February 3, 2026, Newsletter

COUNCILLOR’S MESSAGE

Transit Service Reliability & Accountability Framework

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing from many residents who rely on transit — not just about inconvenience, but about something deeper: the feeling that their time, their money, and their daily lives aren’t being respected by a system that’s supposed to serve them. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ottawa transit riders are angry. And who can blame them?

In the last issue of this newsletter, I wrote about the work we’ve been doing on Route 82, which serves almost a third of the western part of Ward 9, and which we learned ranks among the worst 5 routes in all of Ottawa. While Ward 9 transit riders were glad to have their frustrations validated, and while I’m optimistic about the upcoming improvements to Route 82 that my team worked on with OC Transpo, the road to reliability is still long and uncertain.

I’ve said it many times: transit and transportation continue to be one of the most important issues that our city is facing, and it needs to be treated as such. Whether you’re a transit user or not, the viability of Ottawa’s transit system has a massive impact on how your city functions and how you navigate through it. Voters need to hold the Mayor and Council accountable, and that includes me.

That’s why, at last week’s Council meeting, I brought a Notice of Motion for a Transit Service Reliability & Accountability Framework. For those of you who don’t know the process, a Notice of Motion is a “heads up” to Council. It introduces an item that will then be debated at the next Council meeting.

The Motion that I introduced – which comes to Council on February 11th – has already got a lot of media attention. Last week’s Council meeting had barely ended when I had three microphones in front of my face, and I then did four interviews in two days. Talking about transit riders’ frustration is a resonant topic.

At its heart, the motion addresses a very simple principle: when you pay for a service, you have the right to expect that the service is delivered. If not, you have the right to hold the provider of that service accountable.

Some have said we should “focus our investments on reliability, not accountability.” I don’t see these as opposites. In fact, accountability is one of the tools that drives reliability.

Why did Domino’s Pizza become the leader in home delivery? Because they backed up their service commitment with accountability: “30 minutes or it’s free.” Did they end up giving away some free pizzas? Of course they did. Did this accountability mechanism force them to improve their service delivery? You betcha. And accountability can mean many things. Yes, it can mean financial compensation for services not rendered. It can also mean increased transparency, improved ways of reporting “progress”. And no matter what accountability mechanisms are put in place, the goal is the same. Accountability drives better performance, which in turn leads to greater system reliability. Really, it’s just good business practice.

Why did I do this? Let me take you back to last Tuesday night. I’d just come home from an OC Transpo technical briefing on the new “spalling” issue which has reduced the number of trains available for service on Line 1...after learning in the weeks prior about not having enough buses, and deliberately cancelling 255 bus trips to make up for the diminished fleet...after learning about Route 82...after being frustrated by transit since becoming Councillor.

What finally pushed me over the edge that Tuesday night was seeing video footage of transit riders walking along the snow-covered LRT tracks in the dark, after a Line 1 train suddenly stopped and stranded them, in the middle of winter.

That’s why I brought forward a motion to instill accountability into our transit system. Riders deserve to know that the City sees them, hears them, and understands the impact unreliable service has on their days — from getting to work on time to picking up kids from daycare to making medical appointments. Accountability is one way of putting riders back at the center of the conversation.

You’re likely going to hear a lot about this motion over the coming week, as it will generate a lot of public attention, and some controversy, too. I hope you’ll follow along as this conversation continues.

New Zoning By-Law

At last week’s Council meeting, the big news of the day was that we finally passed the New Zoning By-Law, bringing to an end the decision-making process on an issue that Council and City staff have worked on for several years. The hope is that the New Zoning By-Law - which sets out the defined parameters and permissions for how each parcel of land in the City of Ottawa may be used – will help guide the next several decades of smart, responsible growth for Ottawa.

In the end, I didn’t bring too many motions or changes to the Final Draft of the By-Law, since I was largely supportive of where City staff were heading with it. But I do want to highlight a few of the items that I was more involved in:

A special category for urban un-serviced areas

This was a specific protective measure that truly affects only a small portion of the ward, namely the un-serviced neighbourhoods of Merivale Gardens and The Glens. In the previous By-Law, these areas had the same R1 zoning as most other residential areas. Since these areas were un-serviced, though (i.e. not on City of Ottawa water or sewer lines), designating these unique areas in the same way as serviced land could frequently cause problems. Thanks to a lot of dedicated and knowledgeable residents in this area – none more so than Agnes Warda – these areas got their own Neighbourhood Unserviced (NU) zoning category. There are still a few wrinkles being ironed out, but area residents can be assured that their neighbourhood’s unique considerations were respected.

