MacDonald

Making sense of city council's $100M arena decision

The debate over whether the city should make completing the four-laning of MR35 a priority offers a lesson in what a local government can accomplish — when it has its priorities straight.

The fact an NDP leader was in town this week talking about cutting taxes for small business is a testament to how difficult it's getting to tell where the centre and left is these days in Canadian politics.

Tom Davies Square is a much happier place these days.

After back-to-back provincial and municipal elections, you would think voters in Greater Sudbury would get a respite. Not so much.

Voters in this city are angry. You can hear it in the coffee shops, in the malls, on blogs and social media — people are deeply unhappy with city council and city hall in general.

But it turns out satisfying those concerns only led to new complaints.

Not so long ago, a Liberal government in power for more than a decade and battling several scandals and public fatigue, announced it was fighting a budget deficit by boosting spending.

Since Mayor Marianne Matichuk was elected in 2010, it has been an education for both the public who voted for her, and for the mayor, a first-time politician who clearly had no idea how to make good on her campaign agenda.

When Bartolucci announced his retirement in January 2013, he left a strong campaign narrative for whoever succeeded him. Voters showed they wanted change, but it's not like the former cabinet minister scorched the Earth on his way out the door.