COUNCILLOR’S MESSAGE
Ending 2025 on a high note
As we set our focus on 2026, I wanted to spend a moment on something that we accomplished late in 2025.
You’ll remember the story we told in our December 16th newsletter about restoring weekend bus service to OC Transpo Route 189, and how this change was vital to hundreds of customers who use Sadaqa Food Bank on Colonnade Road in Ward 9. Sadaqa is one of Ottawa’s five emergency food banks, and the only one that provides halal food. Since it’s only open for customers on weekends, the loss of weekend service that started in April 2025 because of OC Transpo’s New Ways to Bus was devastating to Sadaqa’s customers. When they lost weekend service for Route 189, these residents were required to take expensive taxi rides or walk 20 minutes from the nearest bus route carrying 50 pounds of food. The staff at Sadaqa Food Bank were overjoyed when we shared the news about getting weekend service back for Route 189.
On Sunday, December 21st, the day that weekend service for Route 189 was restored, my office hosted an event at Sadaqa Food Bank to share the news with their customers. We brought coffee and donuts, we volunteered to fill food baskets, and we distributed information flyers about the new bus service.
We were pleased to be joined by OC Transpo Interim General Manager Troy Charter and Director of External Relations Bart Cormier, who recognized the importance of this service restoration and were eager to join in as volunteers to help prepare food baskets.
We were also excited to see that local news covered the story. CTV News, CBC Ottawa and Le Droit came out and did interviews with Sadaqa’s Manager Salim Jam, as well as some of Sadaqa’s customers, to get a sense of the positive impact of this change to bus service.
While it’s just one service improvement, it means a great deal to those who needed it most. And my office is fully aware that we have several other issues to address when it comes to public transit challenges for Ward 9. We hope to bring some more good news on that as soon as possible.
Government must meet the needs of the people
There was a rather concerning article that was published in the Globe & Mail just before Christmas, describing the worrisome trend of fewer Canadians contributing to charities. Whereas 22% of Canadian tax-filers reported charitable donations in 2013, that number dipped to 16.8% of Canadians in 2023, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute. The Fraser Institute report summed up the impact thusly: “This decline in generosity in Canada undoubtedly limits the ability of Canadian charities to improve the quality of life in their communities and beyond.”
And when it comes to charity, Canadians are very different in our practice when compared to our American neighbours. In the U.S., philanthropy has historically been largely concentrated among the affluent, who donate at much higher rates and accounts – it's part of the visibility of social status. But in Canada, it’s the middle class that forms the backbone of the donor pool.
During a multi-year affordability crisis that disproportionately impacts middle-class and working-class residents, what happens to our charitable non-profit sector when the backbone of their donors finds themselves less able to be charitable?
Politicians – especially conservatives – will frequently celebrate the role of the philanthropic sector when it comes to meeting the needs of society’s most vulnerable. Food banks are a prime example. Typically, food banks get a very small portion of their operating needs covered by government funding. The Ottawa Food Bank, for example, gets only 2% of its budget covered by the City of Ottawa, with no funding for operations from either the provincial or federal governments.
And the Ottawa Food Bank, like many charities, will tell you that not only is the demand for their services growing rapidly; donations are decreasing. In 2023, food donations were down by 20% even as client visits surged by 22% over the previous year. Former CEO Rachel Wilson publicly called the charity’s reliance on donations “unsustainable”, adding that “this is a historic time for food banks, and not in a great way.”
If philanthropy and charitable giving no longer sustains the needs of the charitable sector, what is the role of government in such a situation? As I’ve said before in this newsletter, governments hold the greatest financial levers, whether it’s the ability to pay for programs and services through the issuance of debt, or through taxation. And as many economists will argue, there are strategic incentives for governments to take greater care of their most vulnerable residents. When vulnerable populations have greater access to food, housing, and healthcare, they are healthier and more productive, and less of a drain on costly social programs. Conversely, poverty and economic insecurity create volatility – higher crime rates, and lower consumer spending.
