Working group to oversee, review City of Ottawa programs

What looks to be an attempt to make good on an election promise to carry-out a “strategic review” of expenses and find up to $60 million in savings, Mayor Sutcliffe is poised to set up a working group of councillors, led by the Mayor, to oversee and review city spending.

The three person working would include the Mayor, Councillor and chair of the audit committee Cathy Curry and a councillor at large.

Speaking on Wake Up with Rob Snow, Councillor Curry said the strategic reviews would not mean just cutting and contracting out services.

“I would say there's no intention to do that going forward,” Curry said. “It is an opportunity to look at where there could be efficiencies.”

Curry sees the working group as an opportunity for the city to consult and seek out advice from experts in various fields that city staff may not be as equipped to find those efficiencies.

“Our city staff, as smart as they are and as wonderful as they are, are not in the business of green energy retrofits or electricity generation,” said Curry. “The experts on transit and transportation, energy, health, data and cybersecurity – what if they just simply talk to us when we brought a problem to them?”

The initiative is also not an effort to take work away from some groups, but about tapping “into the brainpower” around the city, according to Curry.

Any suggestions put forward by the working group would still require the approval of the full council.

The working group has been tabled as part of the 2023 budget process and would be created if the budget is approved on March 1. 

Listen to the full interview with Councillor Cathy Curry on Wake Up with Rob Snow below.