Basketball for Bathgate

 

Basketball and a whole lot more!

Bathgate needs an update

 

We have a workable model.  RIVERAIN

CARSON grove deserves it.

Upgrade

Indoor Soccer Stadium

 

Cité Collegial - eco campaigning

 

Eco friendly campaigning

The Signs are not the problem

 

The Signs Are Up. The Trains Aren't. And That Tells You Everything.

CBC's story this week on OC Transpo installing "Trim Road" signage before the eastern LRT extension is even open makes for a silly anecdote -the real story is what's  holding up the line and it's not the signage.

Ottawa still has no firm date to open the extension between Blair and Trim. 

The reason traces back to a known defect in the cartridge bearing assemblies (CBAs) on the Line 1 fleet, first flagged around January 2026. OC 

Transpo, Rideau Transit Group, and Alstom have been running a containment and replacement plan ever since — and it's what's suppressing car availability across the whole system, not just the extension. 

Committee minutes say trial running timing "will continue to be evaluated based on increasing vehicle availability." An early-2026 opening was called "definitely achievable" back in November 2025; six months and several missed targets later, the same bearing issue is still the bottleneck.

I look at  projects for a living. One slipped deadline is a risk that materialized. Repeated slips, with the explanation changing but the underlying constraint staying fixed, means the program was never resourced to hit the dates it kept announcing.

Here's what should matter most to our Ward voters: Councillor Rawlson King has repeatedly called publicly for stronger transit oversight, while never once sitting on the Transit Commission or the Light Rail Subcommittee. 

Well sure!

You can't build an oversight record from the sidelines. The residents who most needed someone tracking fleet capacity in real time got wayfinding signs instead.

Real accountability isn't a statement after the next delay lands. I'd be sitting on the committees where this data shows up before it becomes a headline, and telling people the truth about timelines instead of letting OC Transpo'do lame press releases to you.

— Peter Karwacki

Ward Campaign Expenses

 

Zero-Dollar Campaigns vs. Big-Budget Municipal Politics: Looking at Ward Election Finances

When looking at municipal election finances, standard political discourse often assumes that running an effective campaign requires raising thousands of dollars. But looking under the hood of Ottawa’s 2022 municipal election filings reveals vastly different financial models across candidates.

Whether candidates run massive city-wide operations or localized ward campaigns, Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act requires strict financial disclosures and transparency via official Form 4 filings with the City Clerk.

The Financial Landscape of Rideau-Rockcliffe

Under Ontario’s spending formulas ($5,000 base + $0.85 per eligible elector), the spending cap for Ward candidates in 2022 was set at $28,987.00.

Looking at the official filings for Ward 13 shows a contrast in financial strategies:

Candidate	Total Expenses Incurred	Total Contributions	Allowable Limit	Votes Received	Cost Per Vote
Rawlson King	$23,195.86	$23,195.86	$28,987.00	8,481 (80.14%)	~$2.74
Peter Karwacki	$0.00	$0.00	$28,987.00	362 (3.42%)	$0.00

The Zero-Dollar Campaign Approach

My official Form 4 financial statement, submitted to the City of Ottawa Elections Office on January 24, 2023, recorded a clean declaration under Box A:

"I did not accept any contributions or incur any expenses."

Running a $0.00 campaign strips municipal politics down to its core: direct policy ideas, community dialogue, and grassroots engagement without reliance on donor operations, lawn signs, or paid advertising.

Ward Spending vs. City-Wide Mayoral Races

Putting local spending in perspective across Ottawa’s 2022 election:

• Mayoral Campaigns: Major mayoral races reached over half a million dollars in spending (Catherine McKenney reported $542,847.97; Mark Sutcliffe reported $537,834.79).

• Standard Ward Campaigns: Competitive councillor campaigns across Ottawa’s 24 wards typically spent between $20,000 and $35,000.

• Zero-Budget Campaigns: Show that democratic participation on the ballot is open to all residents without requiring a financial threshold or corporate/fundraising backing.

Final Thoughts

Financial disclosures offer essential insight into how municipal democracy functions. While city-wide mayoral races require large-scale funding to achieve brand visibility, ward elections remain a space where alternative campaign models—including zero-dollar operations—can present policy ideas directly to neighbors and voters.

OC TransSlo

OC Transpo Is Slow — and the City’s Answer Is Tone-Deaf

Mark Sutcliffe, the former broadcaster now serving as mayor, has faced insinuations that the city is encouraging employers to keep employees downtown after work hours. The goal, according to the accusation that still circulates, is to spread out the evening egress and ease the crippling effects of rush hour on Ottawa’s dismal infrastructure.

It is one of the most tone-deaf messages to come from the city — and that alone is remarkable.

A common misconception about in-office presence ignores a basic fact: many public servants were hired into roles that expected telework. When the Government of Canada began issuing laptops, the clear direction was greater mobility and flexibility. Hybrid and remote work were presented as viable, modern options. Entire teams functioned almost entirely remotely for years. Working from home proved effective, efficient, and desirable for a large number of people — often with only an occasional in-person meeting required.

That reality has been reversed. Micro-managing preferences in some offices are now treated as the new normal. Many employees return to workplaces with no assigned desks and smaller overall footprints. At the same time, the practical costs of coming downtown have climbed sharply. Parking that once cost $15 a day is now $26. Restaurant prices have roughly doubled. The reliable buses that used to move suburban employees into the core and back again are no longer reliable.

Public transportation in this city is no longer good, effective, efficient, or dependable. OC Transpo’s performance problems are not a secret. When the system that is supposed to move people cannot do so consistently, telling workers — directly or indirectly — that they should linger downtown to manage congestion is not a solution. It is an admission that the infrastructure cannot handle normal demand.

This mandate reversal is going to create real friction, and the consequences will land on Treasury Board and on the municipal government that has failed to maintain a functional transit network. Residents who rely on buses and the LRT already know the daily cost of that failure. Forcing more people into an unreliable system while costs rise and space shrinks only compounds the problem.

Ottawa’s infrastructure problems are structural. Congestion, slow and unreliable transit, and the gap between big announcements and daily reality are not fixed by asking people to stay downtown longer after work. They require honest acknowledgment and different priorities — the kind that put reliable movement of people ahead of managing the symptoms of long-term neglect.