Jenna Sudds, an Ottawa-area Liberal member of parliament and cabinet minister, responded to a call from Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for financial assistance to help the city’s ailing transit system.
Sazh, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, released a statement on social media on Friday afternoon saying the city has a responsibility to manage the tax money it has already received.
“We must remember there is only one taxpayer: Ottawa residents pay property taxes, they pay federal taxes, and they expect us to be good stewards of their money and spend it wisely,” Sudds wrote. “We at the federal level take this responsibility seriously, especially now that Ottawa residents are tightening their purse strings. The City of Ottawa cannot escape this responsibility.”
In response, the mayor of Ottawa 580 CFRA Live The mayor said Saturday that the city has done a “great job” of managing its finances, noting he disagreed with the comments.
“We’re not allowed to run deficits like the federal government does. We’ve found ways to save and be more efficient,” he said.
“Suds is right, the federal government has helped us with housing and homelessness.”
Sutcliffe stressed that the federal government has not paid its “fair share of property taxes for years.”
“We built a transportation system for government employees, but they don’t go downtown,” he added.
Mayor Sutcliffe held a press conference on Thursday to declare a “transportation crisis” and say the city needs help from other government agencies to make up a $140 million annual transportation budget shortfall over the next three years. Transit ridership has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels and continues to be below expectations, leading to revenue shortfalls. Remote work for federal employees in particular is a big part of the revenue loss.
“When you lose your number one customer and have a huge drop in passenger numbers, there’s no easy fix,” Mr Sutcliffe said.
He warned residents that without funding from the federal and provincial governments, Ottawa residents could face big tax increases and major cuts to services.
“I know the City is in a tough financial position,” Sudds wrote. “Like many cities, the impacts of COVID-19 are still felt across all government budgets. The Administration is doing its part by adhering to responsible fiscal targets as outlined in this year’s budget.”
She pointed to the “unprecedented” levels of funding for housing as an example of the federal government’s commitment to taxpayers in Ottawa.
Sudds’ statement did not mention federal civil servants or remote work. Starting Sept. 9, federal employees will be required to come into the office at least three days a week. Transit officials hope the mandate will boost sales of public transit passes for adults, which are well below 2019 levels.
There was no additional funding specifically for Ottawa’s public transit system in either the most recent federal or provincial budgets. The provincial government pointed to a $543 million contract it struck with the city earlier this year. The contract includes $181 million for “transit priorities,” but the money won’t go toward transit operations, instead going toward road repairs, a new interchange at Highway 416 and the future Kanata North Transitway, a project first proposed in 2008.
Sutcliffe told CTV News Ottawa on Thursday that he’s been in discussions with the federal and provincial governments for several months and they have been “receptive,” but he sounded the alarm publicly as the 2025 provincial budget season approaches.
“We need to make some decisions and we need support from other levels of government or we’re going to face higher property taxes, we’re going to have to increase public transport fares or we’re going to have to cut services like public transport to make up the shortfall,” he said.
Budget instructions are due to be presented to Parliament on September 18. The draft budget will be presented to Parliament on November 13 and is due to be adopted on December 11.
