• CTF petition campaign marches on, new signature is added every 90 seconds
• Over 4,000 taxpayers say NO to 6.5% tax hike, YES to re-opening Budget 2003
• Next phase: Region-wide phone campaign is now underway
• Council urged to consider changing venue of May 28th meeting

OTTAWA: The local property tax revolt led by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is gathering momentum and has entered a new phase.

You can fight city hall and win!
" Taxpayers have sent a powerful and compelling message to the Mayor and city council," said CTF federal director Walter Robinson. "Through their emails, phone calls, and faxes, they have made it abundantly clear that a 6.5% property tax hike is not an option. It now seems likely that council will vote next Wednesday to re-open Budget 2003 and start to cut spending, but we must keep the pressure on. Sadly, it took a tax revolt to force the Mayor and council to cut costs and reduce taxes … something they should have done in January."

Petition campaign: A resounding success
" Taxpayers are to be commended for mobilizing a sustained public outcry against these proposed tax hikes in such a short period," added Robinson. "Our fax machine is ringing off the hook, our website traffic has exploded and we have already collected over 4,000 signatures on our petition, available in both official languages. At the present pace, a new taxpayer's signature is added every 90 seconds."

Tax revolt enters new phase with phone blitz
" Over the past weekend, the next phase in this revolt commenced with a strategic phone blitz across the region encouraging taxpayers to sign our petition and also to voice their outrage directly to the Mayor and council," said Robinson. "By week's end, tens of thousands of Ottawans will have been contacted."

Council should consider changing location of May 28th meeting
" The next full council meeting is scheduled for May 28th at city hall. Ottawa taxpayers must come out en masse in eight days to show council that local government is citizen-driven … not the other way around," concluded Robinson. "If councilors don't wish to see a repeat of earlier raucous demonstrations by aggrieved taxi drivers, perhaps they should consider moving their next meeting to a larger venue."