Bob's Blog

Day 1
October 9th 2006

"The Launch!! "

First of all let me say welcome to my website! Over the next 5 weeks, right up until election day, Nov. 13th, I will be writing daily web entries. This is the first of many and coincidentally falls on the day of the campaign launch!

This afternoon I launched my re-election campaign to 300 dedicated supporters! After a few of my endorsers introduced me, I gave my speech that outlined my record and my vision for the future of this city. Make no mistake, this election is of paramount importance to the direction and future of this great city. You, as the voter, have three very different options for mayor, each promising their own vision:

Alex Munter's vision - is the vision of the far left side of the political spectrum. When he was on council, while we had a good working relationship, our sporadic battles were always the result of me urging, and enforcing, restraint on his radical spending agenda. There is no reason to suppose that, if he were Mayor, his spending ideology would be any different.

Larry O’Brien, on the other hand, has promised to bring a business like mentality to the city, vowing to create savings and lower taxes. The only way he can deliver on his promises is to cut core services, to end the arts and culture spending, to change the way we look at City Hall forever.

My candidacy is about consensus, about bringing the people of Ottawa together. My launch today exemplified the kind of support my leadership draws. People from all walks of life coming together to endorse and support my re-election bid because they have seen my style of leadership, they have seen what I can do for the city. They have witnessed that through strong, prudent and experienced leadership I have: Heavily invested in core services, increased arts and culture spending, steered through the most successful municipal amalgamation in Canada, put more police and paramedics on the streets, instituted sustainable environmental initiatives, brought light rail to Ottawa, and all the while keeping our AAA credit rating and delivering six consecutive 0% tax increases.

This is the leadership and vision you can expect from me. Over the next five weeks I will be announcing my platform, a platform that will demonstrate my resolve to ensure that every person in Ottawa can continue to say with confidence that Ottawa is the best place in the world to live.