More “missing middle” housing

This is one of those small, technical matters that can have a big impact, and it’s something I’m proud of. Several months ago, when we were approving the Housing Action Plan, I got a motion passed that changed the Site Plan Control By-Law, increasing the threshold for builders to be required to submit a Site Plan Control application, from 10 units to 12 units. The reason I did this was because Site Plan Control applications can cost builders tens of thousands of dollars and can take several months to get approved. This was a disincentive for builders of low-rise construction, who would often end up doing a 10-unit three-storey building, instead of a more profitable three-storey, 12-unit “fourplex”, with each storey having a unit on each corner of the building.

Once we got this passed as part of the Site Control By-Law, we realized that we needed to have this also reflected in the New Zoning By-Law. In the Second Draft of the Zoning By-Law, the N3 zoning category still had a maximum cap of 10 units. We needed to get that item changed, otherwise it would render the amended Site Plan Control useless.

But here’s where we got creative, and this is the part I’m proud of.

In the Second Draft of the Zoning By-Law, there had been a provision that 15% of all Neighborhood Zoning of N3 and above had to be three-bedroom units. But on a 12-unit building, a 15% minimum would have meant 1.8 three-bedroom units. Since you can’t make 1.8 units, and the By-Law requires that you round down, this would mean only 1 unit of three-bedroom housing on a 12-unit building. This would be a shame, since we need a lot more three-bedroom units.

And so, we changed the guideline from 15% to “for every 6 units, at least 1 must be a three-bedroom unit”. While this may seem technical and boring, it can make a big difference when it comes to offering families more options when it comes to where they want to live in our city.

Permeable Pavement: A Canadian First

Here’s another bit of news that my team and I are proud of. Perhaps you may have heard me refer to what’s known as “permeable pavement” previously in this newsletter. Briefly, permeable pavement is a form of high-tech asphalt construction that allows for water to permeate effectively through the asphalt, to be absorbed naturally into the aggregate and soil below. By doing so, it puts less demand on costly sewer infrastructure.

I first started talking to City of Ottawa staff about permeable pavement back in October 2024, after meeting with Ottawa-based entrepreneur PurePave. From there, I started having multiple meetings with City of Ottawa staff in the Infrastructure & Water Services Department, trying to impress upon them the merits of this new technology, which had already been adopted in a groundbreaking experiment in New York City, which was trying to make their own streets more resilient to flooding from sewer overflow.

I even did a presentation on my plan to integrate what I’d called “the New York Strip” here in Ottawa at last year’s AMO Conference, where I drew the attention of global engineering firm WSP, who are now working with the City of Toronto to do some large-scale municipal projects using permeable pavement.

But not before we do it first!

After having secured significant research funding from the National Research Council, and after many, many meetings with City staff, PurePave will be working with the City of Ottawa on a permeable pavement pilot project as part of the Anna Avenue & Crown Crescent Integrated Renewal Project, in River Ward. Since I had brought the project to the City, they had tried to find an eligible location in Ward 9, but as we do these integrated renewal projects on a priority basis, the project in River Ward came first.

This will be the first utilization of high-tech, next-generation permeable pavement on a municipal road project in Canada.

And here’s an exciting update. After learning more about what we were doing here in Ottawa, guess who New York City will be using for their next permeable pavement expansion? None other than Ottawa’s own PurePave.

FEATURE

Keith Egli – Tenaciously Thriving

We wanted to dedicate some space in this issue of the newsletter to a Friend of Ward 9, none other than former Councillor Keith Egli. As some of you may know, Keigh has kept quite busy in his “retirement”, including teaching, serving on several Boards of Directors (more on that below), outspoken advocate on childhood sexual abuse, and most recently, as a new author.

Ottawa publishing house Broken Keys Publishing & Press recently announced that Keith Egli has joined their roster of writers, with his new book TLF (an acronym that’s explained here) soon to come out in early 2026. Congratulations, Keith!

One of the several organizations that Keith has dedicated his time to is the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Ottawa (BBBSO). More specifically, Keith has been a regular volunteer and “spokesperson” for Thrive Select Thrift.

Thrive Select Thrift is a social enterprise of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, with all proceeds directly supporting local youth mentorship programs. Beyond generating funding for mentorship, Thrive creates meaningful opportunities for youth to build confidence and employment skills through hands-on experience in the store. Through co-op placements and volunteerism youth gain practical workplace skills, exposure to retail operations, and supportive mentorship in a real-world environment. Every purchase at Thrive Select Thrift helps strengthen youth outcomes while investing back into the community.

We’re a big fan of what Thrive does, and we wanted to make sure that Ward 9 residents know about this great little shop, where you can literally change a life when you thrift shop at Thrive. Check out their latest promotion, where every Tuesday is Seniors Day, offering a 30% discount for customers 60+.

CITY WORKS

Transit Update

O-Train Line 1 Update
O-Train Line 1 service has been adjusted after inspections identified wheel bearing wear (referred to as “spalling”) on some trains that have reached higher mileage over 100,000 km, requiring those vehicles to be removed from service for repair.

