Mayoral candidates Sutcliffe, McKenney promise better access to city services

Sutcliffe focused on municipal recreation and McKenney pledged improvements for French speakers.

Mayoral candidates Mark Sutcliffe and Catherine McKenney both unveiled campaign promises Sunday that involved making sought-after city offerings easier to access for residents, with Sutcliffe focusing on municipal recreation and McKenney pledging improvements for French speakers.

In McKenney’s case, via an announcement marking Franco-Ontarian Day, the mayoral hopeful (who uses they/them pronouns) stated their commitment to improving access to municipal services in French if elected and initiating an evaluation of these services “to determine what needs the biggest improvements, while working closely with community organizations.”

Sutcliffe released a statement pledging to cut fees by 10 per cent for municipal recreational programming for children and youth, presenting this as a way to make them more accessible and save money for families at a time when cost of living is the top concern he hears about from residents, he said. He also promised to address the city’s “broken” online booking system for activities like skating and fitness.

“Signing your kids up for swimming lessons shouldn’t feel like the Hunger Games,” said Sutcliffe, via his campaign news release. “I’ve heard from too many parents who tell me that when it comes time to sign their kids up for activities, Ottawa’s online booking system crashes constantly, resulting in parents staying up until all hours of the morning, just to book swimming lessons or day camps for the summer. That’s not acceptable and we will fix it.”

He also committed to allowing residents to make reservations for drop-in recreational activities at any time in advance, saying that “whether it’s booking skating, swimming or fitness activities, the City of Ottawa’s booking restrictions simply don’t make sense.”

That change could mean a resident is able to book a public swim spot a month ahead of time, for example, campaign spokesperson Jake Enwright confirmed.

While Sutcliffe committed to ending the city’s “24-hour rule” for recreation bookings in his release, a scan of city facility pages shows that, currently, residents can book drop-in spots as of 6 p.m. for the two days following. Reservations are strongly encouraged, but walk-ins are accepted when space allows.

Sutcliffe also said he’s interested in increasing recreational programming, including swimming and day camps, and as mayor would make sure programming expands to meet the needs of Ottawans looking for French-language activities.

Recreation also came up in McKenney’s release, which suggested it was an area where the city isn’t doing enough for francophone residents. “Francophone children should be able to take swimming lessons in their first language. I recognize that these services can be popular and can be difficult to book,” their statement noted.

And when it comes to the city’s 311 contact line, McKenney said they’ve heard from francophone friends and colleagues that the wait for support in French is sometimes longer than it is for assistance in English.

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