I met a remarkable man the other day in Blackburn Hamlet.
Judging by John Pinke’s attire and the set of golf clubs in the back of his car, the 79-year-old retired public servant was either heading to or from the links. But that was not what made him remarkable.
What stood out was his level of satisfaction with how the City of Ottawa is run. Oh sure, his daughter has told him that
OC Transpo is a mess
, but that’s not something he really experiences. And the
state of the roads
? The wide tires on his new hybrid SUV pretty much take care of any bumps and potholes, unlike the narrower ones on the Honda Accord he previously drove.
“I don’t know what I could say,” he confessed when I asked him if he thinks anything is wrong with how City Hall operates. “All in all, I’m too content.”
Would that we might all be like Pinke.
But we’re not, and the city — or its watchdog, at least — wants to know what we think is wrong, and is actually asking for our opinion.
That watchdog is the city’s Office of the Auditor General (OAG), a forensic team of bookkeepers headed by Nathalie Gougeon, that
keeps an eye on municipal spending
to make sure everything is on the up-and-up and no one is robbing taxpayers blind.
The OAG put a call out the other day, urging residents and business owners to help plot its course through its 2026-27 workplan as it looks to ferret out municipal waste and pecuniary malfeasance.
“What area listed below,” the OAG’s
online survey
asks, “not recently covered by the OAG, do you believe would most benefit from an independent look by the Office of the Auditor General?”
At this point, a reader-friendly columnist would simply give a few examples of the areas listed — park maintenance, long-term care and traffic services, say — especially as participants can choose no more than three areas on which to send the OAG’s investigative team. But the length and breadth of matters “not recently covered” by the OAG is so gob-smackingly immense that it bears itemizing
in toto
.
In addition to the above, the list comprises the following: 311; accessibility; asset management; artificial intelligence; bylaw and regulatory services; city-operated childcare programs; city procurement/value for money; community safety and well-being; cybersecurity; data privacy; downtown revitalization; drinking water management; emergency planning and preparedness; emergency shelters; employment and social services; fire services; human resources and compensation; light-rail transit; OC Transpo; recreation programs and systems; rent supplement programs; road maintenance; stormwater management; transportation planning; wastewater and sewage management; waste management; and other (“please specify”).
If these are the areas not recently covered by our municipal auditors, I’d say the OAG could use a staffing bump. Perhaps it should be allowed to keep a portion of any savings it finds and use those to expand its office.
No shortage of views
Admittedly, barring a few whistleblowers among us, you and I are not experts on where our taxes are being misspent. I mean, that’s why we have the OAG, right? But judging by the very unscientific poll I conducted near the corner of Innes and Bearbrook roads in Blackburn Hamlet, residents (minus one golfer) have no shortage of thoughts about where they feel they’re not getting value for their money. Roads/sidewalks and OC Transpo, with its recent “New Ways to Wait” system, top the list.
“For kids and older people in the hamlet, the sidewalks are bad,” said Dianne Aylen. “There are pieces of asphalt missing that they put cones on, but that doesn’t solve anything for people in wheelchairs or with walkers. The sidewalks are getting worse and worse, and it’s hard on them.”
A resident named Linda remarked that she’s never seen Ottawa’s roads in worse shape, a sentiment difficult to fault. “It’s almost useless to fix them because of all the wear and tear from construction every year. You can lose your car in a pothole if you’re not careful.”
OC Transpo was Shelley Cossar’s main bugaboo, with service cuts lengthening trips. “The service is just unreliable,” she said. A developmental service worker, Cossar also criticized the state of the city’s sidewalks, especially for those with accessibility issues.
Another resident said that the bus ride from Innes and Bearbrook to Blair Station, formerly a seven- or eight-minute hop, now takes 20 minutes longer.
While transit and roads were the low-hanging fruit for complainants, they weren’t the only issues on people’s minds.
Melissa Goyette, for example, said the city needs to do a better job providing social programs for youths, particularly those in need of mental health, addictions and housing supports. Mike Dube says there needs to be less red tape slowing homebuilders from getting shovels in the ground. Alan Spencer said something has to be done about a) open drug use downtown; and b) the size of the city’s workforce. “It’s too bloated,” he said. Another simply said “downtown.” When further asked for specifics, he replied, “Everything about it.”
No one I spoke with mentioned library hours, lifeguard shortages or the ByWard Market rejuvenation as areas that might come under the OAG’s microscope, so I’ll add them here (and online).
Whether this will lead to positive changes is anyone’s guess. The OAG first approached residents for input in 2023, with only about 200 people responding. The
public’s top three concerns
then were Stage 2 of the LRT, homelessness and OC Transpo route scheduling.
So, send the auditor your thoughts. You have until the end of June. Then perhaps we can all spend a contented day on the golf course.
Visit https://engage.ottawa.ca/auditor-general-2026-2027-workplan-public-input-survey/ to take part.
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