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Frequently-heard political comments in Ottawa and what they really mean

Photo/Devyn Barrie

Councillors Scott Moffatt and Jeff Leiper had an interesting exchange on Twitter today, where they laid out some boilerplate comments heard often in municipal politics and what they really mean.

Leiper chimed in, prompting Moffatt to translate this classic: “We pay very high taxes.” To which Moffatt provides: “I bought a house worth $1.4M and I’m now complaining about the $14,000 I pay in taxes because I haven’t put two and two together to realize I’m filthy rich and I can afford it.”

What’s your favourite catchphrase? Tweet us @OttawaStart. One of my favourites is usually repeated whenever apartment rentals are proposed in the suburbs and usually goes along the lines that the future tenants will be criminals and/or creators of traffic congestion. This is an actual quote from a resident email regarding a proposed four-story apartment building in Stittsville that I got via an MFIPPA request (their name was withheld per the law): “This will lower all our home values and add higher crime rate [sic] for our neighbourhoods as low income becomes desperate families in need. AKA stealing and such.”

Yikes.

Author

Devyn Barrie

Devyn Barrie is the publisher and editor of OttawaStart.com. He currently studies math and physics at the University of Ottawa, and holds a diploma in journalism from Algonquin College.