Prime Minister meets with Mayor Sutcliffe at Ottawa City Hall

April 18, 2024 Canuck

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at Ottawa City Hall on Thursday, to discuss municipal-federal issues.

Trudeau made the short trip down Elgin Street from the Prime Minister’s Office to Ottawa City Hall for the 9:15 a.m. meeting.

“This is the first time ever that the sitting prime minister of Canada has come to Ottawa City Hall for a meeting with the mayor,” Sutcliffe said.

“It’s an honour to welcome you here.”

The prime minister told reporters, “it’s a real pleasure to be here. Obviously, the work we’ve already done over the past times together; lots of great initiatives on housing, on transit and on other things we’re continuing to do.”

“Good relations with cities has always been fundamental for this government.”

There is no word on what the two leaders discussed, but it’s likely new funding for the city’s initiatives and the revitalizion of the downtown were on the agenda.

The meeting comes two days after the federal government tabled its 2024 budget, which included $50 million in funding for the Ottawa Police Service to bolster its presence within the Parliamentary Precinct.

While the budget also included $1.1 billion to extend the Interim Housing Assistant Program for asylum claimants, Sutcliffe said he had hoped to see funding for the City of Ottawa.

“We were hoping to see something in the budget for a welcome centre for Ottawa. This is an urgent crisis in our city,” Sutcliffe told CTV News Ottawa Tuesday evening.

“We are really struggling right now. We’re seeing the shelters in our city beyond capacity and a huge percentage of the people in the shelters are new arrivals to the city.”

A report for next week’s community services committee meeting shows the city is requesting $32.6 million in federal funding for a newcomer reception centre and scattered transitional housing units. Last year, the city created an enhanced housing allowance to provide 120 new housing allowances, with a price tag of $2.1 million.

Sutcliffe has also been calling on the federal government to provide more funding for transit and support a new vision for downtown Ottawa as the federal government shifts to a hybrid work model and reduces its office footprint.

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