Ottawa Politics Guide

As the capital of Canada, Ottawa is a government city. Sometimes lost in all of the federal hoopla is municipal politics, which can often be more interesting — and impact more directly on our lives. Until recently, Ottawa was made up of several smaller cities. In 2001, the cities amalgamated into one municipality, governed by a mayor and 22-member city council. Another important political body is the National Capital Commission (NCC), which oversees federal buildings and parkland in the city.

Local Government Links

National Capital Commission

Local Politics Blogs

(Blogs that frequently cover City Hall and other local politics)

18th Best Isn't Good Enough
apply liberally
Art of the Rant
A Step to the Right
City Limits
City of Orleans
Greater Ottawa by David Reevely (Ottawa Citizen)
Knitnut.net
Mayor Larry O'Brien's Blog
The Mayor of Ottawa blogs at "MayorLarry.ca" ... or at least one of his staffers does.
Miss Vicky's Offhand Remarks (hintonburg/westboro)
muniblogs.com: Ottawa
No Rezone Playfair
Urban Ottawa / Ottawa Urbain
Perspective Ottawa by Blake Batson
Sun & The City (Ottawa Sun City Hall blog)
The Hall Monitor (city hall blog)
West Side Action
By Eric Darwin, a resident of the Preston/Somerset area, and writes about issues affecting his area and the rest of downtown/urban Ottawa.
Zero Means Zero

Local issues

Local politicians

Mayor Larry O'Brien

In November 2007, police charged Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien with two offenses under the criminal code, related to influence peddling in the last municipal election. He went to trial in 2009, and was acquitted of all charges. Here's a collection of links about the trail and O'Brien:

Ottawa Citizen: The O'Brien Trial - a comprehensive web site covering all aspects of the trail - including the latest news updates and lots of background information about the allegations against O'Brien
CBC Ottawa: The Trail of Larry O'Brien - offering a full archive of news coverage, as well as live updates during the trial. See also: Timeline of the Larry O'Brien/Kilrea case
MayorLarry.ca Larry O'Brien's blog
City of Ottawa: Mayor Larry O'Brien (official bio from the City of Ottawa)
Wikipedia: Larry O'Brien
YayaCanada: The O'Brien / Kilrea / Baird scandal
Zero Means Zero and City Holler! - these are two anonymously-written blogs that cover Mayor Larry and City Hall.