Respect for Taxpayers Begins at City Hall: A Reflection on my First Op-Ed

August 27, 2025 · 3 min read

This week, I had my first op-ed published in the Ottawa Citizen. It focuses on Ottawa’s draft budget directions and the way “respect for taxpayers” has been framed narrowly around property tax rates.

Rather than repost the article here, I want to take a step back and explain why this conversation matters, and why municipal budgets deserve just as much attention as federal or provincial ones.

It starts at the root

Municipal decisions shape our daily lives in ways we often overlook. Transit, housing, recreation centres, parks, and libraries: these are not abstract policy debates. They are services people interact with every day. Yet discussion around governance in Canada so often defaults to Parliament Hill or Queen’s Park, leaving city hall in the shadows until a crisis makes headlines.

City budgets are not just financial documents. They are value statements. They show what we choose to protect, and who we are willing to ask more of. If we keep prioritizing short-term restraint over long-term investment, we risk leaving behind the very systems that make cities sustainable and worth living in.

That is why municipal debates matter, and why I will keep writing about them here. They are not side conversations. They are the foundation of how we build trust and capacity in the communities we call home.

One of the more difficult parts is ensuring city staff are set up to strengthen infrastructure, not dismantle it. When “efficiencies” become the default direction, the solutions staff bring forward often start and end with cuts. That cycle will not change without both council and residents pushing for creative, forward-looking alternatives.

What can we do about it

The first step is to stay engaged, at all levels. That means following council votes, reaching out to councillors directly, and treating municipal politics with the same seriousness we give to federal or provincial debates. Voting records need to matter, and councillors should be held accountable for the priorities they choose to protect, or to defer.

It also means encouraging stronger leadership. We need candidates who are willing to challenge the narrow “efficiency” mindset and instead make the case for investing in systems that sustain a city: transit, housing, climate resilience. But those candidates also need to be bridge-builders, capable of making the case that long-term investment benefits everyone.

Finally, the responsibility is not only political but civic. As residents, we can speak up when cuts are presented as the only option, push for creative solutions, and support campaigns or initiatives that reflect the kind of city we want to build.

Municipal budgets may not dominate the nightly news, but they set the foundation for whether our communities thrive or struggle. That is why they matter and why we should care about them as much as any other level of government.

For me, this isn’t just about numbers on a page. It’s about delivery, trust, and building systems that actually work for people. Cities succeed when we invest in the foundations: transit, housing, climate resilience. That belief is fragile, and every “efficiency” that chips away at services puts it at risk.

This is what I write about here, and what I work towards: ensuring infrastructure is delivered, trust is earned, and that we build not just projects, but communities that endure.