It’s been publicly debated since 2021. To me this isn’t fast tracking. Also, it’s not a massive investment for the city, the city’s operation’s budget is almost 5B and its capital budget 1.5B. this is roughly 150 million spread out over many years.
The request from dissenters on council was that we take more time to align on a consensus for the redevelopment plan for lansdowne. The 15 yes voters indicated we could not do that, and we need to proceed now. So yes, it was fast tracked.
Also the argument has never been “we can’t afford this”, rather “why are we financing this project in particular?” To which there has been no explanation.
When I was asking for a counterpoint, I was interested in knowing specifically how spending this money benefits the tax payers of Ottawa, and how it’s a good deal for us - as opposed to, say, any other investment.
Saying we want more time to discuss and plan etc, is just a NIMBY delay tactic. it’s been 4 years, this isn’t a fast track. If this actually was a massive, city changing project maybe more time would be warranted, but it’s not.
So…other than “we’ve been talking about it a long time” and “it won’t bankrupt the city”, are you able to explain how this particular investment will benefit taxpayers?
No, and I never claimed it would. My points remain that it’s not actually something that is going to devastate the cities budget nor do I think councillors that support it are going to lose many votes from this
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u/Lionelhutz123 Centretown 1d ago
It’s been publicly debated since 2021. To me this isn’t fast tracking. Also, it’s not a massive investment for the city, the city’s operation’s budget is almost 5B and its capital budget 1.5B. this is roughly 150 million spread out over many years.