Newsletter – January 2023

Image description – Councillor Stéphanie Plante chats with the host of CTV Morning, Rosey Edeh. Both sitting on cozy stools in front of a big screen, they discuss the call to spread out city services.
Photograph courtesy of the CTV Ottawa
View the full interview here

Picture description – Councillor Stéphanie Plante smiles with Councilor Steve Moran, who represents Hull-Gatineau in front of the local italian grocery store La Bottega, standing outside and dressed warmly for the cold weather.
Photograph courtesy of the Cameron Stahlbrand

Picture description – Councillor Plante listens with care while Bryden Denyes, Supervisor of Road Conditions with the City of Ottawa explains to the team the steps to follow while dealing with snow clearing, standing in the hallway of their offices. Samuel Dent, Assistant to the Councilor, asks questions to pass on the information.
Photography courtesy of Nicholas Heisler

The Council on Aging of Ottawa – Snow Moles 2023

SNOW MOLES are volunteers who report on what it is like to walk outside on a winter day.

You are invited to ensure healthy, accessible, and safe winter walking conditions in Ottawa, by becoming a SNOW MOLE and completing a Winter Walkability and Pedestrian Safety Questionnaire. Your answers will be part of a 2023 Winter Walking in Ottawa: Snow Moles Report shared with the City of Ottawa for better understanding of the safety of winter walking in Ottawa.

Instructions for Age-Friendly Ottawa SNOW MOLES
1. When you go out for an errand or a walk, please use the Snow Mole Questionnaire to note features and conditions that are “safe” (e.g., a bench cleared of snow) as well as “unsafe” (e.g., snow piled up in intersections).

2. We encourage you to take and submit photos of both safe and unsafe features and conditions. If possible, include street signs in your photo. Send photos to snowmoles@coaottawa.ca.

3. Complete the questionnaire online www.coaottawa.ca/snowmoles or drop off/mail it to: The Council on Aging of Ottawa 217-815 St. Laurent Blvd., Ottawa, ON K1K 3A7.

Picture description – Councillor Plante smiles, sitting besides Reverend Attagutsiak and Reverend McFarland to enjoy a Sunday community meal following the eucharistic services in Inuktitut at St Margaret’s Church in Vanier last Sunday.
Photography courtesy of Alan Neff

An update on project laws 109 and 23 

As you know, municipalities in Ontario have been subjected to a number of legislative changes as a result of the Provincial government’s More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan that was released in 2019.  Bills 109 and 23 were introduced and passed by the Province in 2022.  And on November 4, 2022, the Minister of Municipal Affairs approved (with 30 modifications), the new City of Ottawa Official Plan as adopted by Council in 2021. 
 
These are changes to the planning process over which the City has no say, and the city will have to adjust its planning process to that dictated by the Province.  In the first Quarter of 2023 City Staff will be coordinating the integration of Official Plan amendments passed between adoption of the Official Plan and ministerial approval.
 
The new Official Plan as approved by the Minister can be found on the Official Plan Engage Ottawa website. To assist residents understand the changes City Staff are planning some public information sessions, which are outlined below.  
 
February 7 & 15 – Public Planning Primer
This session is open to the public and will provide an overview of the legislative and policy basis under which land-use planning decisions are made, the way policy documents are amended and how to make a development application. 
Registration will be open in the coming weeks here. 

 
March 7 – Public Open House 
This session is open to the public and will provide a high-level update on the City’s review of the impacts of Provincial Legislation and an overview of how the City is adapting as a result of these changes. Topics will include Bill 109, Bill 23, the Official Plan, and the impact on planning related matters. Registration can be done here.

Note registration for the March 7 open house is open now, and the registration for the February 7 &15 sessions will open soon.

Statement on the meeting with the Salvation Army 

This week, the Mayor and I met with the Ottawa Salvation Army Booth Centre’s Glenn van Gulik and Marc Provost to discuss their planned project in Vanier on Montreal Road. 

• • Our most vulnerable residents deserve the best of what a G7 capital can offer and throughout the pandemic we learned what housing models work and those that do not. 

• • There are projects that do work in Ottawa, that follow the Housing First model like Options Bytown and the John Howard Society – both of which the city supports through Ottawa Community Housing at locations in my ward.

• • The Salvation Army in Ottawa needs to apply the Housing First lessons learned from the successful approach to homelessness that the Salvation Army itself developed in Finland with the Y-Foundation. 

• • I encouraged the Salvation Army to share their plans and be transparent with the public. We also discussed the need for a real and meaningful consultation with Vanier residents and their community organizations to address the security concerns raised by the community, businesses and social services that neighbour the project.

• • There is a willingness in the community of Vanier to work with them on finding solutions.

I would like thank Mayor Sutcliffe and his staff who both organized and attended the meeting as well as Drew Dobson who accompanied me as a community witness.  A very special thanks to the residents of Vanier who have consistently elevated the discourse around homelessness and advocated without fail for better housing solutions for everyone.

Picture description – Councillor Plante and Councilor Marty Carr smile while attending Carrément Allumé! which took place last weekend at le Carré de la Francophonie, located on Montreal Road.
Photography courtesy of Councilor Stéphanie Plante.