News

Motion to improve road safety

Today, the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved my motion to improve road safety across Ottawa. Here's my motion:

WHEREAS speeding continues to be one of the most significant road‑safety concerns raised by residents across the City of Ottawa, particularly in residential neighbourhoods and school zones where vulnerable road users, including children, are at heightened risk; and

WHEREAS recent City data has shown a substantial increase in speeding in school zones, with compliance dropping from 87 percent to 41 percent within a 12‑week period following the removal of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) cameras, and high‑end speeding increasing from 0.3 percent to over 4 percent during the same period; and

Whereas speed data is an important input in understanding risk related to more serious collisions; and

WHEREAS the city’s current approach to collecting speed data is limited and does not provide a full picture of speeds across the roadway network, and

WHEREAS other jurisdictions across Canada and internationally are increasingly incorporating innovative, technology‑enabled, and data‑driven approaches—including, predictive analytics, and AI‑supported monitoring systems—to inform their road safety programs; and

WHEREAS the City of Ottawa is currently undertaking work to update the Road Safety Action Plan, which will guide the road safety priorities for the next term of Council; and

WHEREAS this work presents an opportunity to modernize and strengthen the inputs used to make informed data-driven decisions about road safety;

THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT staff, through the update to the City’s Road Safety Action Plan, leverage advanced data analytics, predictive modelling, and AI‑supported technologies, where appropriate, to enhance the City’s ability to identify, monitor, and respond to speeding trends and inform road safety priorities

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff consider speed management as a focus area when developing the Road Safety Action Plan that will be presented to Council in 2027. 

Progress Report: Year Three

Read the Year Three Progress Report

Dear Neighbours,

I am pleased to provide you with the College Ward Annual
Progress Report, showing the work that we did in 2025. I work hard every day to represent you on the
issues that are important to our neighbourhoods.

I hope this Progress Report is informative of the projects we
took on last year, and that it demonstrates my continuing
transparency and accountability to you. There is still more
always to do, and I list some future areas of interest.

Warm regards,
Laine

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) 

Hydro Ottawa: adapting to change

Hydro Ottawa: After the derecho, adapting to change. A report for College Ward 8

A year before I was elected, the derecho changed everything. Thousands of trees downed, telephone poles and wires destroyed, and days without electricity for many residents. And then, after I was elected, we had an ice storm that again took down branches and took out hydro.

For a while, it seemed like we couldn't go a month without brown-outs and black-outs. And I raised questions to Ottawa Hydro. Why hasn't tree trimming been done? Why isn't the Bells Corners Substation complete and online? What can we do to make our electricity supply more reliable?

Hydro Ottawa answered. The Bells Corners substation was completed and is now online, helping with reliability for thousands of homes. Tree trimming has become a regular activity. And the number of blackouts in College Ward has been sharply reduced. Hydro Ottawa recently provided me with a slide deck to show what's changed. I hope you'll take a look.

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:

Understanding Ottawa’s Planning and Zoning Framework

As the City moves toward adopting a new Zoning By-law in early 2026, alongside two ongoing secondary plans in College Ward for 2026-27, and several infill and larger developments always ongoing, I often hear from residents with concerns about density, parks, parking, school capacity, shadows, transportation, property standards, and property values. Many residents also share they are excited by the new opportunities and growth these changes could bring. 

Given how much has changed in recent years, I wanted to take a moment to walk through the evolving planning landscape — both locally and provincially — and explain how these changes shape development in Ottawa. 

Why my background in affordable housing makes me a better College Ward Councillor

At a recent community event, it was suggested that my background in affordable housing presented a “conflict of interest” with my role as your City Councillor. Since a conflict of interest is defined by the Municipal Act as a financial interest in a particular matter – that is, that I will personally benefit from decision-making on housing issues – this doesn’t quite add up.

I think the suggestion was that as someone who cares about the skyrocketing number of people who are forced to choose between housing costs and savings, or food, or other financial priorities, I’m compromised in my ability to advocate for current residents. I can only respond that I think people who need affordable housing are personal support workers, hairstylists, students, seniors and others who live in our communities today. I think it’s our kids and our grandparents.

I don’t agree that representing their interests, as well as the interests of those fortunate enough to be doing better, is in any way a conflict of interest. It’s hard, but that’s the job.

