The mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe, took stock of his discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
On the sidelines of the breakfast of the mayor of Ottawa Tuesday morning, Mr. Sutcliffe was an optimistic mood. His first discussions with Prime Minister Carney-by text messages so far-proved to be encouraging, he said.
If the content of these exchanges remains confidential, he assures that the two men have committed to meet in person as soon as possible
.
We know that there are a lot of priorities for this federal government. There is a trade war, the prices, all that … but it is important that the priorities of Ottawa [se retrouvent] In [celles du] federal
he explains.
A few days before the federal elections, in April, the mayor of Ottawa and the mayor of Gatineau, Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, had also written to the leaders of the federal parties in order to highlight local interests.
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The mayor of Ottawa Mark Sutcliffe and the mayor of Gatineau Maude Marquis-Bissonnette presented common letters to the leaders of the parties during the federal electoral campaign. (Archives photo)
Photo : Radio-Canada / Patrick Foucault
Both had expressed their concern in the face of potential compressions in the Federal Public Service.
Even if the Canada Revenue Agency recently confirmed the non-renewal of some 1,300 contracts, Mr. Sutcliffe assured that he was happy to see that the priorities presented with the mayor of Gatineau did not remain a dead letter.
He claims that the new federal government intends to keep its electoral promise to cap the number of federal officials and not to reduce it.
-This is very important for the economy of the national capital region. So I’m very happy to hear that and I’m ready to work with federal elected officials to advance our priorities
he said.
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Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney (archive photo)
Photo : Reuters / Blair Gable
The mayor wants to work with the Prime Minister in particular to tackle the priorities of his Ottavian constituency of Nepean.
The city’s first magistrate says that he will meet all the deputies in the region in the near future
.
Mayor’s priorities Sutcliffe
In addition to the question of the federal public service, public transport and the local economy are the files that the mayor wants to highlight. The revitalization of the city center has also often been discussed by the mayors of the two banks in recent months, in order to ensure that it does not depend exclusively on federal officials.
Among the other disputed subjects, there is that of land taxes. For several months, the mayor has been carrying out an active campaign for the federal government to pay Its just part
in land taxes for the properties and land he holds in the territory of Ottawa. Last August, the mayor launched the campaign “Equity for Ottawa”.
Mark Sutcliffe criticizes the government for paying insufficient amounts and deplores that, unlike taxpayers, the federal government itself fixes the amount it has to pay.
The municipal administration had asked the federal government $ 22 million in payments holding the place of taxes or payments paid in terms of tax replacement (PERI). The city of Ottawa, however, lost its battle in February before a federal court to obtain more land taxes.
With information from Mama Afou
