Hydro Ottawa: adapting to change

Out of Service: Ottawa’s Transit Problem

The news this week wasn’t good. Thousands of bus trips cancelled again in February. LRT down to one train for the foreseeable future. When it comes to Ottawa’s public transit, it seems there’s never good news.

Even the announcement of progress on the LRT East project was met with cynicism, given that the trains that Line 1 uses continue to have “spalling” issues with the wheel assembly.

When will it end? And what am I – one of the members of OC Transpo’s governance body – going to do about it?

Since 2022, I’ve been wrestling with myself over a feeling of powerlessness about OC Transpo, in conflict with my ability as a decision maker to affect change.

I have residents who are suffering immeasurably from a lack of service. Algonquin College students have the biggest uptake of the U-pass of all of Ottawa’s post-secondary institutions, but they can’t get to and from classes reliably. Bells Corners’ routes were cut during the pandemic, and the subsequent elimination of the 200 series through the New Ways to Bus changes have completely isolated that community from transit.

Working to save Algonquin College programs

Algonquin College has been hard hit financially on two fronts: an 11 year tuition freeze and a sharp reduction in the number of foreign student visas. Both of these factors have made Algonquin's finances untenable, and the college's response has been to cut some of their most successful programs:

List of Recommended Suspended Programs by School

Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE) 

Sustainable Architectural Design  

Horticultural Industries  

Horticulture Techniques – Apprenticeship  

Pembroke Campus (Pemb) 

Business (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online) 

Business Fundamentals (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online) 

Computer Programming (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus and AC Online) 

Environmental Management and Assessment (Program still offered at the Ottawa Campus) 

School of Advanced Technology (SAT) 
Manufacturing Engineering Technician  

Faculty of Arts and Media Design (FAMD) 
Pathways to Indigenous Empowerment (New Indigenous Studies programs offered)  

Applied Museum Studies 

Design Foundations 

General Arts and Science – Aboriginal (New Indigenous Studies programs offered) 

Journalism 

Music, Media and Film Foundations  

General Arts and Science (except English for Academic Purposes)  

Music Industry Arts  

Illustration and Concept Art 

School of Business and Hospitality (SOBH) 

Bachelor of Culinary Arts & Food Science (Honours) 

Bartending  

Business Development and Sales  

Hospitality – Hotel and Restaurant Operations Management  

Tourism – Travel  

Law Clerk  

Event Management  

Financial Services  

Paralegal  

School of Health Studies (SOHS) 

Pre-Health Pathway to Certificates and Diplomas  

Pre-Health Pathway to Advanced Diplomas and Degrees (Program still offered at our Pembroke Campus)  

School of Wellness, Public Safety & Community Studies (SWPSCS) 

Recreation and Leisure Services  

Fitness and Health Promotion (Program still offered through AC Online) 

Whitmore, Cline, Sherman Infrastructure Renewal a Q&A

Whitmore/Cline/Sherman Infrastructure Renewal: a Q&A

Much of Nepean’s infrastructure, including roads, sewer pipes, and drinking water lines, was built in the 1950s and 60s. As it gets older, the City routinely checks the condition of the sewer and water pipes and makes plans to replace them.

When that work is planned, the City also redesigns the road itself, since it has to be ripped up anyway. City policy is that, wherever possible, the new road must be built to a slower speed limit (30 km/h for residential neighbourhoods), with sidewalks.

Recently, I’ve received several questions from residents along Whitmore, Cline, and Sherman about these policies and the upcoming infrastructure renewal project. I thought it might be helpful to offer a Q&A to help set the facts straight: