Newsletter April 1, 2025

COUNCILLOR’S MESSAGE

Road-forward, forward-thinking

As I write this, I’m on the train to Toronto for the 2025 Good Roads Conference. It’s my first time to this annual event, which draws elected officials, municipal transportation staff, as well as industry leaders and experts from across the transportation and infrastructure sectors for “a three-day summit of road-forward thinking.”

Anyone who reads these newsletters knows that I spend a lot of my time thinking about roads and transportation, and infrastructure. In fact, a lot of that is tied to my Mission Statement which includes a commitment to supporting our city’s growth in way that is “forward-thinking”. So naturally I’m excited for three days of road-forward, forward-thinking.

It’ll be a sprint in Toronto, including meetings I’ve arranged outside of the conference. Here are some items I’m excited for:

Keynote speeches by David Zipper, Senior Fellow at MIT’s Mobility Institue, on the Hidden Cost of Car Bloat; as well as Wes Marshall, author of Killed by a Traffic Engineer

Panel discussions and workshops on road safety innovation, sustainable pavement management, and green infrastructure.

Meeting with Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow, who's own “City Works” initiative shares my own commitment to greater investments in municipal infrastructure.

Meeting with the Senior Program Manager of Toronto’s Green Street Program, to learn about Toronto’s adoption of permeable pavement - more on that below.

I’ll be sure to report on what came out of the Good Roads Conference in our next issue!

Transportation Master Plan Update: the future of mobility in Ottawa

Ottawa has grown into a city of one million residents. Over the next 25 years, that number is expected to grow to more than 1.4 million. With that kind of growth, we need to revisit how people, vehicles and goods move through our city.

To help manage that growth responsibly, the City of Ottawa is in currently updating our Transportation Master Plan, which lays out the planning of Ottawa’s transportation needs in 2046 and beyond. To do this, we have important decisions to make as individuals and as a city. We need to have thoughtful and meaningful discussions to ensure Ottawa becomes the most liveable mid-sized city in North America. To help get valuable input on those decisions, the city will be holding a series of public consultations, both in-person and virtual, as well as an in-person public consultation taking place in Ward 9.

On April 1, the city shared several of its proposals for the Transportation Master Plan's Capital Infrastructure Plan, including the prioritized projects for active transportation, along with news that prioritized road and transit projects will be released soon. There is also information on public engagement surveys, which close May 12. Over the coming weeks and months, City Council will deliberate on those plans, which will be finalized in July 2025. Our office will issue a more detailed list of all projects proposed for Ward 9 in our next issue.

At last week’s Public Works & Infrastructure Committee meeting, a motion had been tabled by Councillor Brown which sought to divert an additional $10 million in revenues from Automated Speed Enforcement fines and Red Light Camera fines, so that those revenues could be used to help clear some of the backlog of recommended safety improvements to warranted intersections, which is one of the four “emphasis areas” of the city’s Road Safety Action Plan. While that sounds good, in principle, investments in the Road Safety Action Plan are supposed to be balanced. Also, I had been concerned that this $10 million would end up being spent primarily on non-signalized intersections in rural wards. While the Road Safety Action Plan frequently makes reference to the need to invest in rural wards because “39% of fatal collisions occur in rural wards”, I was able to get statistics from city staff that 47% of fatal collisions occur in the suburban wards (i.e. in the combined outer urban and suburban transects). Through several discussions with traffic staff, Councillor Brown, and Public Works & Infrastructure Committee Chair Tim Tierney, I was able to help get the motion changed, so that these funds would not be diverted from the Road Safety Action Plan.

Regular readers of this newsletter will know that, in addition to addressing the need for better road safety conditions, I’m also eager to increase active transportation infrastructure in Ward 9, whether for pedestrians or cyclists. When it comes to cycling in Ward 9, we’ll be sharing a lot more detail about the status of several of our plans for increased cycling infrastructure in the next few months.

