When I moved to Kanata North almost 30 years ago, there was one grocery store, one community centre, five schools and one fire station. Everyone seemed to know everyone. The sense of “community” was evident everywhere. Kanata was a distinct and separate suburb with its own municipal government. A lot has changed since that time! However, what has not changed is the belief in community and the love of greenspace. It is on those two foundations that my platform is based. I see it as my job as your current City Councillor and as your future City Councillor to represent the values of the residents of Kanata North.
Here are the priorities I understand are important to Kanata North residents.
Greenspace Protection
Whether it is the Kanata Lakes Golf Course lands and greenspace, Trillium Woods, Bill Teron Park, South March Highlands, the Morgan’s Grant Hydro Corridor, our trails, ponds, parks and brooks, I will do whatever it takes to preserve what we already have as natural, open greenspace. As your City Councillor, I moved a motion, supported by all 23 City Councillors and the Mayor, that sent a clear message to ClubLink and all developers that we will not support any development of the golf course. They are in contravention of the 40% agreement. They knew when they signed the agreement that the land would have to remain a golf course and open space in perpetuity. Any attempt to disregard that legal agreement indicates a lack of integrity. Integrity is paramount for Kanata North residents. For the next four years, I will demand integrity from all developers and role model it for them.
Climate Change
One need not watch the nightly news for very long to see the dramatic weather events taking place all over the planet. Climate changes are impacting our world and we have to do what we can to change the way we live and work that negatively impacts climate. We have set laudable goals for canopy coverage as a city. We have taken steps to reduce, reuse and recycle. We have set new energy and carbon reduction targets for any new construction. We have offered rebates for residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. We have implemented new waste reduction programs getting producers to pay for the recycling and collection of their products, not cities! However, we have much more to do and less time to do it. I look to the leaders in our business and entrepreneur community who are finding ways to capture carbon and sequester it. I look to initiatives by the Ottawa Community Foundation with the Climate Action Fund to find new ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I drive and support electric vehicles while ensuring that the electrical grid can support the increase in demand for electricity. With my role on the Hydro Ottawa board, I look for additional ways to use green electricity and reduce consumption so that we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
Public Transportation
Political leaders from all levels of government have committed to Stage 3 LRT to Kanata. I will continue to push for it as the population, tech sector jobs and housing developments continue to grow. However, local buses on our neighbourhood roads have to increase as well. In addition, express buses up Carling have to be added to bring residents from all over Ottawa to the Tech Park when the Moodie Drive station is built. Most importantly though, the buses that were taken off the roads during COVID have to be reinstated where there is demand. I have already started to coordinate data collection from the Kanata North Business Association and the 500 companies in the Tech Park, the Kanata Central BIA and the Kanata North Community Associations and Transportation Committee to help collect data to enable staff at OC Transpo to add buses where the demand is. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) option that is planned to transform March Road is exciting. However, it is many years and hundreds of millions of dollars away. $780 million at last count a few years ago! So much of the planning for Kanata North has relied on a future with LRT and BRT. The continual case needs to be made for both of those things to be initiated much sooner than the 2031-2038 time frame that I have been given. It is frustrating to see infrastructure come after development. Just because we may understand that funding dictates why that has to be does not mean we have to accept it. As your City Councillor, I have held many public consultations and value the input residents and Community Association representatives make at those consultations. We will have many more over the next four years as Kanata North continues to grow. I am committed to representing your views when the applications come to Planning Committee.
Active Transportation
Your Kanata North Transportation Committee has helped me recognize where bike lanes, walking paths, trails and multi-use pathways need to be added, better marked, and made safer. The rail line behind the Brookstreet that goes all the way through West Carleton and beyond will be a community gem when it is properly planned and developed as a multi-use pathway. The Hydro Corridor trails are already a community gem, but there is so much more to come as they evolve as a public, private, people partnership (P4) in creating an eco-district. Continuing to look at missing links, where trails or pathways end and there is no connection, is a priority for the community with the frustrating loss of the pathway that helped people get from South March Highlands to and through Trillium Woods. The route has to be reinstated and I am committed to figuring out a way to get that connection back.
Housing Affordability
I have four young adults in my house who wonder how they will ever afford to be able to live on their own, paying their own rent or owning their own house. Housing prices and rent have gone far beyond many residents’ ability to pay. Kanata North has significant housing developments either in the process of being built or are about to be built. In fact, there are over 20,000 units slated to be developed in Kanata North in the next few years. If the province mandates that the urban boundary is extended further up March Road towards Carp/Dunrobin, even more houses and apartments will be built sooner than we think. Building more houses is supposed to mean more affordability. I question that. There are a number of problems with that simple equation. Some houses are being bought by out-of-town buyers who keep them empty. Some buildings downtown remain only 20% full because the developers do not want to lower rent rates. I support development but not at any cost. I support community design plans and livable communities with amenities for healthy, active living. Development just because it may bring about affordability, is not smart planning.
