The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 21

The Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, December 21, 1991 B5 Weekend Observer By Carrie Buchanan Citizen city hall bureau XT' (jjS fir he's been called the Iron Lady of Ottawa: a tough right-winger who's not afraid to say no. 11 1 9 I i 'I fas But there are other facets to Ottawa Mayor Jacquelin Holzman. There's the 56-year-old mother and grandmother who found it "marvellous" when her 36-year-old son, his wife and children moved into her house during the final three months of the election campaign to escape renovations at their own home. There's the divorcee whose first husband worked on her election campaign and still attends family dinners. There's the outdoorswoman who, for years, spent winter weekends skiing with her children and taught them, on cross-country expeditions, to respect and love nature.

There's the champion for the disabled, who helped found ParaTranspo, the Rehabilitation Centre at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, and other agencies to provide transportation, housing and jobs for disabled people. There's the once-apolitical volunteer who dis- i TIE PRMDl a kiii in iiAii'ii. i mam A Family gathering: Standing, from left: Mark Holzman holding son Joshua, Lisa Holzman (with glasses), Riva Heft (Jacquelin's friend), Ellyn Holzf man, Sharon Holzman (Bill's wife), Bill Holzman with Rebecca (Mark's daugh-' ter), Chris Porter (John Rutherford's son), John Holzman (Jacquelin's first hus-J band), Mike Porter (John Rutherford's son). In middle: Jacquelin Holzman in flowered blouse. Seated in front, from left: Debbie Holzman (Mark's wife), Sara Holzman (Mark's daughter), John Rutherford (Jacquelin's husband).

stronger than I more easygoing," am. I'm probably he says she wasn't stressed the value of higher education. It worked. All her children have at least one degree; two have tributed campaign flyers for former mayor and NDP MP, Marion Dewar. There's the woman who tried so hard to learn French that she spent her honeymoon with second husband John Rutherford in France, taking French-immersion courses.

The results have been less than stellar. And there's the music-lover, who despite her Jewish heritage, delights in leading Christmas carols at the Carlingwood Seniors Centre, with her sister playing piano. the boss. "I think it was kind of mutual," he says. They consulted about decisions and supported one another as parents, particularly on matters of discipline.

"I'll tell you one thing and I'll say this to anybody. She was a super mother. The kids were never deprived of anything. We did everything She's been dubbed the Iron Lady of Ottawa, but away from city hall, the new mayor has been a tireless champion of the disabled, a volunteer extraordinaire and devoted wife, mother and grandmother masters degrees. i Several of thqse degrees are in environmental subjects like geography, geology and landscape ar, chitecture.

"People used to say I've just become a And that was always a giggle to me," because three of her four children have environment-related der grees, she says. The youngest, Ellyn, 27, studied business and works in the hotel industry. "They all got this from being aware of their sun: roundings and making sure that, always being rei minded, that you've got to take time to smell the flowers and to leave the place a little bit cleanen-than when you got there," says the mayor. Lisa, 32, agrees: "I'm a nature-lover by upbring" ing." She now works for Esso Petroleum as an environmental specialist, and enjoys wilderness canoei i trips as well as skiing. As for their mother, "I think she took her edu cation from real life," says Holzman's longtime friend Riva Heft.

"She's an experiential learner. Her education was in the community and doing the volunteer work that she did," says Heft, the director of adult education at Concordia Unit versity in Montreal. "The learning that she has acquired is as valur able, if not more valuable, than any formal learning that one can acquire in a university." It has given Jacquelin Holzman her own view of what's important, what's real. That view is summed up in her reaction to her son Mark's arrival on her, doorstep in August. With construction going on at his own house, Mark, his wife and children, aged seven and five; i moved in in the midst of the election campaign.

They stayed until November. Their third child was born during the three-month span. "It was marvellous," says the mayor. "Sarah had her birthday and became eight years old. The baby was born and had his circumcision ceremony at the house.