As disappointed as I was in the comment, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on my background and the values I bring to my work as your Councillor. I ran openly on my background in affordable housing as an asset to the role, and I think it might be useful to share how I believe my background makes me – and will continue to help me – be a better City Councillor.

Defending our mature neighbourhoods

City councillors this week debated a plan to give developers a break from having to pay for community improvements alongside the housing they build.

I introduced motions for a more measured approach: one that better shares the costs of keeping up with intensification between developers and taxpayers; and to hold a carefully planned review of whether giving a break to developers actually meets our housing goals, and to make sure the impacts are fair across the city.

I am pleased to say that my colleagues unanimously supported my approach.

No doubt about it: new homebuilding in the city has slowed. Ottawa developers argue that by giving them a pass on the 4 per cent of land value they put towards local community projects, we will see more shovels in the ground faster.

That might be true, or it might not. But we need to consider the implications of foregone benefits charges and what will happen if those aren’t forthcoming. I’d argue that giving developers a break from investing in community benefits will impact some communities more than others.

In neighbourhoods like College Ward, there are a lot of modest homes built in the 1960s on large, well-treed lots. The streets are wide without sidewalks or streetlighting. Density – the number of homes per hectare – is low.

These are homes that were built for young, growing families who have largely now grown up and left, with streets designed from another time. As empty-nesters move on, their neighbourhoods are in transition. Our older suburbs inside the Greenbelt are prime for development and new residents expect modern infrastructure and services.

I like to call our neighbourhood and the ones like it – inside the Greenbelt but not downtown – the “Delta” communities because they are going to see the most change in the coming years. Although communities across the city will change, wards like College, and parts of Gloucester, Riverside, Nepean, and others, will change the most dramatically. In time, albeit over several decades, these neighbourhoods will look very different from how they were planned. It is an anxious time for many families in established communities.

We need infill, and these neighbourhoods can handle the increased density. But more people create more pressure on community services and spaces. We need to build new recreation facilities and upgrade the ones we have. We need pedestrian crosswalks, sidewalks, and street lighting to make our roads safer for the influx of kids. Newer suburban neighbourhoods have been built with a higher standard, while the pipes and other infrastructure in downtown are so old, the city has no choice but to replace them and upgrade the roads and sidewalks at the same time.

Neighbourhoods like City View and Lynwood, for example, have no sidewalks, no streetlights, are designed with wide roads for fast speeds, and have few parks or no parks! But when we welcome such a dramatic change in our neighbourhoods, from 4 storeys to 32 storeys, would you not agree that services must improve to match the new population?

The question before us this week was: who should pay to ensure services keep up with growth in established neighbourhoods? Should it be the residents of new homes to whom developers pass municipal charges? Or should it be you and me, the existing taxpayers?

We need more housing, but we also need to balance the increased density with quality of life for both the existing residents and the incoming ones. Benefits charges are a fair and reasonable approach to doing that. Providing developers with a holiday will put the burden on everyone’s tax bill.

There isn’t enough analysis of the recommendation being put to Council to convince me and others that axing benefits charges will actually result in more homes being built. Or how much the average taxpayer will need to pay to upgrade the needed facilities in those existing neighbourhoods. My concern is that by stripping developers of the obligation to invest in community improvements, we pit the Official Plan’s vision of the ‘most livable midsized city in North America’ against the Task Force’s vision of making ‘Ottawa the most housing-friendly city in Canada’. We need both.

See the CBC article

October 2025 Newsletter

 

Dear Neighbour,

There’s lots going on at City Hall this month, including our annual public budget info session (Oct 15 – see details below); the ongoing Zoning Bylaw review, and more.

But I want to talk about something else.

Our office, and some of my colleagues’ offices, have noticed that when residents call or email, there are signs that people are generally more stressed than usual. And given what’s going on in the world around us, none of us are surprised. I feel it in my life and family too.

Tariffs, layoffs, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle-East, Sudan, and whatever is happening with our neighbours to the south…it all takes a toll.

In fact, studies in the UK and US have found rates of depression are at an all-time high, along with the medical issues like heart disease that often follow depression.

So, listen, College Ward. Look after yourselves. Talk to your family, talk to your friends, call a helpline if you need to. I’ve put a list of resources below. For me, it always helps to go to the library. Find a book that will bring you the information you need on the subjects you care about… or take a moment to disappear between the pages for a bit of escape.

