“It’s too easy to give up and not make the hard decisions” Jan Harder councilor of Bell- Nepean said. Well in my opinion she has made the easy decision and given up on Ottawa. She talks all about tax freezes and ultimately this tax freeze will lead to closures of many programs. It has already led to the firing of approximately 200 public civil servants. There is also proposed cuts to outdoor rinks, public swimming pools, fire stations, OC Transpo routes, public parks, sport centres and community centers. Too add to this, fire men are going to be fired (no pun intended) and nurses are going to be laid off and it seems this is something that Mrs. Harder is willing to live with? I for one am not willing to accept this.

I am definitely willing to support Mayor Bob Chiarelli, Alex Cullen, Diane Holmes, Rob Jellett, Peggy Feltmate, Michel Bellemare and Clive Doucet. These people seem to have an understanding of what kind of catastrophes will occur if a tax increase, a very small tax increase, does not occur. Mr. Bellemare said that, “we can’t freeze taxes forever” and he is right if you want to have a clean, safe and an exciting culture and environment you need to have the community as a whole work together to create this environment. People like Peggy Feltmate said she does not want to loose Kanata’s fire station, outdoor rinks and pools, and does not want to create cuts to senior citizens aid. The same can be said for Rob Jellett, he does not want to loose the Navan Fair, the Cumberland Museum, the Cumberland Resource Centre, and outdoor rinks.

These fundamental services are vital and key to keeping a culture here in Ottawa, especially when we as Canadians are arguing about what our culture is. In the opinion of most people outdoor rinks are a vital part of our society and if you close them down you close down the heritage we grew up with. I can not foresee a Canada without its outdoor rinks. A friend of mine once told me that she never uses the rinks so why should her tax dollars go towards it. That is a very weak and unsustainable argument, when people say things like this what they are really saying is that they don’t support community based programs and thus don’t support a creation of culture. Rob Jellett talked about the Navan Fair, that never crossed my mind, but to the people in Navan it is apparently a big thing and good for them to have such an event.

The councilors that are taking a stand to increase taxes and keep a sustainable culture in Ottawa are doing what is, as Mrs. Harder said it, “… the hard decisions”. What Mrs. Harder fails to recognize is that she is not thinking about long-term effects but only the short-term effect. In reality no one really wants his or her taxes to be increased, this is because most people are taxed quite high, (and others like big businesses don’t pay… this is another argument but does not need to be discussed right now). However, if the tax increase is for a good purpose and not a waste of money this will then have positive short-term and long-term effects.

Therefore the people of Ottawa should stand up and applaud those that really have made the tough decision. Those that looked the voters in the eyes and said we need to raise taxes and tell them that this is beneficial and is good for your generation and the generations to follow, these are the people we should remember. We should not applaud fast-mouthed politicians like Jan Harder who look at a very narrow and self-centred point of view. People like Jan Harder need to realize that she is not making a tough decision, she is making the easy and scapegoat decision. She is reading the polls and basing her decisions on the polls and not basing her decision on what is best for the communities within the city. Shame on those who read the polls and base their public opinion solely on them. We elect you to make good decisions based on fact, historiography, events and any other relevant information, not on what people have to say from a short spanned period.

As the debates continues about the next budget, more and more people are realizing that they don’t want to loose these vital programs and are willing to support a small tax increase. As Michel Bellemare (a man who was elected on a no tax increase platform) said to the Ottawa citizen, “two-thirds of his phone calls are running in favour of a small tax increase and he is prepared to support one if it saves [these programs]”

To read Nathan's February column click here

If you have any comments for Nathan you can email him at nathan.willard@ottawacentre.org