Councillor's Message

“It’s like a think tank on steroids!” 

One thing I’ve noticed in my four months as councillor, based on the emails I receive and the comments I get on social media, is that a lot of people have a very specific understanding of what my job is and how I’m supposed to do it. And they like to me tell their thoughts on this.  

These comments typically sound like “Who asked you to...?!” or “No one elected you to...!” or “Just stick to what you’re supposed to do!” 

Even though we’ve only been at it for a short time, my team and I think our job description is quite simple really: to try to make our ward and our city a better place to live. For all of us. And there are so many ways that we do that, on a daily basis. Whether it’s trying to get the snow cleared off your street or getting By-Law to respond to an illegally parked vehicle, or negotiating with a developer about their building plans, or making difficult decisions about our city’s budget, or meeting with food bank directors to find out how to get them more resources, there’s many ways that we do our job.  

And sometimes what we do is start conversations that no one else is having.  

A few weeks ago, we all heard the announcement that Nordstrom was closing their retail stores across Canada. It was a huge piece of news. 

Later that evening, I put out a thread on Twitter that went mini-viral. In it, I simply put out the question of whether or not to consider using the space in the Rideau Centre soon-to-be vacated by Nordstrom for housing, instead of replacing it with a new anchor retailer. I argued that big-box retail is on the decline with the change of consumer habits, and that cities across North America are experimenting with transforming malls into housing 

Basically, I ignited an interesting discussion. Soon enough, over 44,000 people had seen the thread, and I’d done two radio interviews about it. Why? Probably because it was a conversation worth having. Was my idea perfect? Of course not! I’m not an architect.   

But my idea did address real and tangible concerns. Our city needs innovative solutions to our housing crisis, as well as the need for the economic revitalization of our downtown core.  

Like any good conversation starter, it’s the ideas that flowed from the initial spark that get truly interesting. And there were many ideas that were put forward that emanated from what I originally proposed. At one point, some commenter posted: “There are so many radical ideas here. It’s like a think tank on steroids!” 

And can’t that be seen as part of my job as City Councillor? I have a platform, plus a tendency to think outside the box (based on three decades working in the arts). I can use that platform to help support creative discussions that summon the ideas of many of our city’s brightest minds. What a great thing to do. Ottawa has an abundance of innovative, passionate, thoughtful, highly educated and extremely experienced people. Why not engage them in our goal of finding the best solutions to our common problems?  

Later in this newsletter you’ll read about how I’m using this collaborative approach in hosting group conversations about our Merivale Renewal Project, as well as a new format for one of our community engagement processes, based on a “think tank” model.  

I hope you will allow me to include this as part of my job as your City Councillor. And I hope that, when the opportunity presents itself, you will join us.  

 

Latest posts

New Ways to Bus: Ward 9 Information Page

Thanks for visiting the Ward 9 information page on OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus (NWTB). This page is designed to provide you with some essential details on how the service changes may impact transit riders in Ward 9, including route adjustments, the rationale behind the changes, and how we have advocated for our residents.

We fully understand that many residents are legitimately frustrated with these changes. Many riders see these adjustments as another cost-cutting measure from OC Transpo, as they continue to face significant financial challenges. 

OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus revised route network will focus on frequency, local service in your neighbourhood, and connections to key destinations. Through these many adjustments, OC Transpo's aim is to increase the reliability of our bus route system. Riders will see a shift in the number of downtown-focused bus routes, to routes that improve connections to community hubs and key destinations. Some customers may have to go further to the bus stop, or require additional transfers to buses or trains, or will have longer overall travel times. In addition to fewer Connexion routes, some routes will be retired due to low ridership and to improve connections to new routes and the O-Train. Retired routes will be replaced with alternative service nearby.

For now, the position that Councillor Devine and his team are taking is that we are very sympathetic to those concerns, but that we need to help residents prepare, because these changes are coming soon. New Ways to Bus comes into effect April 27th. What our office is focused on is trying to ensure that our residents are prepared for the change, and monitoring how the new system performs in its initial weeks and months.

 

New Ways to Bus website

For the most comprehensive information available, OC Transpo has created a dedicated New Ways to Bus website, complete with many useful items, including: 

  • a New Ways to Bus network map
  • information on new signage
  • a detailed list of routes that will not change, and routes that will change

 

New Ways to Bus - Travel Planner

The OC Transpo Travel Planner has now been updated to include the New Ways to Bus routes that take effect April 27th. Try it out! Enter your trip information for a trip that you might take now and then enter the same trip information for a date after April 27th and see what kind of changes there will be. 

 

New Ways to Bus - Ward 9 Bus Routes 

You can find specific information on each route in the entire New Ways to Bus network on their new website. Our office has also compiled a series of PDF route maps for all of the Ward 9 bus routes

 

Public Information Sessions 

OC Transpo has organized a series of community events for residents to meet with OC Transpo staff to ask questions about changes in the New Ways to Bus system. The event that was held on April 4th at the Nepean Sportsplex was poorly attended because OC Transpo did no provide clear information about where the event was taking place. Residents are encouraged to attend other sessions.  

 

Councillor Devine's advocacy for Ward 9

Ever since the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out well over a year ago, our office has been engaged with OC Transpo in trying to stop some of proposed changes. It wasn't altogether easy to get concessions, since Council has no authority over OC Transpo's operations. But we managed be successful in some of our attempts, though we were less successful in others. For the sake of transparency, we wanted to provide residents with a summary of our efforts over the last year. 

Routes 282/82 

  • What we won: It's shocking to believe, but in the original draft of the New Ways to Bus network, Route 82 would have seen its service frequency cut down to peak hours only. This would've been devasting to the western part of Ward 9, who are already seeing other decreases in service. After strong advocacy from our office, Route 82 will maintain full-day, seven-days-a-week service. During peak hours, it will connect to Tunney’s Pasture, offering a viable replacement for the discontinued 282 express route.
  • What we lost: Unfortunately, Route 282 was removed. While we fought to maintain express service, this decision reflects several lost express routes, due city-wide budget constraints. However, once the LRT Line 1 West extension is complete, riders will be able to take the 82 to Pinecrest Station, for a quicker ride downtown.   

Route 173 

  • What we lost: Route 173 will no longer service Manordale, becoming a local route serving Barrhaven instead. We continue to object to the questionable rational for this decision, as Barrhaven has more than enough routes serving it. We are committed to monitoring the impact of his lost service, in the hopes of restoring something.

Routes 111/112/189

  • What we won: When the first draft of the New Ways to Bus network was rolled out, we quickly noticed that the proposed changes to the 111/112 routes meant that there was no longer any bus service on Chesterton Drive, meaning that two schools, an apartment tower, and a large lower-income housing complex would see no service at all. Even worse, Chesterton Drive is on an incline! We pushed hard against this change, which resulted in Route 189 being re-directed to run along the entire length of Chesterton Drive. While this means riders will need to make an additional transfer, it would have been much worse if there was no route there at all.   

Routes 89/86

  • What we lost: Despite our advocacy, Routes 89 and 86 will see reductions and decreased frequency. We will continue to push for adjustments if transit reliability issues arise. 

There are several other changes to service routes in Ward 9, some of which will result in an increased level of service. We'll try to post more information on these changes shortly. 

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