Taxpayers Deserve a Say on Big Ticket Items Like Lansdowne
Step 2 of our campaign for a referendum on Lansdowne involves 5 action items to take us to 5,000 signatures.
Not the time for vanity projects
Mark Sutcliffe is telling us the city is broke.
At the same time, the feds have a fantastic new housing offer, making federal land available to builders of affordable homes, that could make a real difference to a lot of people in Ottawa.
With $493 million to spend, we could create a lot of new housing that people can actually afford.
Or we might say, given the prospects of a double digit tax increase, now is simply not the time.
But instead, Mark and his supporters on Council would rather spend $493 million to help out their buddies at the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. OSEG wants the City to renovate Lansdowne Park at a cost of half a billion dollars, despite the fact that the site was renovated a decade ago.
Mark loves sports and he loves stadiums. But this is not the time for a vanity project. Mark’s 1% Lansdowne tax would get first dibs on any property tax increases.
If Council isn’t willing to do the right thing, it’s time for the people to take control. Demand a referendum before spending half a billion dollars to tear down and rebuild a sports facility that can be kept operational for another 40 years.
1,800 signatures
Last week on this newsletter, I launched a petition calling for that referendum.
It got traction on Twitter. Many of you passed it on to your own distribution lists.
I was interviewed by CFRA hosts, Bill Carroll and Kristy Cameron.
In its first week, we got over 1,800 signatures. That’s pretty remarkable, considering there was no other media coverage.
That was Step 1. Getting launched and taking hold.
Starting to sweat
Mark Sutcliffe has a petition calling for a handout from the federal and provincial governments. He had every media outlet in town cover his announcement.
Since our petition came out, Mark has gone into overdrive promoting his petition.
It’s almost as if he’s scared that we have more signatures than he does.
Last time he reported, Mark had 1,300 signatures.
Who’s got the bigger crowds?
We’re asking local media to investigate and tell the world which petition is more popular.
This is what I tweeted earlier this week. Will local media answer the call?
Step 2 is to get to 5,000 signatures
The Government of Canada considers a petition valid when it has 500 signatures.
So let’s get 10 times that — 5,000 signatures — and then take our petition to the City of Ottawa Council table.
But let’s be honest. Mark knows that he’d lose a referendum. He is going to resist.
So if Ottawa Council doesn’t respond, we’re going to bump that number up to 10,000 signatures and take our referendum to Queen’s Park. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet.
5 action items to get us to 5,000
Many people in Ottawa would be as concerned about spending half a billion dollars on a sports stadium as you are, if they knew about it.
Here’s are 5 action items that we all can do to get us to 5,000 signatures.
SIGN THE PETITION if you have not already done so.
ASK 3 PEOPLE AROUND YOU to consider signing the petition. Friends, family, co-workers. Chances are they haven’t heard of the petition yet. Bring them into the loop.
SEND A MESSAGE TO ONE OF YOUR GROUPS. If you are part of a book club, or a sports team, or a family group chat, please make them be aware that they can ask for a voice on how we spend half a billion dollars. Be sure to tell them over 1,800 people have already signed.
RESEND TO YOUR DISTRIBUTION LISTS. For those of you who have already sent an email to other distribution lists, first, thank you, and second, please resend. Many people need to hear a message a couple of times before acting.
POST ON YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD FACEBOOK GROUP about the petition. Below is an image of the one I posted into my neighbourhood group. We need these sort of messages appearing in all the neighbourhood groups across the city. Please go into your group, and if there is not one already, create a post that sends people to: betterottawa.ca/lansdowne
Let the people decide
The people of Ottawa want fiscal responsibility out of City Hall.
When they hear about the possibility that we might spend half a billion on a sports stadium, they want a say in that decision.
When people hear about the prospect of a referendum, they add their voice to that call.
I need you to help get the word out.
We’re getting close to breaking into the mainstream discussion.
But the large media outlets aren’t yet ready to challenge the Mayor. That’s ok.
We just need to go directly to the people. That means each of us reaching out to our circles.
No final decision will be taken on Lansdowne until the end of 2025. We have time to build support.
With people getting home from their holidays, please reach out to others. We’re closing to achieving a critical mass of support where neither Mark nor the media will be able to ignore us.
You can get us to 5,000 signatures, through helping with the 5 action items:
Sign the petition
Ask 3 people around you to sign
Send a message to one of your groups
Resend to your distribution lists
Post on your neighbourhood Facebook group
Thanks for your support. Let’s show City Hall that the Many can defeat the Money.