‘If Only …’ Ron Benn’s Top 10

02/01/2025

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“If only …” The mantra that is the root cause of Ottawa’s woes.

Rather than put the effort into understanding why the residents and employers of Ottawa act in the manner they act, prior to setting policy city staff resort to: “If only people would do what we want them to do.” With that in mind, here is my Top 10 List.

10. If only people would abandon their need to get from where they are to where they want to get to, and forego that selfish travel-time factor, then OC Transpo’s ridership would skyrocket.

9. If only the public transit ridership skyrocketed, then council’s public transit budget wouldn’t have a $36 million hole in it.

8. If only the senior levels of government would give the city a lot more money so that we can continue to fail to spend money responsibly.

7. If only people weren’t so selfish as to want to drive in a climate-controlled vehicle, the city’s arithmetic contribution to greenhouse gas emissions would drop enough to cover the exponential growth in Asia’s contribution.

6. If only everyone rode their bicycles everywhere, always.

5. If only people weren’t so selfish as to expect that the roads and sidewalks be in passable condition, the city could redirect the savings to more important items, like the over-budget disaster of a new not-quite-so-central library, or Lansdowne 8.0 or …

4. If only people would abandon their selfish hopes and dreams for a home with a yard and chose to live in a small apartment in a high-rise inside the Greenbelt, then the city planners dream of recreating Paris-on-the-Rideau would be complete … except for those missing family sized apartments.

3. If only the residents of communities facing a major change to the character of their neighbourhood would just accept a high-rise development, replete with inadequate on-site parking.

2. If only the people and employers of Ottawa would stop being so concerned about their personal safety, the city wouldn’t have to answer questions about its inability to address the underlying problems that haunt the ByWard Market.

1. If only the nay-sayers at The Bulldog would accept that closed, opaque, unaccountable governance is all the city is prepared to offer.

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