Bay ward candidates deny partisan loyalties

Candidates vying to represent Bay ward on Ottawa city council were forced to defendtheir politicalallegiances at a debate Tuesday night.

Some candidates used the unusual debate format as an opportunity to grill their opponents about any lingering partisan loyalties.

Erica Dath, who described herself as an independent candidate, questioned Theresa Kavanaghabout her association with the NDP, the party under whose banner Kavanaghran in the 1988 federal election.

Kavanagh, an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee since 2010, is married to former city councillor Alex Cullen, whowas briefly a Liberal MPPbefore joining the NDP.

"I can tell you very certainly that I'm independent because I've been a school board trustee for the last eight years," Kavanagh said.

"It has nothing to do with party politics whatsoever."

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Candidate Marc Lugert had a similar question for Don Dransfield, who ran for the provincial Liberals in 2011 and whose wife is Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld.

"If I'm elected I'm going to be representing the same people as my wife is currently representing," Dransfield said. "I'm going to be fighting for the same people. So how is there any conflict of interest?"

Earlier in the debate he joked he had the ear of the MP for Ottawa WestNepean when it comes to the city's relationship with the National Capital Commission.

A fifth candidate for Bay ward, Trevor Robinson, did notattend the debate.

Bus route changes rankle

Otherwise, the four Bay ward candidates shared similar views on most important issues, including public transit.

Thecandidatesdecried local bus route changes made in advance of the opening of the city'sLRTsystem changes many residents found far less convenient than the original routes. Transit riders have expressed particular concern about the Number 11, which no longer travels to Bayshore station.

Lugert suggested installing an independent board or consultant to review bus route changes and get community input before changes are put in place.

Dathagreed with the idea of areview board, but feared that solution may be too expensive. Instead, she suggested route changes should get the approval of existing advisory committees, which represent the users most likely to be affected.

Councillorscan't micromanage everything at city hall, Kavanagh said, but she added they should be ready to represent their constituents on such important issues as the Number 11 bus.

Changing the routes beforeLRTis running didn'tmake sense, Dransfieldsaid, but he believes putting the changes before a review board willslow the process of overhauling thebus system a system Dransfieldsaid must work for everyone.

Green space preservation and traffic calming also emerged as top issues for the candidates.

The CBC'sLaura Osman covered at the debate. Here's a recap of her tweets.