Since being sworn in November 15 2022, I have had an absolute whirlwind of a year. Before I go into further detail, I want to thank the Ward 12 superheros: Alan, Nick, Carina, Cameron, Jim and Sara Anne. Many of you have chatted with them over email, phone and in-person. They really do care about Rideau-Vanier and I am grateful to them for their ideas, energy and dedication to their work – in both official languages of course!
It has been a year of presenting creative solutions at city hall, while having many difficult conversations, along with some fun in the Ward too!
I attended hundreds of meetings this year (committee, council, and in my community and around the city), my staff and I took thousands of calls, and received eleventy million emails. I try to answer every email, but I’m not perfect, so if I missed replying to you, please send your email again.
During my first year I have dealt with people calling my office regularly in crisis, in need of housing, and time-sensitive requests. Often, as many of the concerns brought to me are outside the responsibility of the municipal government, the only thing I was able to offer was a listening ear. However, many times, my staff and I were able to connect people with the resources that they so badly needed.
Having these conversations with residents has just emphasized that times are especially tough right now.Our system is overstretched. The waiting lists for affordable housing are too long. There are gaps in services, as well as unnecessary duplications. My campaign commitment of working towards solutions to our many overlapping crises remains the same. I know many of you feel that what has been done in the past is not working and we are now at a tipping point.
One of my main priorities this year was to start honestly and openly talking about the opioid and homelessness crises. The overconcentration of social services in the downtown core is not helping the people who use those services. It is also creating a hostile environment for people that live nearby. Families, often low-income families are losing amenities and programming at arenas and daycares. I think I have been successful this year in starting the conversation about the need to balance community safety and well-being. I speak to those with lived and living experience every day and they agree too.
I was very pleased with the way my fellow councillors and I worked together respectfully and effectively this year. I was especially excited to work with Councillors King and Troster on our joint Transit Town Hall in the spring, a conversation which will keep going as we do the Route Review in 2024. Of course, each ward has its specific needs, however, especially when it comes to transit, it made sense to work together instead of in a silo. I look forward to continue working together with my colleagues in 2024.
I am very proud of achieving two School Streets this year (read more about School Streets below). I am committed to safety around schools and prioritizing active transportation. Our two School Streets were a perfect combination of these priorities. If you have not already, check out our traffic calming map which we crowd-sourced via a public consultation and my newsletter.
I say this often, but I really do have the best residents. Thank you to all of you for being engaged, for caring so deeply, and for making my job fun. I am proud to call many of you my friends and am so lucky to have you working alongside me. Here’s to an even better year in 2024! Please enjoy this recap of my first year in office. It makes me dizzy just reading it! We really did a lot.
My office organized several events and public meetings this year. To all those who attended or volunteered, thank you! We couldn’t have done it without you. We intend to make these yearly events, so keep an eye out if you would like to be involved in 2024! They will be even bigger and better than last year. It was a big learning curve doing all these events for the first time, so thank you for your support.
February – Drag Bingo Fundraiser for St. Brigids
We hosted a family-friendly Drag Bingo event at Brigid’s Well Pub to raise funds for St. Brigid’s Church who incurred significant legal and repair fees following the February 2021 convoy occupation. This event raised $1200 for this historical location and keep your eyes peeled for our second one February 11, 2024.
March – Vanier 5K
On a very chilly day in March, we held the Vanier 5K, which brought 95 runners, including the Mayor, from around the city to race through our beautiful neighborhood, starting and ending at the Vanier Sugar Shack. We raised $1,916.49 for Museoparc.
May – Bus Route Town Hall
We held two public meetings during OC Transpo’s Route Review. OC Transpo staff joined us for a discussion with residents about the unique transit needs of Vanier and Ward 12, and we held a joint town hall online with Wards 13 and 14. You can watch the YouTube video here.
At both town halls, we presented the data that we collected in our very own survey about transit needs developed by the staff of our three ward offices (12, 13, and 14). It was very important to our three offices to ask the questions that we knew would be relevant to our residents.
June – School Street
My office organized two “School Streets” this year. A School Street is a road closure at schools during the morning drop off or afternoon pickup. The first School Street that we organized was at Trille-des-bois Elementary School in Vanier. We closed the street one morning during the last week of school in June. We animated the street with chalk and bubbles and the kids absolutely loved having full run of the street. Many parents told us that it changed a normally very stressful morning chore into something fun.
