Rocky Rezoning: Some Unlikely Alliances Unearthed as Council Digs In Over Quarry Plan

 Ottawa City Council met today for its scheduled biweekly meeting. After the approval of reports from various city commissions and the passing of the bulk consent agenda, the rezoning of 4200 March Road was brought forward. A proposed motion would have redesignated the land from Greenspace to Rural Countryside, removing

The Municipal Government Needs to Get Back to Tackling Real Issues

 Ottawa City Council cancelled its regularly scheduled session this week. Two weeks ago, it met for a mere 30 minutes before adjourning after passing a bulk consent agenda—mostly minor by-law updates on street signs, building permits, and committee policy recommendations. When Council does hold extended meetings, discussions are often derailed

Councillor King addresses Black History Month at Council as Tariffs and Lansdowne Remain Main Issues

 Before Ottawa City Council’s Wednesday meeting formally began, Councillor Rawlson King was invited to address the chamber, speaking about Black History Month in Ottawa. King stated that the Fairness for Ottawa campaign must include fairness for all underrepresented people living in the city. “Many members of our Black community continue

Taxpayers Need Sutcliffe to take a Strong Approach Instead of “Searching for Consensus”

 At the close of 2023, there was consensus that the Ottawa City Council had achieved some level of civility as former “Watson club” members, independently minded councillors, and the progressives on Council appeared to be working together. The collegiality might appear to be a measure of success, but the persistent

Councillor Ariel Troster Triggered by the use of the Word Vagrancy at Council Meeting

 Ottawa City Council’s Tuesday, June 25 meeting began with a presentation on Hydro Ottawa’s annual report. The utilities Chair, Bernie Ash and President Byrce Conrad provided a comprehensive review of the past year, including acknowledging the challenges faced in 2023—a three-month strike, multiple extreme weather events, and a turbine failure.

City Approves Road Closures for Upcoming Festivals

 Ottawa City Council met for an extremely brief session today, May 29th. Councillor Shawn Menard proposed that Council direct city staff to consider Hydro Ottawa’s resiliency and system capacity planning objectives to determine design priority for the burial of power lines. Menard explained that Hydro Ottawa has its own list

The City of Ottawa to Increase Development Charges for New Homes

 Ottawa City Council began its monthly meeting with the adoption of committee reports, including the report that the Council approved the Irish Famine memorial in McDonald Gardens Park.  A substantial portion of the meeting was devoted to approving a new schedule of development charges and a new development charges by-law

Council Votes to Move Forward With Toboggan Hill Safety Study

 As the mercury rises, winter activities are the farthest thing from our minds, but today at Ottawa City Council, toboggan hills were the main topic of discussion. The city boasts 75 hills designated for winter activities; however, one of these locations has been off-limits for public winter use since 2017.

Economic Action Plan and City-Province Agreement Focus of Council

 The Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan was the first issue of contention at today’s meeting of Ottawa City Council. The document, which is significant in length, examines the city’s economy and focuses on where the city can target resources to improve growth by attracting tourism, small businesses, investment, and

Ottawa City Council Stuck in the Ditch

 Ottawa City Council met today for its second session of 2024. The meeting was short, with most of the debate centring around the ditch policy. In 2022, the then municipal administration updated its Ditch Alteration Policy, allowing citizens to alter drainage courses subject to city approval and enforcement by by-law

Katasa Group Donation Dominates City Council Debate 

 Ottawa City Council held its first meeting of 2024. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe briefly addressed the chamber and stated that a great deal was accomplished in 2023, including the passing of two city budgets, the hiring of a new city manager, setting the council priorities for the 2022-2026 term, creating the

Councillor David Hill Wants Action on Vehicle Theft and Fakirani Voted Head of OPSB

 During a longer-than-usual Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) meeting yesterday, the board, once again, was tasked with selecting a new chair. Since 2022, the body that governs the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has had no fewer than three appointed chairs, including former Councillor Diane Deans, former chair Councillor Eli El-Chantiry,

