Council Fails To Address LRT Woes: BENN

Published 07/22/2023 · Updated 07/22/2023

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Fixing the problematic LRT is not a specific priority of Ottawa City Council. Period. Full stop. No further discussion required.

City council recently published a document that lists their priorities for this term. Aspirational? Sort of. Measurable? No. Fixing the LRT is not on the list. Fixing as in making it reliable in all weather conditions. As in not having to maintain a perpetual high-intensity maintenance program to keep the wheels turning (literally).

Those who prefer to spend endless time interpreting the meaning behind the words might point to the second priority, which reads in part “This strategic priority focuses on supporting transit …” Supporting transit. Wow, just wow.

LRT: City Issues Non-Denial Denial On Bad Axles

So, here we are again folks. Not the first time, unlikely to be the last time. With every LRT vehicle sitting in the maintenance yard. Generating wages for the LRT operators who are for ready to go but for that minor annoyance of unreliable wheel and axle bearings. Generating wages for the on-call bus operators who might otherwise be sitting on a patio, or out on a golf course or anywhere that they wish to be when not being paid to be ready to drive the bus. Generating wages for a full set of bus maintenance personnel, at least until the layoff notices for those 27 junior staff members kick in. That $44 million public transit operating deficit is growing by the hour.

If this were a public company, and the city effectively is, this approach to crisis management would result in people being escorted from the building. If the people who populated the C Suites failed to take action, the board of directors would provide them with letters indicating a place to sign, once they have had the opportunity to check with legal counsel.

Except this city doesn’t have a full slate of C Suite officers. Some eight plus months after former city manager Steve Kanellakos slunk away, in disgrace, the city does not have a permanent city manager. Council is getting around to it. The current acting city manager was the chief financial officer. Her seat is now occupied by an acting chief financial officer. So, two of the top C Suites are filled with “actors”.

City council, which is a proxy for a board of directors, has created “busyness” articulating thousands of words about strategic priorities that do nothing to actually address the real crises this city faces. Lots of words about making some ill-defined progress regarding the challenges society faces, but no measurable outcomes. Empathetic? Perhaps. But the more appropriate word is pathetic.

Where is the action plan for resolving on a permanent basis, the multiple challenges the LRT system faces? From the C suite occupants? Where is the demand from council for this action plan? How is this not a priority?

LRT: An Abundance Of Caution … Or Something Else

Premier Doug Ford was partially correct when he declared Ottawa’s LRT system a mess. His identification of former mayor Jim Watson and a number of senior managers as the people responsible for the failure was accurate, but incomplete. The current council, of which about half were around for many of the LRT decisions, has both the authority and responsibility to “get ‘er done”. And they haven’t. Not even close. If only I could sell my shares in this public corporation.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.