We held another School Street in October on the morning of Halloween and it was great to see everyone dressed up and enjoying a morning together. Many neighbours around Alice, Dagmar, and Vachon came out to join us too!
June – Let’s Bike Month
My office and some Rideau-Vanier residents also participated in the Let’s Bike Month challenge. Between 7 of us, we biked over 2260 km! While we didn’t win the challenge, we hope to sign up more participants for 2024 and promote the benefits of physical activity while reducing our carbon footprint.
August – Flag Raising for Ukraine
Alongside Louis Sabourin, councillor for Limbour in Gatineau, and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress- Ottawa branch, we organized a flag raising for Ukraine’s national holiday on August 25. Over 30 embassies in Ottawa flew the Ukrainian flag, as well as city hall and many municipal buildings around Ottawa and Gatineau. Oddly, the Russian embassy did not answer our email when we offered to drop off a flag for them… 😉
September – Food Truck Festival
Sandy Hill’s first ever Food Truck Festival coincided with the neighbourhood yard sale organized by ASH! It was a small start for our first time organizing this event, but we learned a lot and next year will be bigger and better!
September – Tiny Forest at York St. Public School
My office facilitated planting a Tiny Forest at York St. Public School in Lowertown in partnership with EnviroCentre and some very engaged residents. We want to plant more Tiny Forests in Ward 12 – if you can think of anywhere where we should put one, let us know!
October – Panda Game
Every year the University vs Carleton football game, known as the Panda Game, and after party are a big deal for Sandy Hill. It is a day of fun and partying for students and can be a source of anxiety for residents because sometimes the after party can get out of hand. Residents have been advocating for more programming for the after party to encourage students to party in a contained location, instead of congregating in the streets or at big house parties.
This year, the game was held on a Sunday, and the University of Ottawa hosted an after party on campus. My office was instrumental in amplifying the voices of residents and advocating for this outcome. We heard from many residents that this year that the Panda Game went much better than in previous years, and that they were happy with the changes. My office also participated in the community clean up on Monday morning.
October – Halloween in the ByWard Market
The weekend before Halloween, my office brought over 250 children and parents from Ottawa Community Housing communities from across the ward to the ByWard Market on an OC Transpo Charter to trick or treat at small businesses and restaurants in the Byward. It was a huge success, including appearances of miniature horses from Cundell Stables, a big trucks display thanks to Public Works fleet, games, face-painting, and of course, candy provided by the ByWard Market District Authority and many of the generous and enthusiastic businesses.
Many of the kids and families that we brought into the market are newcomers to Canada. Many had never been to the ByWard Market before, and some had not celebrated Halloween before. One little girl from Syria asked me “Is this day for me?” and I said, “Yes!” It was an absolute joy to organize a special day for low-income and newcomer families.
November – Snow Clearing and Traffic Calming Consultations
In November I held public consultations on snow removal and traffic calming.
At the Traffic Calming open house, we asked people to put sticky notes on a map of the ward showing where they wanted to see traffic calming. The information from the meeting was posted on my website and residents were able to make additional suggestions. Although many of the suggestions fall outside of what the city considers traffic calming – for example lowering the speed limits on streets – I am following up with relevant city staff on those suggestions as well. We will use these suggestions when we decide how to spend our budget allocated to traffic calming in 2024.
Tragically, on this same night a woman was hit by a car and killed on Montreal Road, just blocks away from where we were holding the meeting.
City staff have now made changes to that intersection and all the intersections on Montreal Road, to allow for more frequent and additional pedestrian crossing time, as part of reviewing the intersections with the completion of the road reconstruction.
At the Snow Clearing meeting, city staff gave a presentation on the City’s snow clearing standards and heard residents’ concerns and questions about the upcoming winter maintenance. More information on our Winter Standards can be found here.
We plan on holding another public meeting on the municipal role in the opioid crisis and the spillover effect on neighbourhoods to be held in Lowertown in the New Year.
December – Hip Hop Food Drive
Food bank usage has increased 69% since 2021 in the City of Ottawa. On December 21, the Rainbow Bistro in the Byward Market was host to the Hip Hop Food Drive to raise much needed funds for local food banks. I am too old to know what is cool or relevant in hip hop these days, so big thanks to hip hop star, and Vanier BIA employee Justin Gunderson aka. J. Morris who brought together local artists such as the Cap City Cyphers, Hevve, Miss McLeod. Food insecurity affects us all and I was proud to host this wonderful event and support local artists in at the same time.
