Since October 29, 2023, weekly pro-Palestinian rallies have disrupted business in Ottawa’s ByWard Market. Meanwhile, the area remains at the centre of some of the city’s deepest struggles with drug use and homelessness. These long-standing issues worsened after the opening of supervised injection sites in 2017, and Ottawa’s housing affordability crisis only added fuel to the fire. One report showed a 54 percent increase in home prices in the two years starting in 2021.
On the front lines of these challenges is Rideau–Vanier Councillor Stéphanie Plante. Since her election, Plante has repeatedly urged residents across the city to raise concerns about homelessness and drug issues with their own councillors, arguing these are citywide problems and cannot be solved by one ward and one councillor alone.
Her fight for affordable housing hit a breaking point when the Trudeau government welcomed record numbers of newcomers. Since the pandemic, Canada has accepted more than 400,000 new immigrants per year, including 471,808 in 2023. That averages 1,512 new residents each week across the six major cities.
In September 2024, Ottawa Mission head Peter Tilley told CFRA’s Ottawa at Work that newcomers were even being directed to the Mission by officials near border entry points—contributing to severe overcrowding in shelters.
City Council responded by approving sprung structures—semi-permanent, tent-like buildings designed to be erected quickly and dismantled when no longer needed. Plante supported the idea, but suburban residents balked. A proposed location behind the Nepean Sportsplex was criticized as poorly considered, lacking nearby services and raising fears about crime and drug use. A second site at a Kanata park-and-ride faced similar opposition, though both locations had space and transit access.
Amid an online debate, Plante responded with an emoji—a move seen by some as blunt and crass. Integrity Commissioner Karen Stephens ruled it constituted harassment and recommended docking three days’ pay. Many councillors disagreed. A motion by Councillor Glen Gower to overturn the harsh penalty passed 16–8.
Plante herself pushed back strongly: “The proof was one letter… 1.2 million people in this city, and this is one letter,” she said, referencing the sole complaint submitted by a former Ottawa MPP and friend of the emoji’s recipient.
With the next election only 14 months away, it’s hard not to see political motivations at play. After all, when Councillor Clarke Kelly allegedly shouted expletives at daycare workers, the Integrity Commissioner prescribed training—not a financial penalty. Plante was offered no such option.
The debate spilt onto social media and local talk shows, with some calling for Plante’s resignation. Section 7 of the Council’s Code of Conduct requires members to treat the public with respect, but ultimately, it will be Rideau–Vanier voters who decide Plante’s future in 2026.
Ottawa faces a transit deficit, a housing shortage, and an open drug crisis that has damaged the heart of Centretown and the ByWard Market. Stephanie Plante is a hard-working councillor who deserves censure for her online conduct—but docking her pay would have been a step too far.
