Veteran municipal politician Clive Doucet wants to scrap the current light rail plan, bringing in a new plan that would run light rail from Kanata to Orleans within four years.
Doucet maintains the downtown tunnel is not what the city needs. Rather, he says light rail should run along Laurier Avenue in the downtown core and extend west on Carling Avenue to Kanata. The tracks would also extend east, linking to Orleans.
Doucet's proposal would cost about $2 billion, the same price tag as the city's current light rail plan.
"The choice is obvious," Doucet said Tuesday morning. "Do you want . . . no new rail service in Ottawa, Orleans, Kanata and Riverside South and the airport until 2031? Or do you want LRT in four years?"
Mayoral candidate Jim Watson also laid out his fiscal platform Tuesday, calling for wage freezes at Ottawa City Hall, as well as financial restraint that would reduce the mayor's office budget by 10 per cent.
Incumbent Larry O'Brien will kick off his mayoral campaign Wednesday night.