Ward Hours
I held Ward Hours this year at the Richelieu Vanier Community Centre. It was a great way to meet with people who may not have felt comfortable asking for a formal meeting, or who just wanted to drop in to chat. I will be having them at different locations throughout the ward in 2024 so if you have any suggestions for cafés, restaurants, or places that will host me for about 2 hours on a Friday afternoon let me know! I’m always looking for hidden gems in our ward and I will be publishing the list of locations where you can find me throughout 2024 soon.
Budget 2023 and 2024
During my term council has now voted on two budgets, which I supported as they balanced addressing essential needs with my election commitment to keep taxes and services affordable.
The 2024 Budget included these specific items for Ward 12:
| $6,294,426 | Federal Rapid Housing Initiative funding and municipal capital for a 12 unitaffordable housing project at 254-256 St Denis St with Gignul Non-profit Housing. |
| $650,000 | Funding to enhance access to services provided by community agencies in priority neighbourhoods, including the Byward Market, Lowertown and Centretown. |
| $9,612,700 | Renewal to Porters Island Bridge on Island Lodge Road, St Patrick Street Bridge over Rideau River and Mackenzie King Bridge over NAC Garage |
| $181,000 | Renewal work at Centre D’Accueil Champlain, including realignment of sanitary drains and piping and washroom remediation |
| $54,000 | Renewal work at Garry J. Armstrong Long Term Care Centre, including repairing vinyl flooring and replacement of carpet at nurses stations and reception |
| $409,000 | Replacement of foundation walls at Gamman House |
| $1,627,000 | Replacement of parking lot asphalt at Sandy Hill Arena |
| $500,000.00 | 70 Clarence Parking Redevelopment |
| $423,311 | Lafontaine Ave. & McArthur Ave – intersection modification for pedestrian safety improvements (additional construction funding) |
| $2,300,000.00 | Bingham Park Improvements |
| $50,000.00 | Carillon Park Improvements |
| $5,000,000.00 | Genest outdoor pool redevelopment |
| $289,280.00 | Strathcona Park Gazebo |
| $80,000.00 | Sandy Hill Community Centre-Renovation/Expansion Assessment |
| $160,000.00 | Dutchie’s Hole Park – Seasonal Dock Addition |
| $150,000.00 | Lajoie Street Schools Feasibility Study for potential Community Facility |
| $75,000 | Temporary Traffic Calming measure implementation |
Budget Consultations
I held two budget consultations in November on the draft budget on Nov 21 and Nov 27. and I also did a consultation at Chartwells Assisted Living on St. Patrick and the University of Ottawa. City staff have told me we had the most well-attended budget consultations showing the high level of reident engagement in civic life in Ward 12.
In addition to providing several opportunities for residents to comment on the draft budget, it was especially important to me to reach out to children during the budget consultation process. I wanted to explain to them how municipal government works and ask them what they want to see in our city. Some of their requests were very funny (e.g. wanting the ice cream man to drive all year, not just in the summer) and some were very serious (telling me their experience of living in motels and relying on food banks).
School Budget Consultations (2023 and 2024)
We will be publishing our findings of our ‘Kids Budget’ in 2024. This is the first-time children will have been heard at the municipal level and I am very proud of my team for organizing these consultations, to the teachers who welcomed me into their classrooms and of course to the kids who were very curious and often brutally honest.
The following motions were proposed by me and passed this year either at Committee or Council. These are just the highlights, the ones that I am most proud of!
COP15 Biodiversity pledge: Myself and Councillor Marty Carr of Alta Vista were the only representatives from the City of Ottawa to attend the COP15 Conference in Montréal. We subsequently co-sponsored a motion at city hall for the Montréal pledge which the was passed at council in March 2023.
Public Disclosure of Non-competitive Contracts: that City Council direct staff to bring forward in Q2 2024 options for the public disclosure of non-competitive contracts valued at $25,000 or less, which are awarded in accordance with the Procurement By-law (By-law No. 2000-50, as amended), including the supplier name, contract amount, description, contract date, and department name.
