Watson meets with Ottawa business owners

Mayor Jim Watson met with representatives of Ottawa's small business community Thursday.

During his election campaign, Watson promised to meet regularly with business owners and neighbourhood Business Improvement Areas.

Joe Cotroneo, co-chair of the Preston Street Business Improvement Area and owner of Pub Italia, said today's meeting was a good first step toward improving communication between business and the city.

"I'm very happy," Cotroneo said. "It shows the city and BIAs are working to a common goal. I think it will get a lot of issues to the table and addressed a lot quicker."

Watson said he hopes to reduce the amount of red tape for businesses that deal with the city.

The mayor said he's also looking at tourism opportunities leading up to 2017, which will be Canada's 150th birthday.