Honestly, I wish we would say "tough cookies" to the suburbs and keep expensive light-rail in the inner city. A part of me would love to convert the existing O-Train to Ottawa's second (and north-south) LRT line, terminating at the airport, but another part of me would love to double-track it as-is for the purposes of commuter rail. Essentially, I have two similar versions of an "ideal" transit plan:
Option 1
"Tough cookies" for the areas outside of the Greenbelt with regards to LRT.
Use existing segregation of Transitway and O-Train to create two LRT lines initially (E-W Confederation Line, and N-S <enter name here> Line). Confederation Line would run from Blair in the East, to Bayshore in the West and Baseline just south of there. the N-S Line would run from Rideau (or Hurdman?) to the airport along the existing O-Train right of way. Expansion and addition would happen on major arteries such as Carling, Baseline, Rideau/Montreal/St. Laurent, and ultimately, an LRT under Bank Street from downtown (or Hurdman?) to Billings Bridge. This plan would keep LRT strictly within the Greenbelt and a lot of routes would be facilitated by converted transitway and O-Train.
For the suburbs, since it is overwhelmingly a commuter system, I would establish a form of commuter rail similar to the following:
http://www.mobilityottawaoutaouais.com/
Spurs would have to be created for Kanata-Stittsville and Orleans, but the trains would function in two fashions; an express train ( stopping in two stations in the suburbs before making a beeline for the last two stations I would have, which would be Hurdman and the Train Station) and a collector train that stops in various places along the way. This way, one filters/spreads out the commuters who are just trying to get downtown and predominantly live in the outer-city suburbs. For example:
Kanata-Stittsville Express: Starts in Stittsville centre with a stop or two to be determined in Kanata (Kanata North would have its own spur), and stops in Hurdman and the Train Station for transfer onto mainline LRT. Perhaps a stop at Confederation station for transfer north and from the west.
Kanata-Stittsville Collector: Starts in Stittsville centre with a stop or two to be determined in Kanata, with stops at Moodie, Greenbank, Woodroffe, Merivale, Confederation, Billings Bridge, Hurdman, Train Station.
This would be the format and foundation of rail and transit for the satellite suburbs, whereas additional lines can be made to go further as hoped for in the mOOse commuter rail plan. I would also push for an LRT "city loop" in the sense of having an LRT line as a central city bypass from Bayshore to St. Laurent, using either Baseline/Heron/Walkley/St. Laurent, or VMH/Hunt Club/Hawthorne/Russell/St. Laurent, or both.
Option 2
Similar to above, but the existing O-Train tracks are preserved. This adds more flexibility to the proposed commuter lines by allowing transit from Quebec (via Prince of Wales Bridge and rails alongside Rapibus) and more creative commuter rail routes, especially to the south past Leitrim. It also balances out travel from east and west, turning Bayview into the major west-central transfer station, with Hurdman/Train Station serving that function in the east.
Basically, I just really want to see expensive LRT reserved for the city within the Greenbelt (where it is warranted) and an efficient, appropriate, affordable form of commuter rail that connects the suburbs with the central city, ultimately meaning that only one transfer would ever be required. With the express trains, it will likely be faster than taking a car as it gets you roughly to where you need to go, without overcrowding and causing transit traffic jams, let alone car traffic jams.