Emergency Shelter Task force Ottawa has seen an influx of refugees which has meant our shelters have been operating at max capacity, often with clients sleeping on chairs. While I was happy to be name to the taskforce by the Mayor, I want the city to invest in permanent housing solutions and I was pleased to see the federal government downloading some buildings for repurposing. Given the length of time it will take to convert them I am looking forward to working on an acquisition strategy with city staff in 2024. We need permanent housing investments not shelters.
In December of 2022 I passed a motion that Brownfield applications for the Montreal Road Community Improvement Programme (CIP) not be paused during the staff review of the CIP, allowing the Main and Main housing project at Montreal Road and North River Road to
In November of this year, a motion to ensure that the Brownfield applications that were awaiting Council approval prior to the programme being paused for the staff review to now be sent to Council for approval, which should allow the housing projects on Baribeau St in Vanier and 70 Nicholas St. in Sandy Hill to proceed. In all this could lead to 4,176 of additional housing units in the city being built.
The wording of the proposed Transportation Master Plan Policy document be amended to add the following: “As part of any future interprovincial crossing studies, the City will work with the NCC to ensure the analysis of crossing demand considers different options for routing trucks through the downtown”.
Franco-Ontarian flag in Carré de la Francophonie Vanier: That Council declare that the flagpole at the Carré de la Francophonie de Vanier be recognized as “the very first official flagpole to exclusively and permanently fly the Franco-Ontarian flag on Montreal Road in the heart of Vanier”.
Children and Youth Implications: …that City Council direct staff to bring forward for Council’s consideration as part of the 2022-2026 Mid-term Governance Review process a proposal for a Children and Youth Implications section to be included in the standard Council and Committee report template.
Councillor Statements: that City Council direct the City Clerk to undertake a jurisdictional scan on the practice of Councillor Statements, consult with Members of Council and report back on findings and any associated recommendations as part of the 2022-2026 Mid-term Governance Review process.
Motion on territorial equity: Unsurprisingly, the city does not have an official policy about spreading out social services and the result has meant that people from Carp to Cumberland had to come downtown to get services for all kinds of setbacks – often exacerbating their mental health and taking them far away from their support systems and families. We have a long way to go but I am thankful the downtown will no longer be the default.
In Ward 12, we are all about celebrating the little things. It is becoming a classic Ward 12 experience to hold a ribbon cutting at a new bus stop or garbage can. Here are some of the small, but meaningful, and concrete, achievements we made this year.
Thank you for reading! Please reach out anytime you have questions or wish to connect with my office.
As we begin 2024, I wanted to take a quick look at things that we need to improve on (goals) for this year.
Transit for high school students: I have had many meetings with parents who are trying to find solutions to the many bus routes and transfers required for their kids get to high schools outside of Ward 12. It’s a struggle but we are working with staff and I will be making recommendations for the Route Review. Stay tuned for a public meeting about this and about the transit route changes coming to Ward 12 in the New Year.
Good neighbour bylaw: In the 2020 Land Tribunal decision, the City of Ottawa said they would put forward a ‘Good Neighbour Policy’ for their shelters (paragraph 396). The City has a mention of a Good Neighbour Policy in their Shelter Standards (paragraph 13.7) but it’s not comprehensive and it does not address consumption sites, safe supply pharmacies, day programming and other social services. AND? And I have been working with staff and other interested Councillors in developing a Good Neighbour Policy to be implemented by the City.
Tree Canopy: I am proposing the city plant 200 Trees leading up to the 200th anniversary of the Byward Market in 2026 in the ward as well as make important changes to our Commemorative Tree Program so the city can be more inclusive of other milestones such as births or marriages, or significant wedding anniversaries and so forth to encourage the planting of tiny forests. Stay tuned for more information about this!
Veterinary Outreach: We know from the pandemic how important our animal companions are, especially for people who live alone. After a very successful free vet clinic in November in partnership with Animal Community Outreach, we will be looking for a semi-permanent space to hold their clinics throughout the year. We will announce the new dates and locations soon so if you are not already subscribed to my social media you can do so here for Facebook, here for Twitter/ X and here for Instagram and it will be in my newsletter as well.
Family Doctor recruitment: While I was able to advertise clinics taking new patients via my newsletter throughout the year, I really want to tackle this issue more in 2024. I am also super proud of the efforts our Member of Provincial Parliament, Lucille Collard and our Member of Parliament Mona Fortier have been also hyper-aware of this issue.
This post is also available in French.
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