O’Brien’s LRT dream now a nightmare

As the Ottawa Mayor who got the design of the east-west Light-rail transit (LRT) line approved in 2006, Larry O'Brien is disappointed to see what has come of his LRT dreams for the city.

Speaking on The Sam Laprade Show, O'Brien said it's former Mayor Jim Watson who needs to be answering questions about the project that was intended to make the city a national leader in public transit, but is now a point of contention for Ottawans.

“Now we're a leader, alright. We're a leader at being laughed at for incompetence, and micromanaging a wonderful project that has turned into a total technical disaster,” said O'Brien.

O'Brien added that cost cutting, mismanagement and, particularly, political incompetence has left the citizens of Ottawa with “this lemon.” O'Brien feels politicians got in the way throughout the project, making decisions on the budget and timelines based on how it would look for them politically. 

While hopeful there are solutions that can put the dream back on track, O'Brien said it should now be out of the hands of politicians and given to the best engineers to figure out.

“This is not the time for politicians to even put their put their nose in it. They created the problem,” said O'Brien. “Get them the hell out of the game, and bring in the pros.”

Asked if he should have done anything different when he left City Hall to ensure the project continued on the right path, O'Brien said he was sure he left the city with a good concept.

“What I should have done differently is I should have beat Jim Watson in the 2010 election. Then we wouldn't have had this problem, because I would not have made any of these rookie business mistakes that Jim Watson made.

“So I feel sad that I was not able to garner the support,” said O'Brien. “I can assure you, I think this from bottom of my heart, we would not be facing these problems today.”

Listen to the full conversation with Larry O'Brien on The Sam Laprade Show below.