Yes, cities can hold out their hand for the other levels of government to fill these gaps, but cities can also take control of their own destinies, especially when investments in the outcomes described above would improve any city’s bottom-line over the long-term.
And this approach need not be seen as being overly burdensome, especially to those with means. On the contrary, this “investment-based approach” can be part of the vision for the kind of Ottawa that we can all be proud of.
My ideal for a properly functioning municipal government extends beyond meeting the needs of our most marginalized communities; it extends to every resident of Ottawa, and to every community. When a municipal government does not adequately invest in the proper functioning of the city it is beholden to, the outcome is decay or destruction. Decay can be gradual, like a pothole that gets wider and deeper week after week. Destruction can be instantaneous, like when one of Calgary’s core watermains broke last week. The City responded to 32 reports of broken watermains over the holidays. The majority of these are in the older “established” wards like ours. Of course, some of those are private watermains, but a lot of them are municipal infrastructure. Both decay and destruction are costly, and spending more today will almost always save you more tomorrow. And spending more today will mean greater quality of life now, for all.
There is no doubt that we are in challenging times: economically, politically, even in terms of our sovereignty. Difficult times certainly lay ahead, but it is during these times when the role of government is to act.
CITY WORKS
Recycling update
Recycling collection is still accurately posted on the City’s Ottawa Waste Collection Calendar, but it is now managed by the Province of Ontario. Your current schedules provided by the City of Ottawa will continue as is until the end of March 2026. You can enter any Ottawa address and print that address schedule here; it will show everything (garbage, organics, blue and black bin). If you experience any issues with your recycling collection, please contact Miller Waste at 1-888-852-2374 or [email protected]. The Circular Materials Ottawa page is also helpful to get more information/updates on recycling guidelines and contacts.
Annual Vacant Unit Tax declarations
The city portal for submitting your annual unit occupancy declaration is now open. The declaration helps ensure that the city applies the Vacant Unit Tax (VUT) only to properties that are truly vacant. You need to complete a 2025 declaration for each residential property that you own. The deadline is March 19, 2026. If you submit it late, an additional $250 fee will be charged to your property tax account.
The VUT program has been working well in the first few years, helping increase Ottawa’s available housing supply. Early numbers showed that it had returned 1,602 units to the market between 2022 and 2023. It would take $400 million in capital investment to achieve the same result through new builds.
So how do you make your declaration? The easiest and fastest way is to submit it online. It takes less than a minute.
- If you have a My Service Ottawa account: Log in any time and submit your declaration through your property tax account.
- If you do not have an account: You can sign up for one. Or you can visit the City of Ottawa VUT page and select Submit Declaration using your roll number and secure access code (found on last year’s property tax bill or notice). Notices are sent to property owners in January, with email delivery used whenever possible. If you don’t see it, please make sure to check your junk-mail folder, just in case.
If you are not able to use the online methods, you can still make your declaration by phone (Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm) or in person:
- Call 613-580-2444 and select option 3, where an agent will help complete your declaration over the phone
- Call 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service
- In-person: Visit any City Client Service Centre (check online for locations and business hours).
It’s also important to remember that properties that are left vacant for consecutive years will be charged a gradually increasing VUT rate after the first year. For each year a unit is left empty, the rate goes up one per cent per year to a maximum of five per cent.
Hydro One update
Hydro One has some planned vegetation maintenance taking place alongside Bruce Pit and the adjacent hydro corridors, as part of their ongoing maintenance work to ensure a safe and reliable power supply. This important work keeps the corridor safe for public use and gives Hydro One crews better access to their power lines. This work has already commenced and will continue through January 2026. For more details, please refer to Hydro One’s info page.
We also wanted to share a brief update about the ongoing work on the Merivale Transformer Station modernization project. Beginning in mid-January 2026, Hydro One’s contractor will be working inside one of the site’s newly constructed buildings. To meet the project schedule, there may be periods when work occurs during evenings and weekends. All activities would take place entirely within the building, and it’s not expected to be overly noisy. At peak times, they anticipate approximately 15 workers on site.
