Sutcliffe Must Stop The Lying At The City: WHOPPER WATCH

05/03/2023

whopper.watch .12.26

“This type of regular inspection and maintenance is common for underground tunnels, and there are no safety concerns.”

City release on upcoming light-rail closure

No it isn’t.

This is not just inspection and regular maintenance. The tunnel has been “compromised” by water leakage. And apparently according to people hired by the city, the solution is not simple.

The CBC called the city on this in a story on April 13 just after the first release on this came out.

“The partial shutdown of the LRT over two weekends at the end of April and beginning of May, characterized by city staff earlier this week as “regular maintenance,” is actually part of a four-phase process to identify and fix problems with the waterproofing.”

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Not only that but the problems have the “highest level of priority” because if they aren’t fixed, service interruptions could occur. When has that ever happened?

The whopper above is untrue. Accordingly, it’s a lie … a deliberate lie.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, as a journalist prior to getting this new post, should tell staff that lying to the public is no longer tolerated. Ottawa has experienced 12 years of lying and, safe to say, residents are sick of it. We remind His Worship of the provincial light-rail inquiry.

We’re paying for things at the city. It is incumbent on staff to tell the public the truth. That’s a big part of democracy.

And bad enough the city is called on this lie in a very public forum by officials paid by the city confirming it, then staff just does the very same thing again.

If Sutcliffe really wants to end this very serious lying, he should simply say: “the next person who lies is fired with cause. And that include lies of omission.” Have a big severance waiting at human resources generous enough that unions cannot grieve it.

Lay down the law, Your Worship. You know the truth is important.

People demand that in a democracy.

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I (and so did Sutcliffe) spent a career trying to get it right and these people throw around lies like they’re nothing. These people are public servants meaning they serve the public through the City of Ottawa. The public, not politicians and senior staffers or some kind of warped sense of ethics. Not covering up, either.

How basic is this? For Christians in the audience, they might remember No. 9 on the Top-10 Commandments. Not a bad ethical code for we sinning humans of any stripe.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Got it?

Ken Gray

The press release in question is below:

Part of the downtown O-Train Line 1 tunnel will be closed for a planned maintenance assessment during two weekends this spring. These closures will take place on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30, and again on Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7.

During the closures, Line 1 will continue to run between Tunney’s Pasture and Parliament stations in the west, and between Hurdman and Blair stations in the east. R1 bus replacement service will run frequently between Hurdman and Lyon stations to meet ridership requirements.

On Sunday, May 7, R1 routing will be temporarily adjusted to accommodate CN Cycle for CHEO. Between 7:30 am and 1 pm, R1 service will be detoured from Rideau Street and will serve a stop on Mackenzie King Bridge. At Lyon Station, eastbound R1 service will be detoured to stop #3006 at Slater and Kent streets, and will not serve Lyon Stop B. R1 service will return to regular routing when the CN Cycle for CHEO event concludes at 1 pm on May 7.

Regular train service will resume at 5 am on both Monday, May 1 and Monday, May 8.

The closures are required for Rideau Transit Group to assess the scope of repairs to prevent water infiltration in sections of the tunnel. Tunnel maintenance will take place in June, and any required changes to service will be communicated in advance of these works. This type of regular inspection and maintenance is common for underground tunnels, and there are no safety concerns.