As of Thursday, January 22, Line 1 continues operating using a mix of single-car and double-car trains. The Transit Operations Control Centre continues to monitor service in real time and adjust as needed. Peak-period train frequency was increased every 3-4 minutes to help reduce crowding at station platforms. Line 1 will continue to operate with trains every 10 minutes on the weekend. O-Train Lines 2 and 4 are operating normally and unaffected.

Work is ongoing to address the spalling issue. Repairs are underway, with additional vehicles expected to return to service as work is completed. Enhanced monitoring and technical analysis are also ongoing to support long-term reliability.

Bus Service Delivery Action Plan

Recently OC Transpo has committed to delivering weekly updates to Council on their Bus Service Delivery Action Plan, which includes key performance metrics used to measure progress on improving bus service in Ottawa. Here are the Bus Service Delivery Action Plan reports for the weeks of January 23 and January 30.

Temporary Traffic Calming survey

As we continue to work towards improving traffic safety across Ward 9, we're looking to get suggestions from residents across Knoxdale-Merivale for what we do with our 2026 Temporary Traffic Calming (TTC) budget. With these funds, our office recommends the installation of various traffic-calming measures, like flex-stakes, speed display boards, signage, speed humps, and many other tools. If you’re interested in making a recommendation for improved traffic safety in your neighbourhood or elsewhere in Ward 9, please respond to our 2026 Temporary Traffic Calming Survey.

Be a Hydrant Hero

We encourage you to be a hydrant hero this winter and keep your local hydrant clear of snow. Clearing snow from around a hydrant maintains access for our firefighters and helps them keep you, your family and your community safe. Firefighters need at least one metre of space around the hydrant to get to them quickly during an emergency and allow them to safely operate the hydrant. Do you know a high school student looking for their volunteer hours? They can be a Hydrant Hero for their neighbourhood. Students can also request confirmation of their community involvement hours by contacting the city. For more information, and to request your Hydrant Hero certificate, visit the City of Ottawa’s website.

The risk of radon gas

It seems that radon gas is in the news, and that’s not a good thing. Back in December, our office met with Ottawa Public Health to start discussions on radon gas awareness and mitigation. A few weeks ago, Councillor Devine then met with two local experts on radon gas mitigation to lay out a strategy for advancing awareness and mitigation here in Ottawa. And then last week, CBC News ran a feature story on The National about the prevalence of radon gas in homes across Canada.

If you weren’t already aware of the concerns of radon gas, you should. Radon — an odourless, invisible gas found at high levels in about one in five Canadian homes — is estimated to cause 3,200 lung cancer deaths each year.

The prevalence of radon gas in homes varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, as it depends on many factors, including each neighbourhood’s underlying geology. But there are certainly parts of Ward 9 that have higher risk than others.

Experts say the only way to know if your home contains a high amount of radon is to test for it. The process is simple: You can either hire a radon measurement professional or buy your own test kit. We’ll continue to work from our office on advancing some local initiatives, but it’s never a bad idea to be proactive in your own home.

Ottawa 200 grants for artists and community organizations

In case you hadn’t heard, throughout 2026 we’ll be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of Bytown. The City of Ottawa is working with Ottawa Tourism, Ottawa Bluesfest and many others to make 2026 a memorable year to celebrate together. The City of Ottawa is offering $750,000 in grants to groups and individuals looking to commemorate Ottawa’s 200th anniversary through events, activities or a piece of public art, through two new and distinct Ottawa 200 funding programs.

The Ottawa 200 Artist / Creator Fund is open to professional artists, creators and arts organizations, and will provide funding for projects that explore the people, stories, lands and legacies that define Ottawa. This program was developed in partnership with Arts Ottawa and the Ottawa Art Gallery. The deadline for applications is February 25th.

The Ottawa 200 Civic Events Funding Program will support Ottawa-based non-profit organizations with funding for family-friendly events and activities that bring Ottawa residents together to celebrate civic pride and community connection. Events need to be free to the public and take place between April and December 2026. All events should reflect Ottawa’s cultural diversity and history. The application deadline is February 27th.

Step into spring: Discover fun programs for all ages

Looking forward to warmer days? With spring on the horizon, the City of Ottawa is offering a wide range of recreation and cultural programs for all ages and interests.

Whether you enjoy sports, fitness classes, arts, cooking, swimming, science, or social activities, you’ll find something for everyone at on the city's registration site.. Browse spring activities online starting January 27. Registration opens at 9 pm on February 10 for aquatics and 9 pm on February 12 for all other programs. In‑person registration begins the following business day.

To make registration night stress‑free, create or update your account in advance, confirm family and payment details, and build a wish list of preferred activities. Tutorial videos and FAQs are also available to help you prepare.

