Opinion - Counselling change

It's been 20 years, but the effects of amalgamation are still being felt. Drew-Anne Glennie argues community councils could reconnect us with city hall and our neighbours

- Drew-Anne Glennie

SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT LIVING in Ottawa feels like living in a small town, which sounds strange for a city of more than one million people. But among Canada's eight most populous cities, Ottawa covers the largest area. It's a factor that brings a huge diversity of interests to the populace, particularly between the urban core and outer suburbs. Yet, unlike Toronto or even less-than-half-oursize Halifax, there are no community councils to liase between neighbourhood interests and city hall: every Ottawan is under one decision-making body. Why is this a problem? In the recent mayoral election, there was a stark regional split: Mark Sutcliffe won handily in wards outside the Greenbelt; Catherine McKenney dominated only the inner core.

To understand the situation, it's important to look at the city's origins. Before we called it the City of Ottawa, the area was known as the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (RMOC) from 1969 to 2000. The RMOC delivered the majority of municipal services and had a directly elected regional chair and 18 regional ward councillors. Each of the 11 constituent municipalities had their own mayor and a handful of councillors.

On Jan. 1, 2001 the city was amalgamated because the previous system had, in the words of one provincial advisor, "become ineffective, inefficient, and too expensive."