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Stop promising to revamp the ByWard Market. Do it already. | Opinion

Brigitte Pellerin: Much of what Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe is now promising was already in a 2021 plan approved by a previous Council.

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Something about living in the national capital helps desensitize us to politicians being overly political and doing annoyingly political things like taking credit multiple times for the same lack of accomplishment. I just didn’t expect a leader who won precisely because he wasn’t a typical politician to do it, too. Yet here’s Mayor Mark Sutcliffe taking credit for promising to revamp the ByWard Market. Again.

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To say it’s frustrating would be a disservice to the English language, et en français aussi. The Market urgently needs bold thinking, not reheated blanc-mange. Yet no matter how much we talk about it, not much gets done.

Oh, not nothing, you’re right. We can sometimes turn parts of it into no-car zones, for instance, when we want to race snowmobiles on York Street. Upwards, I mean. They threw themselves off a ramp and shot up some 40 feet in the air while riding a powerful machine capable of incredible speeds. I wasn’t there, but the video confirms: very cool, completely bananas. Like chariot racing would be if drivers also juggled balls of fire.

No, I am not besmirching loud motor sports. I’m genuinely happy we’re having such events in the Market. That’s exactly what the Market is for. I’m saying we need to think outside the parking spot and dare to go all the way and turn the Market into a place for people. With lots of clean, accessible public bathrooms and events every single weekend.

When Sutcliffe presented his old/new plan to a recent Board of Trade event, he said it would outline steps to “restore the market to its vital place as the heart of our city.” He handed out a slim six-page document at the event that was supposed to serve as a preview of the complete report. Many people have noted caustically that there isn’t a whole lot that’s new in the 2026 plan. Much of what he’s promising now was already in a 2021 plan approved by a previous Council.

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Only now he’s taking credit for promising something that happened under his predecessor and failed to materialize under his own administration. That’s almost devious enough to make Machiavelli blush.

In the meantime, the full staff report has since been published on the city’s website, attached to the notes of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee meeting that will look into this on March 3. Not the easiest thing in the world to find, but I am nothing if not persistent.

In the executive summary, the report says the Market is “experiencing a convergence of challenges” that “cannot be addressed through incremental or isolated interventions.” The plan that Council is urged to adopt (or is that re-re-adopt?) begins, in the short term, with “addressing immediate priorities such as safety and well-being, while piloting new uses and activations that establish a foundation for transformational public realm redevelopment over the longer term.”

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To this plain-spoken columnist, it sounds a lot like not much is going to happen any time soon.

The report also promises an enhanced unsheltered homelessness outreach model involving multi-partner approaches and situational awareness. Which is great, but what does it mean?

And why am I not seeing anything about making sure we have more public toilets than the ones in that old building? In her comments that are included in the report, Rideau-Vanier Ward Coun. Stéphanie Plante notes the absence of firm commitments on this particular issue. The word “washroom” is present three times in the entire report (including that one mention by Plante), compared to 87 uses of the word “parking.”

Look. The latest action plan contains many great ideas. We know this because they’ve already been promised many times before and approved by a previous Council.

What we need isn’t more promises. It’s to implement what was already approved. Quit promising and start doing.

Start with the toilets.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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