In a series of letters to the editor published July 9, 2026, Ottawa residents challenge the rationale behind return-to-office mandates for public servants, question the city's infrastructure priorities, and call for new political leadership.
Return-to-office mandates face criticism
Lucie Masson of Orléans argues that forcing public servants back to the office contradicts environmental and fiscal goals. “If the government saves us money on office space, we save the environment from needless pollution, less stress for families, avoid gridlock in our terribly planned roads, why are we forcing back to work? To revive a dead downtown?” she writes. Masson criticizes the lack of suburban job placements, specifically in Orléans, calling it a “massive missed opportunity.”
She also calls for road improvements: “We need to stop catering to the 12 per cent that use public transportation and wake up to the fact that people need cars to get around. Use some of those funds to widen and improve our roads. The 174 and 417 were not built for the volume of traffic today.” Masson laments the absence of a ring road in Ottawa, describing the city’s infrastructure as “well behind much smaller cities in North America” and a “national embarrassment” for the nation’s capital.
Critique of Mayor Sutcliffe’s low-tax strategy
Alex Cullen of Ottawa takes aim at Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s governance. “Your columnist Randall Denley asks ‘Will Ottawa Go Mayor Hunting This October?’ In my view Ottawa must,” Cullen writes. He argues that Sutcliffe’s low-tax strategy has “perpetuated OC Transpo’s misery through cuts to service and further fare increases,” and that the mayor’s endorsement of closing aging facilities to sell land for revenue is misguided. “Never mind that taxes built those facilities in the first place,” Cullen adds, questioning which councillor would volunteer to close a facility in their own ward. He notes that city staff say 40 buildings must close within 10 years, yet the mayor touts low taxes. “This is not a responsible way to govern our city,” Cullen concludes.
A fourth way out for Doug Ford?
Another letter responds to John Snobelen’s column on Premier Doug Ford’s political future. The writer suggests a fourth option beyond losing, dying, or quitting: becoming prime minister, as happened in the 19th century with Sir Charles Tupper and Sir John Thompson. “The current leader of the federal opposition lost his own seat in Ottawa in the last federal election,” the letter notes, speculating that Conservative Party members might seek a new leader. “There could be a provincial premier with the political know-how to do the job, who has also during the past year or so earned the reputation of standing up for Canada vis-à-vis the Tangerine Toddler? That might sell across the country, especially if Premier Doug Ford brushed up his français.”
