Mayor departing for Amazon visit as Ottawa prepares bid

Mayor Jim Watson is headed to Washington state this week to drum up support for building Amazon's new headquarters in Ottawa.

The Seattle-based retail giant said last week it's scouting locations for what it callsHQ2, with plans toinvest $5 billion USto develop the new site, which will house as many as 50,000workers.

Watson said he thinks Ottawa has a shot at winning the company over, but concedes the capital faces some stiff competition.

I understand that this is going to be an uphill battle.- Mayor Jim Watson

"I'm a realist. I understand that this is going to be an uphill battle. There are dozens if not hundreds of communities that are going to want to put a bid in," Watson told CBC News.

"I think we have a lot going for us. We're a much more affordable city, that's important. Quality of life is very high here. MoneySense Magazine has listed us two years in a row as the best city to live in. Our transit system, our talent pool, the most number of PhDs, engineers, and scientists per capita in all of Canada, in Ottawa."

One-day tour of retail giant

On his one-day Amazon tourThursday, Watson said he wants to get a sense of the magnitude of the campus and how it fits into the community, including the local transit system.

He's not going alone. He'll be joined by Michael Wooff, the consul and senior trade commissioner at the Consulate General of Canada.

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Back at home, representatives of the province, the federal government, the City of Gatineau, Ottawa's post-secondary institutionsand other industry and community leaders will soon form a task force with the hopeof securing the coveted bid.

"It would be a missed opportunity if we didn't at least try," Watson said.

"If we're not successful with this, but we come across impressing Amazon, there may be other opportunities for other parts of Amazon to be located in Ottawa."

Ottawa joins Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary in formally announcing itsdesire to host Amazon HQ2.The deadline for bids is Oct. 19.

Watson's trip to the southwestern U.S. will begin Monday inLos Angeles with localtourism officials, the city's film commissioner and members of Invest Ottawa, the city's economic development agency, to sell the capital as a filming destination.