We had all this wonderful, real-life ac- i as a family right up to 1979 (when they separated). And we still do things as a family a different type of family, today." In fact, the main reason they continue to get along well is because of that devotion to the children, says John Holzman. "We did it for the kids' sake. We've always gotten along, ever since we separated." That kind of attitude helped the children, says Bill. "There's respect there, and that's an important thing So we're not left bitter about marriage, or bitter about one parent or the other." They were so determined the children shouldn't have to choose between them that each parent took a two-bedroom apartment.

Neither was big enough for the whole family. For family dinners, they would meet at another family member's house. "The kids are the most important part of our lives," says John Holzman. And Jacquelin agrees: "My family is the most important centre for me We were married just shy of 25 years. And remember, it's his name that I still carry, and our children have the Holzman name." She married John Holzman at age 19.

"I was a child," she says. Over the years, she changed. So did he: after running a family business for 20 years, he sold it in 1972 to become a teacher. In all the years of marriage "we literally never had what I would call a real fight," says John Holzman. They just grew apart.

And his wife had a desire to live on her own, which she had never done. "She didn't go to university, so maybe she missed those three or four years of being on your own." She never did go to university, even when she left her husband. But with her children, she To her family and friends, Holzman Iron Lady image doesn't fit. While they don't deny that she is strong and determined, they say she's also warm, vivacious and devoted to her family. "She was always a go-getter and a determined lady," says her first husband, John Holzman, 62.

"That's my image of her. It's not the Iron Lady. "She's not soft don't get me wrong. But she's a mother, as against that image of the Margaret Thatcher (for whom) what comes first is business. With Jacquelin, what comes first is her family." When her four children were growing up, Holzman spent countless hours at athletic events, learning to ski when her eldest son Mark started lessons and later spending most winter weekends on the slopes with the family.

Her children all became competitive skiers, one plays competitive golf, and her youngest daughter, Ellyn, was the first girl to play Little League baseball in Ottawa. In between, she kept up a hectic pace as a volunteer for the National Council of Jewish Women, the United Way and numerous agencies for the disabled. She chaired the board of the Royal Ottawa Hospital and served on a host of other boards and committees. Her sister Evelyn Greenberg calls her "absolutely tireless. We're all very energetic, our late mother was too.

And I am. But I'm a wimp compared to Jacquelin. She has always put other people first, really, before herself sometimes even before her kids. They'd have to wait for supper because she was out doing something for others." But despite the constant volunteer work, her son Bill, 33, says, "I haven't yet found where that's been a negative. I've only seen the positive out of it.

"Mom taught us to be comfortable in a kitchen early. And I am. And quite frankly, my wife isn't, because her mother did all the cooking. It's really interesting because I do the cooking, I do the grocery shopping in our house." His mother always found time to listen, and was supportive through good and bad, says Bill. "She supported me when I quit (university) early," coming home from Tennessee to finish at Carleton.

"I'm never afraid to speak to mom about some of my personal problems." But she was no pushover. "I'd rather deal with my dad on the allowance increase," says Bill. "Mom would say, 'No. Hold the When he graduated from university, his mother surprised him by insisting he move out on his own. He wanted to live at home and save money.

"She basically said, 'I'm booting you out onto the streets. It's time you get out and build your own life No 25-year-old is going to live with me unless he's my Though he wasn't pleased at the time, Bill now says it taught him to be responsible. "Nothing to say against my dad, but that kind of vision came from my mom. That kind of strength and that kind of leadership came from my mom." His mother is "tougher and more aggressive and (had) more of a leadership position" than his father, says Bill. "Mom basically did a lot of the control in the household." While John Holzman agrees that "she's probaby uviy.

is we wcic in anuuiei wunu canvassing, organizing we came home to the reality. The re-; ality is babies being born, children having births days, life going on." i. ii jpim.uiii.iii ij Behind closed doors Mayor upsets some councillors with fondness for 'private chats' 1 Citizen file photo Your worship: Ottawa city clerk John Cyr helps Jacquelin Holzman with her chain of office bylaws forbid closed meetings to discuss city business, except for legal, personnel and property matters. Holzman says she's anxious to build team spirit on the new council, and one way to do that is to give members a chance for private chats. "At council (meetings) we don't want to dialogue across the room, between council members.

