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December 5, 2007

(Ottawa) Mayor Larry O’Brien is turning in a weak performance on theenvironment, according to a report card released today by the OttawaLocal Group of the Sierra Club of Canada and Ecology Ottawa.

A Question of Leadership: An Environmental Report Card on Mayor O’Brien’s City Council finds Mayor O’Brien trailing, not leading, most Ottawa City Councillors on the environment and particularly on climate change.

The report was prepared by tallying the number of pro-environment andanti-environment votes cast, respectively, by each Councillor over thecourse of the 12 months period to October 2007.

“Our tally found Ottawa City Council’s environmental performance to besurprisingly poor,” says Sabrina Bowman of Ecology Ottawa. “MayorO’Brien’s Council lags behind other Canadian cities on the environment.”

Mayor O’Brien’s environmental voting record put him near the bottom 25percent of all City Councillors. Most of the Mayor’s pro-environmentvotes were for motions that passed by acclamation and required zeroleadership.

The report also shows that Mayor O’Brien opposed financing for Ottawa’s Climate Change and Air Quality Management Plan,voted against reducing unnecessary vehicle idling, and failed tosupport a two percent cap on public transit fares, all importantinitiatives that would help combat climate change.

“The ability of other Canadian cities, such as Toronto and Victoria, tomove much more quickly on innovative environmental programs shows itcan be done,” says Graham Saul of Ecology Ottawa. “There’s no excuse – all it requires is strong leadership from the Mayor.”

Despite Mayor O’Brien’s weak performance some councillors are making astrong effort to put the environment on the forefront of the City’sagenda, including councillors Deans, Doucet, Cullen, Bédard, Bellemare,Legendre, McRae and Holmes, all of whom received an A+. The rest of themarks indicate a mediocre performance for much of the Council,including Councillors Brooks, Derochers, El-Chantiry, Hunter andThompson, who all received a D.

“The Ottawa we see in this report does not reflect the one we hold inour hearts,” says Jason Kania of the Sierra Club. “Citizens of Ottawaexpect more and they expect better. This report establishes that theMayor’s single-minded focus on 0% tax increases is proving to bedetrimental to sound environmental governance.”

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The full report can be read online here (see contents along the left side of this page) or downloaded below.