Article content material

Mayoral candidates Mark Sutcliffe and Catherine McKenney each unveiled marketing campaign guarantees Sunday that concerned making sought-after metropolis choices simpler to entry for residents, with Sutcliffe specializing in municipal recreation and McKenney pledging enhancements for French audio system.

Article content material

In McKenney’s case, through an announcement marking Franco-Ontarian Day, the mayoral hopeful (who makes use of they/them pronouns) said their dedication to enhancing entry to municipal providers in French if elected and initiating an analysis of those providers “to find out what wants the largest enhancements, whereas working intently with neighborhood organizations.”

Article content material

Sutcliffe launched an announcement pledging to chop charges by 10 per cent for municipal leisure programming for youngsters and youth, presenting this as a method to make them extra accessible and get monetary savings for households at a time when value of dwelling is the highest concern he hears about from residents, he stated. He additionally promised to handle town’s “damaged” on-line reserving system for actions like skating and health.

Article content material

“Signing your youngsters up for swimming classes shouldn’t really feel just like the Starvation Video games,” stated Sutcliffe, through his marketing campaign information launch. “I’ve heard from too many mother and father who inform me that when it comes time to signal their youngsters up for actions, Ottawa’s on-line reserving system crashes consistently, leading to mother and father staying up till all hours of the morning, simply to ebook swimming classes or day camps for the summer time. That’s not acceptable and we’ll repair it.”

He additionally dedicated to permitting residents to make reservations for drop-in leisure actions at any time prematurely, saying that “whether or not it’s reserving skating, swimming or health actions, the Metropolis of Ottawa’s reserving restrictions merely don’t make sense.”

Article content material

That change might imply a resident is ready to ebook a public swim spot a month forward of time, for instance, marketing campaign spokesperson Jake Enwright confirmed.

Whereas Sutcliffe dedicated to ending town’s “24-hour rule” for recreation bookings in his launch, a scan of metropolis facility pages reveals that, presently, residents can ebook drop-in spots as of 6 p.m. for the 2 days following. Reservations are strongly inspired, however walk-ins are accepted when area permits.

Sutcliffe additionally stated he’s occupied with rising leisure programming, together with swimming and day camps, and as mayor would ensure programming expands to fulfill the wants of Ottawans on the lookout for French-language actions.

Recreation additionally got here up in McKenney’s launch, which recommended it was an space the place town isn’t doing sufficient for francophone residents. “Francophone kids ought to have the ability to take swimming classes of their first language. I acknowledge that these providers could be in style and could be troublesome to ebook,” their assertion famous.

And in terms of town’s 311 contact line, McKenney stated they’ve heard from francophone associates and colleagues that the watch for assist in French is typically longer than it’s for help in English.