The Mayor, the Arms Dealer and 'Security'

A few weeks ago I discussed Mayor Larry O’Brien’s dependence on large federal contracts to build his ‘entrepreneurial’ spirit – including significant contracts with the Department of National Defence (DND). The close connection between the local business elite and government operations comes as no surprise. Ottawa’s local power brokers have long had a special relationship with the DND and the Department of Public Works (see previous post). The practice continues. The local growth machine continues to putter along in this age of restraint with adaptations to the contemporary political economy. Captains of industry are clever and adaptive, even more so when they get the reins of political power. It makes servicing the interests of your friends much easier.

In today’s Ottawa Citizen, after a shout-out by the District Labour Council, the personal level of this tidy relationship was exposed in an article on Larry O’s new ‘senior advisor on transformation’ Gordon J. Hunter.

During his tenure in the upper echelons of the federal bureaucracy, Hunter worked as director general in charge of purchasing for such key military hardware as ammunition and electronic equipment. In the course of his long-term as a government operative, Hunter forged a 15 year relationship with Larry O’s Calian Technology. In 2004, while Hunter was still with DND, O’Brien’s firm won a sweet $400 million contract to supply DND with high-tech services. Once out of the public service, Hunter took the revolving door from DND into the defence lobby. Among other clients, Hunter now lobbies for ‘counter-terrorism’ equipment maker Allen-Vanguard Corp. and ammunition maker General Dynamics Ordinance. With the military-industrial complex in full swing, this is a booming business.

Our revanchist mayor Larry O has taped into his friendship with DND operative/defence lobbyist Hunter help him escape the impossible mission of meeting his zero for zero’s campaign promise. However, the defence lobbyist has no experience in municipal politics. How, one might ask, is he to ‘advise the city on transformation’ with absolutely no expertise in the area?

Perhaps, I suggest in a generous tone, Hunter could re-invent the PPP with his new partners at City Hall. He could ask the city staff to manage the equipment and arms sales of one of Hunter’s clients. With its new arms dealer role the city could find an alternative revenue stream (always popular in public management speak).

OK, this might sound ludicrous, but I want to expose how insane it is to have an arms dealer and defence lobbyist advising the Mayor. It makes it very clear who O’Brien values as his closest friends and what he means by a ‘security’ agenda. Without any thought, Larry O has made the police budget a sacred cow. The local enforcers will get an automatic 1.6% increase (while crime is the lowest in 30 years), while at the same time, the Mayor advocates cutting 1,000 jobs, suggests a freeze for pools, playground, childcare, housing, and transit. You get a picture of his priorities. Cities are just like National Defence, right? You simply deploy shock troops to establish order.

This squeaky clean mayor is covered in a dirty past, and his associates are part of the repressive security establishment. Cleary O’Brien remains too dependent on his military and police pals. Considering the illogical nature of the ‘security’ business it is no shock that Larry O is mired in his own indecisions, flip-flops, and deer-in-headlights statements. He is constantly trying to backtrack and re-track his train to nowhere. He and his cronies are unaccustomed to the exposure and accountability of managing the complex public interest, instead of the accounts of defence firms. The tidy relationship O’Brien has to the military-industrial complex needs to be exposed: it is unfit for a mayor of a city that depends on its ‘soft’ services such as parks, pools, social services, leisure, housing, transit. This is what city life is for. These are the things that keep cities working. More ‘security’ of the shock-troop variety leads to greater insecurity of the already maligned, disadvantaged and over-policed. I suggest the frustrated Larry O take leave for a position at the Conference of Defence Associates and leave the defence lobby out of our city. We want our city back.