Looking ahead, summer camp registration begins February 26, with programs viewable online starting February 3. Stay informed by subscribing to the City’s DiscoverRec newsletter.

2026 Repair Cafe Series Launch

Join the first 2026 Repair Café on February 21 at Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre. Enjoy free repairs, skill‑building, and family activities. Additional events across Ottawa will be announced soon.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Nominations for Distinguished Women Ottawa

Nominate an inspiring local leader! Distinguished Women Ottawa is accepting nominations for outstanding women making a difference in our community. Visit Ottawa Distinguished Women to submit.

Black History Month

Every February, we celebrate Black History Month and honour the contributions of African, Caribbean, and Black Canadians. The 2026 theme, “30 Years of Black History Month: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations,” recognizes the lasting impact of Black leaders whose innovation and resilience shape Canada’s past, present, and future. While celebrating achievements, we must also work toward greater health equity. Ottawa Public Health continues collaborating with communities to address systemic barriers and promote culturally appropriate services. Throughout February, we encourage residents to explore events listed on Black History Ottawa’s community calendar.

February is Black History Month at St Mark’s Anglican Church on Fisher Avenue in Ward 9, who will be celebrating this year’s events under the theme: Honouring the Past, Empowering the Present, Inspiring the Future. To view all events during the month of February, visit the events page.

Celebrate Winter Walk Month

Winter Walk Month is an event that encourages students to arrive at school by walking use fun winter travel methods on their way to school in the winter. Active transportation can help students concentrate in school, get fresh air and sun during the darker winter months, and keep the school zone safe! Enjoy the quality time you get to spend with your family as you travel to school together! Check out this poster for activity ideas to celebrate Winter Walk Month.

PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY

Respiratory Disease Update

The massive wave of flu we experienced this winter is beginning to subside. The number of cases continues to be significant, but the downward trend is continuing. Similarly, the COVID peak we experienced a couple of weeks ago is trending downward again. But it’s important to remain vigilant, particularly with more cold weather, reading week, and March break on the horizon. So, stay home when you’re sick, wear a mask to protect yourself and others, and use air filters in indoor spaces to help reduce the rate of transmission.

Neighbourhood Health & Wellness Hub

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

City to assess drive-thrus

As part of Ottawa’s newly approved Zoning Bylaw, City Council has launched a review of how and where drive‑thrus can be built. A motion introduced last Wednesday by Councillor Johnson and seconded by Councillor Devine directs staff to examine whether the current rules adequately address traffic, safety, and neighbourhood impacts—particularly around busy intersections and sensitive areas like schools.

The motion was prompted by a recent application for a drive‑thru coffee shop at 1600 Merivale Avenue, a location that sits across the street from a Merivale high school at an intersection that has raised concerns about congestion and pedestrian safety. The upcoming review will look at best practices and consider whether clearer or more restrictive standards are needed in the new zoning framework.

Staff are expected to report back later this year, giving residents an opportunity to weigh in on any proposed changes.

780 Baseline / 1350 Fisher - building naming contest

Theberge Homes, the developer of the new residential buildings at the intersection of Baseline and Fisher (e.g. 780 Baseline and 1350 Fisher) is holding a contest for the official naming of these three new towers. Our office is helping to coordinate the contest submissions, and we’ve reached out to the Fisher Heights & Area Community Association (FHACA) and confirmed their support and interest in this initiative. We’ve also spoken about it with River Ward Councillor Riley Brockington, to invite his constituents to participate as well.

To participate in the contest, use our simple contest entry form.

Here are the rules and guidelines for the competition:

The competition is open to Ward 9 residents living in Fisher Heights, Parkwood Hills, and their immediate surroundings, and to Ward 16 residents living in Carleton Heights, Courtland Park, and their immediate surroundings.
Theberge Homes reserves the right to disqualify entries from residents who do not live in the immediate vicinity of this development.
The competition is running from January 20th to February 13th.
Only one submission per resident.
All submissions must include the full name and address of the resident.
The winning submission will be selected by Theberge Homes, in consultation with our office and the community associations.
The winning submission will be announced in March 2026. The winner will be contacted directly, and then the winning submission will be published in the Ward 9 newsletter.
The winner will receive an Ottawa Senators Package (a pair of lower bowl Ottawa Senators, parking included) for an estimated cash value of $500.
The winner will forego all ownership or licensing rights to the winning name.
If the resident submissions don’t produce a viable winning submission, then the naming process will revert to Theberge Homes.

Good luck!

Hilliard Avenue Closure

In preparation for the construction of the new residential tower at 1350 Fisher Road, a construction crane will be installed on the site during the middle of February. In order to facilitate the crane installation, Hilliard Avenue will be closed between Sunnycrest Avenue and Kesler Drive from Thursday, February 12, through Saturday, February 14. Please note that these dates are a change from the original dates.