City Penniless So Why Lansdowne? MULVIHILL
The City of Ottawa is in dire financial straits.
Given the dismal financial outlook, should council approve spending a minimum $493 million on a failed project.
Financing Lansdowne 2.0 is simply throwing good money after bad. In fact, it’s a money pit. Horrible decisions were made when Lansdowne 1.0 was approved with the current council not hesitating to pick up the slack. The spending for 2.0 makes Lansdowne even less appealing. There are councillors who should know better than to vote yes.
To say that Lansdowne 1.0 is a financial failure would be generous. Businesses are shuttered. There is nothing positive in this venture for the City of Ottawa and it will actually cost taxpayers $22 million each year for the next 40 years or a one-per-cent increase on your property tax bill.
Are taxpayers good with that? Does this make sense? This city cannot afford this project and senior management knows it. That Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and council continue to consider, support and promote it is truly astounding. What’s the catch?
Perhaps Sutcliffe could tell us who the Lansdowne beneficiary is at Lansdowne 2.0 because it clearly isn’t taxpayers.
Donna Mulvihill is a community activist and former hospital coordinator
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
There’s something they teach in business school called the “Sunk Cost Fallacy”. Basically you buy something expensive and it doesn’t work and you keep sinking money into it in the hope that your money initially invested isn’t “lost”. The reality is that the true money lost is the additional money you keep pouring into it. Think the Phoenix system, or Lansdowne.
When the Sens arena and entertainment hub are built downtown, that will suck even more of the lifeblood from Lansdowne. Time for staff and council to face reality. Might knees be shaking because of the sealed-from-the-public contract with OSEG?
The city has declared a financial crisis. An early step in a ‘turn around’ process is to classify programs and projects as mandatory or discretionary. Discretionary programs and projects are either cancelled or deferred. Lansdowne 2.x is clearly discretionary. The time is now to take one of Planning Committee Chair Leiper’s ‘off ramps’.