Former mayor Jim Watson joins Ottawa Community Housing Foundation board

Nov. 14, 2022 was Jim Watson last official day as the mayor of Ottawa. He spent the last day in his office saying goodbye and preparing for life outside of politics. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

Former Ottawa mayor Jim Watson has joined the board of directors for the Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) Foundation.

The OCH Foundation announced the news Tuesday. 

"As Ottawa’s longest serving Mayor, Jim brings a wealth of experience in bringing people together and has a strong understanding of the needs within our community," a news release said.

The foundation helps support community housing residents through education, employment, and community engagement. It has raised more than $11 million over the last 11 years for tenant-focused programs, including providing backpacks for children and youth going to school, post-secondary bursaries, arts and sports programs and camps, refurbished bicycles, and employment programs for youth 16 to 21.

Ottawa Community Housing is the largest social housing provider in the city, providing 15,000 homes to about 32,000 tenants.

Watson said he is thrilled to join the OCH Foundation.

"With many people in our city struggling to afford necessities for them and their families, being a good neighbour means we must be there for each other. The work of the OCH Foundation inspires me and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to help them as they support those living in OCH communities," he said.

This is the first non-profit board Watson has joined since leaving office in 2022. The board of directors are volunteers.

Watson was Ottawa's longest-serving mayor when he left office. He oversaw several major changes in the city, including the launch of the Confederation Line LRT, about which he was heavily criticized, including in a public inquiry report which found hs conduct and that of city staff at the time "irreparably compromised" city council's ability to provide oversight of the project. Watson apologized for the disastrous launch of the LRT after he left office and claimed "full responsibility for the project's shortcomings" in a statement late last year, but did not indicate he would take any action. 

He was also the mayor during the 2022 "Freedom Convoy" protest, which led to hundreds of people in heavy vehicles occupying downtown Ottawa for three weeks to protest the federal government's COVID-19 policies. An audit by the city's auditor general found a lack of communication between city staff and police hampered the response.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the OCH Foundation noted it is considered separate from the Ottawa Community Housing Corporation, of which Watson was an ex-officio director when he was mayor.

"It is important to note that despite the fact that the OCH Foundation exists to serve OCH residents, it is an independent non-profit organization, which runs as a separate entity to the Corporation with a specific mandate to help vulnerable residents of OCH to achieve goals in their lives," the statement said. "The volunteers who serve on the Board of Directors champion the work we do to support families living in OCH neighbourhoods. With the rapid rise in cost of living, most of our programs have more than doubled in the past years as we try to respond to the immediate and emerging needs of tenants living in OCH Communities."