But planning for cycling infrastructure in Ontario became a lot harder last year, after the passing of Premier Ford’s ill-advised Bill 212, which sought to relieve traffic congestion not only by preventing the development of new cycling lanes, but also by removing certain cycling lanes already in existence, at a massive cost to the province. At some point, you have to admit that Ford’s plans were politically and ideologically motivated. This became evidently clear earlier this month, when the Toronto Star reported that Ford’s own government research concluded that Ford’s plan would not relieve congestion, and even worse, it may make the road even more dangerous. We’re going to keep that research in mind as we continue to advance plans for a more balanced mobility network here in Ward 9.

And introducing...permeable pavement

As mentioned above, I want to share some of my enthusiasm about permeable pavement. Basically, it’s a form of paved surface that, unlike asphalt, water easily infiltrates through. Sometimes people talk about “permeable pavers”, but in those cases, the only permeable surface is the space between pavers. Several months ago, my office met with an exciting Ottawa-based firm called PurePave, which has advanced permeable pavement far beyond pavers.

Why is this important? Well, for many reasons. Today, I’ll talk about one.

Permeable pavement re-frames how we look at pavement in terms of its impact on stormwater management.

Since asphalt is not permeable, we build massive and costly stormwater management systems underneath our roads and parking lots. That includes our catch basins, stormwater sewers, and sewer lines. It cost a lot to build, maintain, and eventually replace all of that infrastructure. Even worse, much of our current stormwater system was not designed to manage the increasing amount of water that we get from today’s storms, which is why we have such frequent stormwater flooding issues.

As we build more asphalt roads and parking lots, we increase the impermeable surface of our city. It’s the opposite of what we’re supposed to be doing, which is creating “sponge cities” to help absorb and store excess water, that eventually makes its way into our groundwater.

With permeable pavement, water infiltrates through the pavement, then is stored in a bed of aggregate, as it gradually infiltrates into the ground below. Basically, where asphalt pavement becomes a reason for needing costly stormwater infrastructure, permeable pavement becomes a part of the stormwater management system itself.

You’ll be hearing a lot more from me about this in the coming weeks and months. Many other cities are already taking steps to explore and adopt this new technology. As mentioned above, I met this week with the City of Toronto Senior Program Manager for their Green Streets, to discuss how permeable pavement and other green infrastructure has led to significant improvements in many of Toronto’s resiliency goals. And I’ll also be reaching out to elected officials and bureaucrats in New York City, who have launched ambitious projects to help address increased flood risks affecting their city.

For now, I’m going to leave you with a video from PurePave, which shows just how effective this kind of technology can be when it comes to handling large amounts of water.

Much more to come.

OCDSB Elementary Program Review: Draft 2

Over the past few weeks, my office has received many emails from parents and families concerned about the proposed changes in the OCDSB’s Elementary Program Review. We’ve also heard from parents who understand and accept the changes, which have been proposed by the OCDSB as a necessary measure to address some of the school board’s many financial and organizational challenges.

I’ve also engaged with our local OCDSB Trustee, Amanda Presley, who has been very sympathetic to the pressures that this change has put onto many families.

My team and I have attended various public meetings hosted by OCDSB senior staff, where it did seem that the school board was prepared to make changes to their original review of school boundaries. With that in mind, and after consulting with Trustee Presley, I wrote a letter to the OCDSB asking if they might consider some specific changes to their review, based on some of the more consistent responses I heard from Ward 9 families.

The OCBSD will issue a new draft of their proposed boundary review this week.

Ottawa’s New Culture Plan

Not many residents know that before I was a politician, I spent almost three decades working across many disciplines in the professional arts and culture sector. I was an actor and playwright, managed diverse arts organizations, produced dozens of shows, tours, and festivals, and spent several years being an arts funding officer. I am very familiar with the enriching effect that culture can have on cities and communities. But in most cities, we often see that “culture” exists predominantly in the urban core. The further away from the core, the less integrated culture becomes in daily life.