Hydro Ottawa update
On the evening of December 6th, there was a widespread power outage that affected much of Ward 9. The image below from the Hydro Ottawa outage map shows the full extent of the outage. During the outage Councillor Devine drove through much of the ward to see the extent of the outage and managed to get Ottawa Police to send a traffic unit to the intersection of Woodroffe and West Hunt Club, which was extremely dangerous without the traffic lights functioning.
As has frequently happened, there was not much detail in the cause of this outage, which affected thousands of Ward 9 residents. And, as frequently happens, the last remaining part of the ward to get service restored was in the Parkwood Hills / Fisher Heights area.
Subsequently, Councillor Devine had a meeting with representatives from Hydro Ottawa, where we got the following information:
- The outage on December 6th was caused by an infrastructure issue with a commercial customer’s transformer, and that the age and condition of the transformer played a role. This was a higher-voltage transformer that is not only owned by a commercial customer, but it’s the commercial customer’s responsibility to maintain this asset.
- While Hydro Ottawa understandably wouldn’t divulge the identity of the customer, they did say that this was a large commercial business operating “in the West Hunt Club area”. Of course, this could be any number of several dozens, if not hundreds of businesses.
- Councillor Devine asked how damage to a single transformer could cause such a widespread and far-flung outage, and what proactive measures Hydro Ottawa would take to address this, especially if it has no jurisdiction over privately-owned assets. Hydro Ottawa responded that the higher-voltage nature of the transformer contributed to the scale of the outage, and that it was looking to take proactive measures to patrol and monitor commercial infrastructure, as well as further protective measures aimed at isolating damage.
Hydro Ottawa then provided further information on the measures it has taken to improve reliability and resilience across the ward, especially in the outage-prone Fisher Heights / Parkwood Hills areas:
“Hydro Ottawa has been moving forward with several key initiatives to enhance the stability of the local power grid in Fisher Heights / Parkwood Hills. The following is an update on actions taken by Hydro Ottawa since February 2024. First off, Hydro Ottawa completed major system reconfigurations to local feeders in the area. These changes have reduced the number of customers on each feeder, ensuring fewer households are affected by outages. Second, New Fault Current Indicators (FCIs) have also been installed. These devices act like a "GPS" for repair crews, allowing them to pinpoint the exact location of a fault and improve restoration timelines. And finally, Hydro Ottawa has implemented more aggressive tree-trimming efforts throughout Fisher Heights / Parkwood Hills - historically a primary cause of outages in the area. As a result of these efforts, Hydro Ottawa is seeing improved trends in resilience and reliability for these areas.”
Hydro Ottawa provided our office with a presentation deck for a “Ward 9 Reliability Overview (2021-25)”, which we are making available to residents.
Christmas tree disposal options
O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree, how do we dispose of thee? Discover reuse and donation options for your real tree on the City's information page.
The City also offers curbside collection of Christmas trees through the Green Bin Program. Please remove all decorations and place your tree at the curb no later than 7 am on your scheduled collection day. Remember, setting out waste before collection day during winter can cause items to freeze in snowbanks, making them ineligible for pickup. Trees that are decorated, wrapped in plastic, or frozen in snowbanks will not be collected. Here’s to a sustainable and waste-free new year!
Conserving well water as conditions improve
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RCVA) has recently downgraded its Low Water Advisory from Level 3 (severe) to Level 2. While this is encouraging, groundwater is still below normal levels, and residents on private wells should continue to exercise some caution and conserve water to help the aquifers return to more normal levels.
Conditions in Ward 9 (which is in the catchment for the RVCA) are slightly different from the two neighbouring regions. The Mississippi Valley watershed has improved even further and is now at Level 1 (minor). Despite that improvement, the Authority is still recommending a 10% reduction in water use. Meanwhile, South Nation Conservation remains under a Level 3 advisory—the most severe—where residents are urged to halt all non-essential water use and seek help if wells run dry.
Unlike municipal systems, private wells are unregulated, so homeowners must monitor their own supply. If you notice changes in water pressure or quality, contact a licensed well contractor promptly.
