Today’s letters: Sutcliffe’s marathon tourism effort deserves applause

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We should applaud our marathon mayor

Re: Mayor Mark Sutcliffe defends decision to run London Marathon while in U.K. with Ottawa Tourism, April 3.

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As someone who has had the privilege of representing Ottawa as a tourism and convention destination to national and international markets, I applaud Mayor Mark Sutcliffe for investing his time and energy to support the efforts of Ottawa Tourism abroad.

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Important investments in business and tourism related infrastructure have been made over the years (Shaw Centre, airport expansion, new hotels) in order to improve Ottawa’s competitiveness on the world stage. But that’s only half of the necessary investment; the other half is ensuring that global markets know about our world-class facilities and services.

This requires investments in marketing and direct sales, and attending a myriad of conferences to spread the word about Ottawa’s virtues as a destination. It should be considered a privilege and a competitive advantage to have a mayor who sees the importance of supporting the good work of Ottawa Tourism in these endeavours. And running a major marathon on his own dime while he’s there … why not?

Pat Kelly, Ottawa, retired former CEO Shaw Centre, and general manager Westin Hotel and Château Laurier

Another beloved restaurant about to close

Re: Mandarin Ogilvie restaurant, an immigrant family’s triumph, to close in June, ending its 36-year run, April 9.

If there remains any doubt in the minds of municipal, provincial and federal decision-makers about the detrimental impacts of not requiring workers to come back to offices in the downtown, I would ask them to compile the list of the small businesses and the great restaurants in the core that have closed their doors since the pandemic.

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On April 20, Madison’s restaurant in the Minto Place building at the corner of Laurier Avenue West and Lyon streets will be closing.

Management and staff in this excellent establishment have worked so hard to survive through the pandemic and since, due to the lack of their mainstay clientele. Their professionalism through it all was remarkable.

I hope that in circumstances such as this, their past clientele and the decision-makers at all levels in this city will write to them to state how very much their closure means to downtown life in Ottawa, how the establishment will be sorrowfully missed and to thank them for their important contribution to the vibrancy of the city.

SuzAnne Doré, Ottawa

Croll championed guaranteed income

Re: A basic guaranteed income would help solve our housing crisis, April 4.

It should be remembered that the real catalyst for demanding a guaranteed annual income in Canada was the Senate’s 1971 special committee report “Poverty in Canada,” which remains one of the most influential reports the Senate has ever produced and was a keystone for all later reports on the subject.

Much of its success can be attributed to the committee’s chair, Sen. Davie Croll, who throughout his political career never ceased advocating for the reform of social policies. “Poverty in Canada” became a best-seller among government documents and after its publication, Croll provided annual poverty line updates to the Senate to keep the issue on the public agenda.

Gary William O’Brien, Nepean, former Clerk of the Senate

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