The City of Ottawa is embarking on an exciting journey to develop a new Municipal Culture Plan. This is the first city-wide cultural planning exercise since 2012 and aims to help the City better serve the evolving needs of Ottawa’s diverse communities. The new Culture Plan will be created collaboratively with residents and community groups. Together, we will:

Define Culture: Update the municipal definition of culture to reflect how residents understand, use, and live the word.

Set out a vision for the next five years: Establish a strategic vision and goals to guide the City in supporting residents' access to, expression of, and participation in culture.

Create an action plan: Develop a concrete, realistic, and achievable action plan to make measurable progress towards these goals.

Starting April 1, the City of Ottawa will be launching a comprehensive engagement process to ensure that residents across the city have an opportunity to shape Ottawa’s cultural future. Each councillor will have an opportunity to host an in-person Culture Roadshow engagement session, between May and July. I certainly plan to be involved in the planning of the engagement for Ward 9, and I look forward to talking to you all about culture!

CITY WORKS

New Ways to Bus Ward 9 Information Page

On April 27th, OC Transpo launches New Ways to Bus, a revised bus route network that 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.

We fully understand that many residents are legitimately frustrated with these changes.

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. 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.

Our office has prepared a New Way to Bus Ward 9 Information Page, 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.

Carleton Heights infrastructure issues

Last year I started meeting with a group of residents in Carleton Heights / Fisher Glen, to begin to address the ongoing infrastructure and stormwater management issues that have contributed to the area’s persistent vulnerability to flooding. And during deliberations for the 2025 City of Ottawa budget, I was able to secure commitments to begin assessing these areas to get a sense of the problem, and to begin identifying solutions.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve begun to hold meetings with senior staff in our Infrastructure & Water Services department. Those meetings have resulted in a comprehensive series of “next steps”, which will include further meetings between municipal staff and local residents. I’ll have more info on this plan in our next issue.

Plant Your Place tree program

On March 31, 2025 the City of Ottawa is launching Plant Your Place!, a new private land tree planting program delivered in collaboration with EnviroCentre. This new program is an early action of the Tree Planting Strategy, and supports Council’s Priority: a city that is green and resilient. Plant Your Place! will see 1,250 trees planted in 2025 through two program streams: city-wide tree distributions for residents to plant on their property and full-service tree planting on social housing properties in neighbourhoods with low canopy cover.

The city-wide tree distribution stream will distribute 1,200 trees to residents across the city. Trees will be distributed free of charge for residents to plant themselves on private property. Applications for the program will open on March 31 and trees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents are encouraged to visit the EnviroCentre website ahead of time to learn about program details, requirements, and eligibility.

The full-service stream will focus on social housing sites in neighbourhoods with low canopy cover. The program will work with social housing providers to plant up to 50 trees in these neighbourhoods. In future years of the program, the City’s tree equity analysis will be used to identify priority areas for the full-service stream.

Residential Boulevard Gardening By-Law

At last week’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting, we approved amending the rules for residential boulevard gardening to allow growing food and placing planters in the residential boulevard. The residential boulevard is located on the right of way, the City-owned portion of land that includes roadways, shoulders, sidewalks, and boulevards beside your property, governed by the Use and Care of Roads By-law. The changes to the by-law would allow more residents to undertake gardening projects, support residents’ access to food and increase plant diversity.

We certainly received a lot of emails from concerned residents asking for additional amendments and changes. Several of the additional requirements that were proposed (e.g. concerns about pesticides) will be addressed at other committees and working groups in the near future.

Adopt a Park / Adopt a Road

Looking to be more involved in your community? Consider Ottawa’s Adopt-a-Park/Adopta-Road program, a city-wide initiative that encourages individuals, families, neighbours, community groups, and businesses to take an active role in helping maintain a beautiful city. Volunteers take on park or roadway cleanup projects to improve safety and promote a healthy natural environment by keeping the City clean, green, and free of litter.

