An Ottawa columnist has responded to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe's promotion of questionable city ranking data with a satirical "study" of his own, highlighting concerns over the use of unverified information in public discourse.
Mayor's Post Prompts Satirical Rebuttal
On January 16, 2026, Ottawa Citizen columnist Bruce Deachman published a tongue-in-cheek article announcing fabricated findings that Ottawa has the world's safest traffic. Deachman explicitly stated he invented the data that morning, attributing it to a non-existent entity called the Recently Removed Speed Camera Impact Assessment (RRSCIA).
This satirical move was a direct response to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who the previous weekend had shared a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) touting Ottawa as "the most livable city not just in Canada, but all of North America." Sutcliffe cited "new data" to support his claim.
The Dubious Origins of the Mayor's Data
Investigative work by the outlet PressProgress revealed the shaky foundation of the mayor's boast. The ranking originated from CIC News, a website focused on Canadian immigration, which in turn sourced its data from Numbeo.
Numbeo is a Serbia-based website that aggregates user-contributed information on costs and quality of life globally. Crucially, the site includes a disclaimer stating, "There is absolutely no assurance that any statement on the website is correct or precise." The platform does not verify the accuracy of its user-submitted data.
Further examination showed the Ottawa-specific data Sutcliffe referenced appeared to be compiled from a few hundred user opinions, publicly available OC Transpo fare information, and—somewhat bizarrely—movie listings from a Landmark Cinemas location in Orléans.
Credibility Questions and Uncorrected Claims
Deachman, in his column, pointed out the irony that the link in Mayor Sutcliffe's original X post triggered a platform warning that the destination might be "spammy or unsafe." The mayor's office confirmed to PressProgress that it had not assessed the credibility of Numbeo's data before sharing the ranking.
Despite being informed nearly a week prior that the study's foundation was highly questionable, Mayor Sutcliffe's post remained live and uncorrected as of Deachman's publication on January 16. This raised questions about whether the post was shared because it portrayed the city favorably, regardless of its factual basis.
The incident underscores a broader challenge in the digital age: the ease with which unverified or misleading data can be amplified by public figures, potentially shaping public perception based on unreliable metrics.