Council Strikes Down Gower Brownfield Land Redevelopment Motion

 Despite being the budget season and one of the busiest times of the year for city councillors, the main topic of discussion at yesterday’s meeting of Council was the Ottawa Brownfield Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan (CIP). Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, or underutilized properties within the city’s urban boundaries where past

Outgoing Hydro Ottawa Chair Casts Doubt on City Net Zero Plan

 As Mayor Mark Sutcliffe marks the anniversary of his election to office this week, one theme has emerged: short Ottawa City Council meetings, with much of the time allotted to approving reports put forward by sub-committees. However, this was not the case today. The Ottawa City Council meeting began with

A 2.5% Increase in Ottawa Property Taxes is Approved by Council

 The focal point of today’s Ottawa City Council meeting was a motion for the city’s plan to increase property taxes to no more than 2.5% under the proposed 2024 budget directions put forward by the Finance and Corporate Services Committee. However, in this second meeting since the end of summer

City Council and Mayor Support Motion to Revamp Vacant Unit Tax

 Marking the end of summer break, Ottawa City Council met for its first meeting since July 12, 2023. Despite experiencing an event-filled summer of record-breaking rainfalls, rising crime in several wards, and a month-long disruption in LRT service, to name a few, today's Council meeting dealt with mundane issues. Zoning

Council discusses coyotes and speed limits during its final 2021-2022 session

 Ottawa City Council met for its last time before the municipal election. The next term of Council will see at least 11 new councillors, including a new mayor, take their seats in chambers. The proceedings started with the mayor giving out the City Builder Award before recognizing the retirement of Danielle

Industrial Park development quashed & Councillor Kitts pushes for disaster relief

 An overview of Ottawa City Council's September 21, 2022 session. The session of Ottawa City Council opened today with a moment of silence in recognition of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Mayor Jim Watson noted that the official portrait of the monarch was taken down and will be replaced with the official portrait of

Past the expiry date—Renewal will be good for Ottawa City Council

 Nine councillors will not be returning to Ottawa City Council chambers in the fall. Eli El-Chantiry is the latest to announce that he will not run for re-election. This comes only a few days after Carol-Anne Meehan stated her decision to withdraw from the race. In all, nine councillors and

Councillor Brockington tries in vain to save Hunt Club forest

 PHOTO: Forest via Save Hunt Club Forest Today’s Ottawa City Council meeting was particularly interesting as Council finds itself in a late-term debacle with lame-duck rules possibly kicking in if fewer than 18 sitting council members do not run for the next term. With 24 seats in the chamber currently, including

Watson and Menard spar over Lansdowne during Council meeting

 Ottawa City Council began today's meeting by handing out two City Builder Awards and taking care of smaller motions but it wasn’t long before the discussion shifted to the second stage of development for Lansdowne Park. Several amendments were discussed, including the sustainability of the park expansion and the percentage of

Lottery to fund hospital expansion takes centre stage at Ottawa City Council

 ABOVE: Proposed design for the new Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (Photo: The Ottawa Hospital) May 11, 2022 Ottawa City Council met in person today. The session began by highlighting the contributions of two local citizens. Mayor Jim Watson awarded the Mayor’s City Builder Award to Dave Kalil, known locally as Ottawa’s

Not a penny more to the bloated and entitled Ottawa Police Service

 Ottawa City Council will be doing a great disservice to this city if they do not freeze the police budget this week. Before giving the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) a penny more, the council should demand an independent forensic audit of the OPS budget going back to 2017. The OPS

Budget season is almost over.

 The municipal budget has dominated the last month of Ottawa City Council committee meetings, but this chapter will be coming to a close on December 8th. There is no triumph of a balanced budget that Mayor Jim Watson was able to proclaim in years previous. This year's budget has shown that hard times

Expressing concern and making declarations is not an achievement

 Ottawa city councillor Catherine McKenney’s motion to declare a housing and homeless emergency in the national capital passed unanimously at city council on a cold night at the end of January. Typically, councillor’s changed the original motion to call it both a ‘crisis and an emergency’. According to city staff,