Today city council will consider whether to award a "non-competitive" contract for on-street litter and recycling containers. The familiar silver containers were introduced downtown in pre-amalgamation Ottawa as a pilot program and renewed in 2002 for five years.

Council is being asked to accept, on a "sole-source" basis, a substantially different contract. The new proposal would cover all of Ottawa and would change the size and look of the litter and recycling containers. The new contract would run for is years, until April, 2020.

The marketplace has not been tapped to determine what revenues should be expected. Other types of street furniture supported by advertising are bus shelters and benches. This new contract could potentially affect the viability (and revenues) of these contracts. This significant adjustment has received little public input largely because of the closed-door nature of the negotiations leading to the proposal. The public has not had a chance to say how much advertising on our streets is acceptable.

City staff indicated that this proposal is so substantially different than the current contract that "procedures for awarding a new contract should be followed." Yet council is proposing to override its staff’s recommendation and its standard procedure, award a substantial contract based on private negotiations, and ignore all other potential respondents. If this happens it will be to the significant detriment of the public interest. The public will never know if it has maximized revenue for allowing this use of its public spaces and the public would not have been consulted as to whether this use is acceptable.

Jacques Legendre
Councillor