Two Ottawa mayoral candidates announced their plans to address housing and jobs on Thursday. Mayoral hopeful Neil Saravanamuttoo says if elected this fall, he would establish a new public option for not-for-profit, mixed-income housing. “Currently, Ottawa residents have three main choices for housing: buy their own home, rent from a private landlord, or, if they qualify, access subsidized social housing,” Saravanamuttoo’s policy reads. “With a scaled up public option, Ottawa residents would have a fourth choice.” Saravanamuttoo says he would use Arriv Properties, a branch of Ottawa Community Housing, to develop the affordable units. Saravanamuttoo says city taxpayers would not foot the bill for these buildings, as the financing and operating costs would be fully covered by rents. “Public option housing comes at no cost to city taxpayers; it operates entirely on a cost-recovery basis,” Saravanamuttoo said at a press conference at Arriv’s Properties’s Mosaïq building in Centretown on Thursday. “This is a substantial difference from traditional social housing.” According to Arriv Properties’s website, the affordable housing organization operates 749 units across five buildings. At the Mosaïq building, a studio unit costs $1,217 per month and a three-bedroom unit goes for $1,762 per month. Saravanamuttoo says he would aim to create 25,000 to 30,000 homes, which would represent approximately 5 to 10 per cent of Ottawa’s housing market over the next two decades. The mayoral candidate says his proposed model is similar to those used in other cities across the world, including Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Hong Kong. “Many Ottawa families want to own their own home, and the public option does not change that. It gives people another choice – an affordable and predictable place to live while they save for a down payment, or a permanent home for people who want to rent,” Saravanamuttoo’s policy reads. Lawson tackles jobs Mayoral candidate Alex Lawson also made a policy announcement on Thursday, outlining how he would address jobs and economic growth in Ottawa if elected mayor. The policy notes that nearly 8,000 public service jobs were lost in the National Capital Region and 26,000 employees received notices that their job may be at risk. Lawon’s policy lists 21 commitments to “get people into work,” and “get more work into Ottawa.” “Alex Lawson’s plan does not blame the federal government for those decisions. Ottawa does not get a say in the federal budget, and a mayor who pretends otherwise is wasting your time,” Lawson’s policy reads. “The cuts are the weather. The question on the ballot is whether this city built a roof.” The plan includes several promises to make jobs-related information and data public, including publishing a quarterly youth unemployment report, publishing city approval timelines and publishing a list of employers who commit and deliver on youth hiring commitments. The mayoral candidate also says he would publish a quarterly “employer attraction scoreboard,” which would include information on investments, jobs and land used by each sector. If elected, Lawson says he would increase the availability of supports for those who are laid off or in a career transition. The candidate says he would increase pre-apprenticeships and training partnerships with educational institutions, unions, and employers and adopt a fair wage policy so that city contracts would not be awarded to contractors underpaying employees. Ottawa residents head to the polls for the municipal election on Oct. 26. With files from CTV’s Leah Larocque
