PRESS RELEASE: Horizon Ottawa Condemns Vote to Approve Unrealistic Austerity Budget Measures

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA - Horizon Ottawa is condemning today’s vote at City Council to approve measures that could lay the stage for widespread austerity across our city. The approved report includes a tax cut despite City staff raising concern. The decision could lead to potential service cuts, and a deference of capital projects, while at the same time increasing the already over-bloated Ottawa Police budget.

The report, which faced significant opposition from certain councillors, comes at a time when inflation is at its highest in decades. The decision to approve the report will ensure that services will inevitably be cut when those at risk need them most.

The move has been seen by some as especially unwise, given the passing of the provincial government’s Bill 23, which would in many cases see the city miss out on revenue from reduced development charges which the city uses to pay for certain services involving infrastructure. Not having extra property tax revenue to make up for lost funds due to smaller development charges could put the city in a difficult position financially.

"These budget directions are based on political expediency not reality.” said Sam Hersh, Board Member of Horizon Ottawa. “This decision will set our city up for financial failure and erode our already ailing city services.”

These directions are only the beginning of the budget process. The draft budget will be tabled on February 1st and the final budget will be voted on at the beginning of March. This means residents still have time to comment and push back at public meetings. These meetings can be quite limited, however, when the budget comes to residents already mostly drafted.

“The next few months will be a test for Mark Sutcliffe and the new council,” said Hersh. “If they are truly committed to changing the way our city works they will open up the budget process and ensure that the voices of residents are heard in the coming months.”

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For Media Inquiries:
Sam Hersh
[email protected]
613-663-7018

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PRESS RELEASE: Horizon Ottawa Releases Donor Information from Osgoode By-election Candidates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

09 June 2025

OTTAWA - Horizon Ottawa has released information about how candidates in the Osgoode by-election have financed their campaigns in an effort to improve transparency. The organization has consistently called on candidates to refuse contributions from the development industry based on the perception that this could create a conflict of interest when elected officials are tasked with decisions that would affect developer profits. The City of Ottawa already requires candidates to release a list of all donations over $100 following the election, but Horizon also stresses the importance of voters having access to this information before casting their ballot.

Of the eleven candidates registered in the by-election, Horizon was able to contact ten, six of whom responded to the request. Horizon’s findings can be seen in this chart:

Three candidates: Dalton Holloway, Jennifer van Koughnett, and Peter Westaway provided a list of their donors and were verified to have not received any funding from those connected to the development industry.

Greg Vail provided a list of donors and was found to have received two $100 contributions from donors who could be construed to be connected to the real estate development industry.

Isabelle Skalski and Dan O’Brien both claim to have received no developer-related funding, but did not disclose a list of their donors.

Doug Thompson, Colette Lacroix Velthuis, Guy Boone, and Bobby Gulati did not respond to Horizon’s request. While this does not necessarily mean that their campaigns were funded by developer-connected donors, Osgoode Ward residents will not have access to this information before selecting a councillor.

Horizon encourages each of these candidates to show voters that transparency matters to them and to make this information publicly available before election day on June 16th.

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For media inquiries:

English

Tom Ledgley

[email protected]

613-663-7018

French

Sam Hersh