Intersection renovation: Meadowlands / Fisher

Construction is set to begin in August 2025 at the intersection of Fisher Ave and Meadowlands Drive. The work will be completed by the end of 2026. During this period, lane reductions on Fisher Avenue and Meadowlands Drive will be in effect, though one lane in each direction will remain open. Some overnight work and short-term closures may occur at the Fisher/Meadowlands intersection due to underground sewer and watermain upgrades.

A final public information session will be held before construction begins, with details to be announced. Residents in the affected area will receive notices closer to the start date. Stay tuned for further updates.

City Stream Watch

City Stream Watch is a community-based partnership which works with volunteers and conservation authority staff to monitor and report on the health of 26 urban and rural creeks in the City of Ottawa. Members of the public can volunteer to participate in a variety of events, such as:

stream surveys

stream garbage clean-ups

invasive species removals

restoration events.

No experience is necessary; all training and equipment is provided for our volunteers. Email [email protected] to start making a difference in your local environment

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

OC Transpo New Way to Bus Info Session

Starting on Sunday, April 27, bus routes across the City of Ottawa will change as part of OC Transpo's New Ways to Bus, the revised bus network that will focus on frequency, local service in your neighbourhood, and connections to key destinations.

On Friday, April 4 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm in the Richmond Room of the Nepean Sportsplex, OC Transpo is holding a New Ways to Bus Information Session for Ward 9 residents. OC Transpo staff will provide you with Ward 9 specific route changes that may affect your daily bus trips, be on hand to help you navigate the new changes and to show you how to use the Travel Planner. Councillor Devine and his staff will be hand to help ensure that residents are properly informed about these changes and how it may impact their transit.

Please note: the Richmond Room is accessible through Entrance 4 at the rear of the Nepean Sportsplex.

Pop-Up Office Hours

We're holding Pop-Up Office Hours, an opportunity for residents to have a one-on-one chat with Councillor Devine to discuss municipal issues, or to address local concerns. We'll be hosting these events every 3 - 4 weeks at different public spaces around Ward 9.

The next session will be held on Friday, April 4th from 2:30pm - 4:30pm.

UPDATE: We've got a new location. For this event we'll be in the Fisher Heights neighbourhood at Casa Bonita Coffee & Bakery, located at 780 Baseline Road, Unit 21 - 22.

Individual meetings will be kept to 20 minutes. To book a slot, please complete our booking form.

Elder Abuse Awareness & Prevention Seminar – Thank you!

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the Elder Abuse Awareness & Prevention Seminar hosted by our office. We hope you found the event informative and valuable!

For all those who were not able to attend, we will be sending out a compilation of resources and presentations relevant to the event and we appreciate your patience as we do this.

If you have any questions or additional comments, please feel free to reach out to our office at [email protected].

Muslim Harmony Trust food distribution vent

Muslim Harmony Trust is a new non-profit service organization whose mission is “to support and uplift our community, creating a future filled with love and hope.” Last week Councillor Devine was invited by this organization to volunteer for their inaugural pop-up food distribution event, which took place at Inverness Field House on Meadowlands Drive. What was immediately evident was not how much passion this organization had for their mission, but also how much need there was for food, at least in this immediate area. It’s well-known that many of the clientele that go to our emergency food cupboards are New Canadians, and Meadowlands Drive has a high concentration of these vulnerable communities. We learned that Muslim Harmony Trust not only provides free food to whoever shows up to ask for it, but they also have plans to do more of these events. All we can say is “thank you!”

PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY

Measles preparedness & response

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is tracking a new and serious threat to public health. OPH is actively monitoring and responding to an increase in measles cases, with 318 confirmed or probable cases reported in Ontario as of March 12. This is a growing problem everywhere. And it’s really important to understand that most of the cases are among unvaccinated individuals. So, if you have not been vaccinated or aren’t sure if your vaccines are up to date, check in with your primary care provider.