Our procedures don't encourage that. Our procedures are 'Let's make a decision. Speak to the So when are councillors going to chat with each other?" As for Holzman's support for! I By Carrie Buchanan and Ron Eade Citizen city hall bureau In office only three weeks, Ottawa Mayor Jacquelin Holzman has already shown a penchant for secret meetings and megaprojects. Criticism started after her inaugural address, Dec. 4, when Holzman expressed support for a new $100-million trade and convention centre on LeBre-ton Flats that would require municipal money.

Not only does the project violate her campaign pledge to keep LeBreton Flats development-free, it also goes against her promise to limit spending on megaprojects. Holzman has also been criticized for a speech supporting a high-speed rail megaprojects, she says she "campaigned against big projects that involve property taxpayers' dollars, but I did campaign in favor of projects where the city was a partner," she says. Current plans for LeBreton Flats, which won preliminary approval test summer, call for office tow- ers along the waterfront. Holzman says she'd replace that with a trade and con-vention centre a one-storey building surrounded by landscaped open space. Most of the trade show space would go underground.

about city and ward issues in her office every Monday morning. Retreats and coffee klatches offer "an opportunity to let one's hair down and ask the stupid questions," says Holzman. "It isn't easy to have an opportunity to sit around together with your slacks on, and just chew the fat." She says the sessions aren't meetings because no decisions are made and there's no agenda. Others, like By-Rideau Coun. Richard Cannings, disagree.

The first such meeting, on Holzman's first full day at work on Dec. 2, turned into a private briefing for the 10 new councillors concerning a private-sector proposal to start a food and antique market at Lansdowne Park. And on Dec. 16, the topic was an upcoming council meeting, scheduled for 11 a.m. the same day, on the Ottawa Senators' proposed lease at the Civic Centre.

The entire issue was thrashed out behind closed doors by councillors, the mayor and senior city staff, says Cannings. Cannings says he was summoned by the mayor at 9:15 a.m. on Dec. 16, to attend the meeting in her office. At least seven councillors attended.

Many councillors were upset that they had first heard about the emergency council meeting from Senators' brass, who had phoned to lobby them over the weekend. line through downtown Ottawa, although that would require building un derground tunnels a hugely expen sive undertaking. "The outrage and indignation of certain councillors has been defused and mollified by a process of information that took place in the mayor's office," says Cannings. "People vented (their frustration) and staff had a chance to explain," says Richmond Coun. Alex Cullen.

"I think it relieved some of the shock It allowed questions to be asked of staff in an informal setting." Holzman sees nothing improper about hosting private chats. She plans to continue them, and has also scheduled a council retreat on Jan. 18 at the Pineview Golf Club. Although journalists will be allowed to attend the Pineview retreat, Holzman says they may be kicked out from time to time as sensitive issues deemed "in the best interests of the corporation" are discussed in-camera. The agenda hasn't been set so she couldn't give examples of what those issues might be.

"I personally have no problem with going away for a closed retreat," says Holzman. "All corporations do that, so I have no problem with a corporation of the magnitude of the City of Ottawa going away and having talks behind closed doors. I agree no decisions should be made." But Ottawa Council is not private enterprise. "There is a substantial difference, obviously, between General Motors and a municipal corporation," says Katherine Graham of Carleton University, an expert in municipal government. "Local government is a public organization it's a forum for open discussion and debate and resolution of the issues." In May, Ottawa Council was convicted in Divisional Court of breaking the law by holding a closed-door retreat at Cal-abogie Peaks in January 1989.

The Ontario Municipal Act and Ottawa's own Holzman says she doesn't want a pro The city and region would likely be posed Montreal-Toronto rail link to by pass Ottawa. Besides, she adds, "This asxea to contribute $30 million to the $100-million project. Holzman sees that as "partnership with the private sector." thing won't be built in our lifetime, probably," so money won't be required for some time. In the past, Holzman has voted for' joint ventures like Triple-A baseball. Holzman has also drawn fire for her But she opposed the $80-million Lans- regular Monday morning coffee Match es, which some say are simply secret meetings.

aowne raric project alter it clear there was no interest from the pri- vate sector. i Editorial: A morality play IB6 The mayor has issued a standing invi tation to councillors, to chat privately.