Mayoral candidates: Solomon — Let’s make Ottawa feel like a G7 capital

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The Citizen invited the mayoral candidates of the October 24 municipal election to share their thoughts:

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Do you feel that Ottawa is comparable to the capitals of other G7 countries? Perhaps you would if it weren’t for the glaring and obvious lack of modern development that every candidate except me refuses to commit to supporting.

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I have a long list of rational ideas that are pretty hard to disagree with (unless you’re someone who loves living in a city that continues to be left behind by its global counterparts). Have you ever been to a city with public pianos in the streets? It’s good. We don’t have that. We can. The Parliament Buildings are a world famous landmark of Canada and one block from them is a lifeless concrete desert. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Relaxing zoning laws to encourage more mixed land (shops downstairs, living upstairs) while prioritizing pedestrians and investing in infrastructure that supports alternative modes of transportation (bike lanes, benches, trees, trash cans) are so many easy and simple ways to make the city instantly, noticeably better for everyday life.

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Don’t you love our train that runs for 20 minutes through Canada’s capital and doesn’t run in the winter and only costs us $2 billion? I do, when it works (rare). Paying fares covers such an insignificant percentage of the cost to the Occasional Transpo budget that it is only right that an optional payment system be put in place, as the city’s apology to its residents. In the current state of things, only able-bodied people can reasonably walk through the doors of stations… Why not just keep them open? We have one of the highest public transit fares of any major Canadian city… Of course it doesn’t feel like it.

Other people-oriented ideas that I really want to promote are more public spaces for children. Have you ever been to a skate park? I’m lucky to have one in my neighborhood and it’s always full of kids supporting each other in a way that’s inclusive, fun, and incredibly character-building, failing, and persevering.

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Obviously this is just a small example, but you should be able to see where my head is at. To avoid a huge block of text, I’m going to list a few more proposals I have now:

– Delete all speed cameras. Put them in school zones.

– HUGE Para Transpo overhaul.

– Downtown within walking distance.

– No more flowers to stop and smell.

– Expand the system of cycle paths.

I am a young man who has lived in Ottawa all his life and I have better ideas than anyone else running for mayor. I’m not a career politician and I love being in happy towns.

Visit my website: jacobsolomon.ca. Or message me on instagram: @jacobsolomonmayor and we can talk

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