Vaccination is highly effective in preventing measles. OPH is working with community partners to promote vaccination and ensure immunization records are up to date. In the event of a measles case, OPH will conduct contact tracing and notify potential contacts. Measles is one of the most contagious communicable diseases and so staying on top of infections is critical to protecting public health. For more information, you can visit the dedicated page on OPH's website.

Respiratory Disease Update

With the looming threat of a measles resurgence, we will be adding the wastewater chart for measles to our updates when it becomes available. Right now, there are no recorded cases of measles in Ottawa. But, given the prevalence across the province, this could change quickly. In the meantime, it’s important to continue being vigilant about the immediate challenges.

While rates of flu are still very high in the community, the infections are finally beginning to decline. So that’s good news. But, given how much flu there is still out there, it’s important to remain cautious and protect yourself in public spaces, particularly. Rates of RSV are also very high right now, so opening windows, using filters, and putting on a mask when you are sharing air with large groups of people remains a good strategy for reducing the risk of getting or spreading infection.

Health and Wellness Hubs

If you need support in bringing your vaccinations up to date, Ottawa Public Health will be continuing with its Health and Wellness Hubs at the Emerald Plaza branch of the Public Library, throughout April. You can also get support for dental needs at the Hub. Here is the schedule for this month:

CAMSafe: Strengthen Community Safety Through Partnership with OPS

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is proud to promote CAMSafe, a new initiative designed to enhance crime prevention and assist in investigations by leveraging community security cameras. OPS is calling on interested residents with surveillance systems on their property to partner with police to help keep our neighbourhoods safe.

CAMSafe is a voluntary registry where residents and businesses can provide their contact details and indicate their willingness to share recorded security footage with police when needed. This modernized approach to community safety is a new version of Neighbourhood Watch and aims to create a valuable resource for law enforcement agencies across Ontario.

To get a better understanding of how this program works, please check out the OPS video for CAMSafe. If you’d like to register or get more information on CAMSafe, please visit ottawapolice.ca/camsafe or email [email protected].

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

2175 Prince of Wales

Residents of the area around this property will be aware that there has been some recent activity on the file. We have learned that the application is not moving quickly, and it’s not expected to come to Planning & Housing Committee for a re-zoning application until this fall, at the earliest. Our office will continue to monitor activity on the project, and we will keep you updated as we learn more.

1660 Merivale

A new application has come in for Site Plan Approval for a redevelopment of the gas station at 1660 Merivale on the southwest corner of Merivale and Viewmount. The application does not require zoning approval because the owner intends to keep the lot as a gas station but with fully updated buildings and amenities. We will keep an eye on this one, as well, and keep you informed of any updates at they come in.

COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS

Trend Arlington Pavilion art event

Local artist, Jennifer Kelly, has been commissioned by the City of Ottawa’s Public Art Program to create a public artwork for Trend Arlington’s exciting new pavillion, which is set to open this Spring/Summer. Trend-Arlington community members are invited to a special Butterfly Design Event, where they’ll be able to contribute designs for some of the butterflies that will be hanging from the pavilion’s inner roof.

WHO: Anyone who lives in Trend Village or Arlington Woods. All ages welcome!

WHAT: Participants will create paper cutouts to be translated into steel butterflies for the pavilion art installation titled “Rewilding”

WHEN: Saturday, April 12th 9:30am-11:30am

WHERE: Community Centre, 50 Bellman Drive

For information or for assistance with accessibility please email [email protected]

JA Company Sales Day

On behalf of the Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE),  JA Ottawa is excited to announce JA Company Sales Day on Saturday, April 26th, from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM at Merivale Mall. The

JA Company program teaches high school students how to organize and operate a real business. Volunteers from the local business community work with the students to launch and run a small enterprise. This gives students the real-world skills and experience that they need to fulfill their potential. Come show your support for the next generation of business leaders as they present their creative ventures. Some of these student entrepreneurs may only be accepting cash.