For updates and tips on what to do during periods of lower water levels, visit the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority website and the City of Ottawa’s information page on dry and low-water wells.
Streetlights on Greenbank Road
Several months ago, residents brought to our attention the fact that several of the streetlights along Greenbank Road between West Hunt Club and Fallowfield were not functioning. These malfunctioning lights – 18 in total - had apparently been the result of rodents chewing wires along this section of roadway over the past couple of years.
Since this stretch of Greenbank runs through the Greenbelt – where there’s no other light source – it was imperative to get these lights repaired quickly. While the City certainly didn’t move fast, some progress has been made.
The most recent update we have from City staff on December 23rd is that 16 of the 18 lights have now been repaired. The maintenance provider tried to complete the work this week, but due to the snowbanks could not park their service vehicle without blocking a lane of traffic. The contractor will schedule a return visit within the next 2 – 3 weeks, supported by traffic flagging operations, to complete the repairs safely.
Temporary road closure on Hilliard Avenue
As part of the ongoing construction of the residential towers at Fisher Avenue / Baseline Road, there will be a temporary road closure for a segment of Hilliard Avenue while a crane is temporarily set up on that local road. The proposed dates for this closure are February 9th – 12th. The map below shows the segment of Hilliard Avenue that will be closed (indicated by a red, curved line), as well as the location for other related construction signage. One private residence will temporarily lose access to their driveway, and our office is in discussion with the City and the construction team to ensure that accommodations are made for the residents at this address.
Excavation in Roundhay Park
Residents in Manordale may have noticed some excavation work taking place in Roundhay Park during late December, and we wanted to provide some information about this project.
Last year, residents on Fairhill Crescent brought to our attention some backyard flooding concerns that may have been attributable either to some non-compliant residential site alterations, or to poor drainage in the park, or both. Several months ago, we started having conversations with affected residents as well as City staff to identify the cause and potential solutions for these drainage issues.
For now, the City has chosen to install a new catch basin in Roundhay Park (at a low elevation point), and connected that catch basin to a stormwater sewer on Headingly Crescent. The goal is that this will effectively drain some of the south-flowing water and diminish the impact on affected properties. In the meantime, our office will continue to investigate the possibility of non-compliant site alterations.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Public info session: Meadowlands Drive & Fisher Avenue intersection project
Starting in 2026, there will be a major construction project at the intersection of Meadowlands Drive and Fisher Avenue. On February 4th, there will be a public info session from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. Details on the location for this event will be provided when they are confirmed.
Funding for community-led greening initiatives and gardening program
The City is inviting community groups to submit project proposals under the Community-led Greening Initiatives and Gardening Program. This program allows communities to create or expand gardens and greening projects on City land. Projects may include community-led food gardens, pollinator and native plant gardens, along with other greening initiatives.
Applications will be accepted until February 3rd. Once the review of this initial intake is completed, projects that meet City approval criteria will be posted on Engage Ottawa for public consultation before final approval.
The City will host an information session to provide updated details about the program and guide applicants through the application process. The session will take place on Wednesday, January 14th from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Nepean Sportsplex in Hall A. Program resources and application information are available at through the City website.
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY
Respiratory disease update
The holiday season is now behind us, but the flu season most definitely is not! This flu season has been a doozy, with much higher rates of hospitalization than in recent years. With infections dramatically spiking over the holidays, it remains important to protect you and your loved one from the illness. This year’s strain of flu is particularly devastating, so any protection you can get against it is worthwhile. And you best line of defense? Getting your flu shot. And it’s easy. You can book an appointment at your local pharmacy.
Neighbourhood Health and Wellness Hubs
Ottawa Public Health is once again offering services at the Emerald Plaza Health and Wellness Hub. Dental Services will be provided on January 21, and vaccination services will be available in the afternoons, every Monday and Tuesday. Keep in mind, these services are provided for members of the community who are high risk and face barriers to service in the community. If you have any questions about the services available, you can visit the Neighbourhood Health and Wellness page at Ottawa Public Health.
