Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Thursday the city needs to press ahead with major projects such as Lansdowne 2.0 or risk losing out on major events – even as rising costs, supply-chain roadblocks and other issues mean building new infrastructure “has never been more challenging.” During a keynote speech at a luncheon hosted by the […]
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Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Thursday the city needs to press ahead with major projects such as Lansdowne 2.0 or risk losing out on major events – even as rising costs, supply-chain roadblocks and other issues mean building new infrastructure “has never been more challenging.”
During a keynote speech at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Sutcliffe told an audience that included Ottawa Senators CEO Cyril Leeder and other key local business leaders that private industry and government must work together to ensure that initiatives like light rail and the revitalization of Lansdowne Park succeed.
“That collaboration is essential to city-building,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s not perfect. Sometimes we encounter problems we didn’t anticipate. Sometimes it takes longer to build something. But by and large, it all works.”
Noting some people may question why the city turns to private companies to complete such projects rather than do the work itself, the mayor said municipalities lack the resources to undertake such major tasks.
“Building infrastructure has never been more challenging,” he said. “We are facing tariffs and rising costs and supply-chain issues. The good news is that when we partner with the private sector, we offload some or all of that risk.”
Pointing to light rail as an example, Sutcliffe touted the “rigorous and transparent testing process” for the new Trillium Line that launched earlier this month, adding the north-south light-rail system is “off to a very good start.”
At the same time, he said the city also needs to push forward with other big-ticket items like the Lansdowne 2.0 project.
Ottawa’s auditor general has estimated that plans to revamp Lansdowne Park with a new events centre, new north-side stadium stands and a pair of residential towers would cost nearly half a billion dollars.
Meanwhile, the Lansdowne partnership between the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group continues to rack up a growing deficit. The partnership recently reported a net loss of $9.2 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year, and critics argue Lansdowne 2.0 needs a rethink before it goes to council for final approval, which is expected to happen later this year.
On Thursday, Sutcliffe reiterated his support for the project.
“We have a vision for Lansdowne that prioritizes accessibility, that prioritizes energy efficiency,” he told the crowd at the Chateau Laurier.
Lansdowne recently played host to multiple games during the world junior hockey championship. While Sutcliffe hailed the tournament as a huge success, he said officials from organizations such as Hockey Canada also suggested Ottawa might be left out of the running for such events in the future if it doesn’t make major upgrades to the site’s arena and stadium, which opened in 1967.
“They made it clear that they won’t be back if we don’t improve our aging facilities,” Sutcliffe said.
“We will not continue to attract major events like the world juniors and the world curling championships to Ottawa if we don’t invest in Lansdowne, if we don’t invest in other facilities, in other infrastructure.”
Sutcliffe also continues to argue that other levels of government are shortchanging the city when it comes to funding infrastructure such as public transit.
The mayor said municipalities receive only eight to 10 cents of every tax dollar collected in Canada, but are responsible for managing 60 per cent of the country's public infrastructure.
While acknowledging he’s “very encouraged” by the federal government’s announcement this week that it plans to give the city $180 million in transit infrastructure funding from 2026 to 2036, Sutcliffe said more help is needed from the feds and the province.
“Without the support of other levels of government – who by the way collect much, much more revenue than we do – we can’t tackle all the issues we’re facing,” he said. “I’m going to continue to fight for Ottawa’s fair share. I’m going to continue to make sure that Ottawa has the resources that we need for infrastructure and for all of our other priorities.”
The mayor also noted the city is using “cutting-edge AI technologies” to inspect roads, detect water-main leaks and monitor other parts of Ottawa’s infrastructure.
Such “strategic investments” will save taxpayers money in the long run by nipping maintenance issues in the bud before they turn into more expensive problems to solve, he argued.
“We’ve done everything we can to keep our costs under control,” Sutcliffe said.
