadian campaign, advancing a defence innovation strategy and modernizing the cityʼs zoning rules.

"For the past four years, Iʼve been focused on attracting investment, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, supporting small business, partnering with the City of Gatineau on economic opportunities, increasing direct flights to Ottawa, and bringing more visitors and events to the capital," Sutcliffe said.

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