Three of the eight Ottawa mayoral candidates met at the Ottawa Convention Centre on Sept. 24 to discuss issues facing the environment.
The debate, hosted by Ecology Ottawa, saw current mayor Jim Watson face off against challengers Mike Maguire and Anwar Syed.
Topics varied from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the safety of beavers, but the focus kept shifting back to bike lanes and light rail transit (LRT).
Most of the debating was between Watson and Maguire, who disagreed on many environmental issues.
Watson’s position in favour of LRT and the rights of cyclists was supported by the majority of those attending, while a vocal audience of eco-conscious voters let Maguire know how they felt.
Watson was firm on his stance to continue building the Confederation Line, while Maguire wants to extend O-Train routes to Kanata and Orleans. Maguire repeatedly said the O-Train is actually light rail.
“This is a bulk commuter rail service to maximize the potential,” Maguire said. “We have an opportunity to address a population base of well over 100,000 people.”
“The O-Train is diesel, which produces greenhouse gases,” Watson said. “You’ve had more positions on this than a yoga instructor.”
The “reset button” was the mayor’s buzzword of the night, urging voters not to undo the steps that have already been taken on LRT.
Cycling was brought up by questioners on multiple occasions.
All three candidates seemed to be in favour of expanded bike parking downtown, but what caused some argument was the segregated bike lane on Laurier Avenue.
Maguire made his position on the issue clear.
“I love cycling. However, it can’t come at the expense of other forms of transportation.”
He said he wants a segregated bike lane on Gloucester Street instead.
“I’m not saying don’t have a segregated bike lane. Put it where there’s less cars. Put it on a one-way street that gets a fraction of the traffic of Laurier,” he said.
Watson addressed the issue by using Maguire’s own words against him.
Maguire had previously said that “the mayor and council have doubled down on their cycling fixation.”
“I’m fixated on making sure cyclists are safe in the city of Ottawa,” Watson added, later calling his opponent a “born-again cyclist.”
The Ottawa River Action Plan was accepted by all the candidates, although Syed called out Watson for a lack of action on keeping the river clean.
“When you continue to say there’s no plan, it’s just not true. There is a plan, it’s been funded,” Watson said, although he later acknowledged more must be done to fight dangerous run-off into the river.
One issue that sparked a Twitter backlash after the debate was not related to the environment at all.
When asked about the issue of gender-based violence on public transit, Maguire said “violence can happen to anybody” and that only discussing gender-based violence was “discriminatory.”
Julie Lalonde of Hollaback! Ottawa contested his opinion on Twitter, to which Maguire replied that she spoke “from a position of such moral certainty without any of the humility or compassion that come with age.”
“As an organization, we were deeply offended by Mike Macguire’s response as we think it shows a complete lack of respect for the issue, and in turn, the organizations who do this work. Just because he does not understand what gender-based violence is, doesn’t mean gender-based violence is not happening,” Lalonde said.
“It is incredibly disappointing to see someone running for mayor who has such a blatant disregard for an important issue like gender-based violence,” she said.
—with files from Rachael McCulloch
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