I’M AN OPTIMIST by nature. It should be no surprise to anyone that I love Ottawa and I’m relentlessly positive about our future. I’m amazed and inspired by how much people love their city, how much they care about our future. Our greatest asset is our people.
It’s been a difficult three years – it’s been a challenging time for our city in particular, but I don’t think our challenges are unique.
I’ll tell you what is unique – it’s our opportunity. There is no other city that has the beauty of our city. There is no other city that has the safety and stability of Ottawa and especially there is no other city that has our people, our talent, and our leadership. The great people like you who are committed to a better future for Ottawa.
No other city in Canada has the mix of urban and rural and suburban areas that Ottawa does. And because we’re the national capital, we have representatives from all over the world in our city. And we have so many advantages over other cities.
Ottawa is an innovative city. It’s an entrepreneurial city. It’s an education city with great post-secondary institutions. We are a city of volunteers who step up to help their neighbours respond to flooding and other emergencies.
And there are some very successful businesspeople from throughout North America who want to buy our hockey team and invest in our community. They want to invest in our downtown and see a great future here and see this as a place of extraordinary opportunity.
Economic development is what supports and pays for all of those other priorities. It is never a choice between economic development and other priorities because economic development is what drives all of those other priorities. If we want to fix homelessness once and for all, if we want to build a safer community, if we want to build a stronger city for everyone, we have to drive economic development because that is how we will generate the resources to achieve all of those goals.
Think about how much Ottawa has changed in the past decade. Now think ahead 10 years and imagine the results of what we are planning to build today:
- A state of the art, world class hospital
- A brand new arena in the centre of our city
- An exciting new library on LeBreton Flats
- A revitalized downtown and ByWard Market
- A light rail system running north and south, east, and west
- An even more exciting Lansdowne Park
I believe in Ottawa. I believe in Team Ottawa. And I believe that we are turning the corner. We’ve reopened Wellington Street. We’ve made some important decisions about housing and homelessness. We’re just getting started but we’ve been working very effectively together.
I’m proud to be your mayor. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve my city.
And I believe that the best is yet to come.
Mark Sutcliffe, Mayor of Ottawa
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