Police and Social Services
From my career in education and as a director on many of our city’s most important boards, I know that education, health, policing and social services are all inter-connected. All have important roles to play in ensuring the health of individuals and communities. Recently, our city experienced a number of events that none of us will easily forget. See if you see any connection.
The debate over the Police Services budget, the illegal occupation of our city/the convoy, the resignation of our Police Chief, the complete change in the Police Services Board, additional protests, the Omicron variant, the derecho, and the resulting power outage all required significant inter-connectivity. All of these things, to me, showed us all how important it is for all of us to work together, not become adversarial. The needs of a community every day or when it is in crisis are met when all service organizations work together. Each has a distinct role, with professional, specialized and highly trained staff who can help in different ways. As a member of the Police Services board, as an educator and a CHEO board member, I know that one organization is never to blame for our current challenges.
However, the long-standing reality of under-funded social services programs cannot magically be solved by taking money away from our police services. Given the events of the past many months, I admire and support our police, city and social services staff who work very hard to keep us all safe and healthy. From what I hear from Kanata North residents, they do as well.
Roads and Infrastructure
Even despite new pothole filling technology, Ottawa’s climate is hard on our roads. Since the province reassigned the cost of repairing roads to municipalities, the City’s budget has struggled to keep its roads in good shape. And, with all of the new construction in Kanata North, infrastructure changes has required roads to be dismantled, dug up, rerouted and redone. Some of these costs are paid for by developers. Some are not. As your City Councillor, I rely on residents to let me or 311 know right away where potholes need to be filled to try to reduce the damage to cars and further damage to the rest of the road. Given the long list of roads that need to be redone with the limited funds, I commit to ensuring that continual monitoring is done to ensure that the roads in the worst condition are done first.
And, where significant infrastructure needs to be replaced under the roads, that any possible “while you are at it” projects that make sense can be undertaken are done then.
The Hydro Corridor Eco-District project
Kanata North is lucky to have the Hydro Corridor that sits right in the middle of Morgan’s Grant. It is an area that is essential in connecting our community. There has been so much work done in the past by multiple groups to create a useable greenspace that also respects the natural environment. I believe that our Hydro Corridor is an area that gives Kanata North the opportunity to be a model to the rest of the city of what can be done in a Hydro Corridor. It is important to bring stakeholders together to determine as a community what we want from our shared greenspace and how it is going to thrive in serving our community as a whole.
We need to work toward defining our Hydro Corridor as a unique space that that we can plan out for the residents of Kanata North to enjoy for years to come.
Taxes
I have yet to hear one person tell me they want their property taxes increased. Kanata North residents understand that their property taxes pay for so many of the things we need and enjoy. We all get that. However, right now, everything costs more. Gas, groceries, services, furniture, appliances, rent, pet food…you name it. People cannot afford to pay more property tax. And, for those residents in Kanata North on a fixed income, all of these increases affect residents’ abilities to stay in their homes. We will have a new mayor after this election with different thoughts about tax rates, but regardless, I will do what I can to advocate that property taxes remain low.
The Kanata North Tech Park
The City’s new official plan properly designated our Kanata North Tech Park a Special Economic Zone. With that designation comes many benefits. The vision for the Tech Park is that it truly becomes a place where people live, work, play and learn. With a plan for the universities and colleges to have more fulsome campuses with residences, the live and learn component of the vision will become a reality. Nokia’s plans to create additional places to live, with shops, dining, and greenspace completing their campus, the transformation will begin. I will continue to work with the Kanata North Business Association to get their vision out into the community so that our Tech Park can continue to thrive and its importance is realized throughout the city.
Mosquito Program
At first, I was not sure about the mosquito program. I found it hard to believe that the spray was not affecting frog, bat, turtle, animal and other insect populations. I attended the presentation given by the researcher from the University of Ottawa who studied the use of different chemicals on all of those populations. The chemical used by GDG was the only one that was not found in other populations. I was reassured by that. However, I am cautious that the new species of mosquitoes we saw this year may require further study to determine if there are other ways we can deal with this nuisance while still ensuring all other healthy populations remain healthy. The contract for the mosquito program lasts until the fall of 2023. At that time, there can be another conversation to see what residents think of the program.