It’s tough out there right now. But as Helen Keller wrote, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”

Together, we’ll get through this. I’m thinking about you.

Warmest regards,
Laine

Chers voisins, chères voisines,

Il se passe beaucoup de choses à l’hôtel de ville ce mois-ci, y compris notre séance annuelle de consultation publique sur le budget (15 octobre – voir détails ci-dessous); la révision en cours du Règlement de zonage, et bien plus encore.

Mais je veux aussi parler d’autre chose.

Notre bureau ainsi que celui de certains de mes collègues ont remarqué que lorsque les résidents appellent ou envoient un courriel, il y a des signes qui révèlent que les gens sont généralement plus stressés que d’habitude. Et vu tout ce qui se passe autour de nous, nous n’en sommes pas surpris. Je le ressens aussi dans ma vie et au sein de ma famille.

Les droits de douane, les mises à pied, les conflits en cours en Ukraine et au Moyen-Orient, au Soudan, et tout ce qui se passe avec nos voisins du sud… Tout cela laisse des traces.

En fait, des études au Royaume-Uni et aux États-Unis ont montré que les taux de dépression sont à un niveau record, tout comme les problèmes médicaux comme les maladies cardiaques qui suivent souvent la dépression.

Alors, écoutez, résidents du quartier Collège. Prenez bien soin de vous. Parlez à votre famille, à vos amis, appelez une ligne d’assistance si vous en avez besoin. J’ai conçu une liste de ressources que je présente ci-dessous. Pour moi, cela aide toujours d’aller à la bibliothèque. Trouvez un livre qui vous apportera les informations dont vous avez besoin sur les sujets qui vous tiennent à cœur… Ou encore, prenez un moment pour « disparaître » entre les pages afin de vous évader un peu.

C’est difficile en ce moment. Mais comme l’a écrit Helen Keller, « Marcher avec une amie dans le noir vaut mieux que de marcher seule à la lumière. »

Ensemble, on va s’en sortir. Je pense à vous.

Meilleures salutations,
Laine

 

Zoning Bylaw Review Part 4: The Big Picture – Shelters

With this post, I want discuss to a zoning issue that Council addressed in February 2025 ahead of the bulk of the new Zoning By-Law—shelters. Our Official Plan, passed in 2021, calls for the removal of all restrictions for zoning in shelter use. There was extensive public consultation, and through this, we committed to removing the zoning barrier to building shelters.

Before this, if a provider wanted to open a shelter on most properties in Ottawa, they’ll be forced to seek a re-zoning to permit the use. That means if an agency serving newcomers wanted to purchase or build a home to house them temporarily, as agencies like Matthew House do, it wouldn’t be allowed. Building form still needs to conform with what is allowed in the Zoning By-Law, such as height, setbacks, and other restrictions.

What is a shelter? The New Zoning By-Law defines shelter as: A building or part of a building providing temporary accommodations to individuals who are in immediate need of emergency accommodation and food, and may include ancillary health care, counselling and social support services. (refuge)

Increasing shelter accessibility across the city is crucial in addressing Ottawa’s homelessness crisis, especially as demand for emergency housing continues to rise. Having shelters allowed everywhere in Ottawa allows greater opportunities for children to continue to attend school, adults are able to work, and that these residents can access amenities like sports and recreation, shopping, transit, and support services. Everyone should be able to access comfort and normalcy.

Shelters are only one piece of the housing solution. The goal of a shelter is to provide a temporary place to stay while more permanent housing solutions are found. Some people may be on wait lists through housing programs, waiting to access a care facility, and some have had to flee a dangerous situation.

We zone for uses and building types, but we don’t zone people. If you know of a shelter location in your community or someone who is living in a shelter, it's critical that we respect their privacy and not disclose this information to others. Some shelters specifically assist those who need privacy for their safety and the locations of these shelters are never public knowledge. Let's all treat our neighbours with kindness and compassion.

It is important to remember that no one wants to be without a home. I believe strongly that everyone deserves a place to live, so if you follow me, you will know that building and acquiring more housing of all types so people can have a home is critically important to me.

If you or someone you know is in need of shelter, there are options.

• Call 2-1-1: for 24/7 assistance in 150+ languages.
• Contact Interval House of Ottawa: at 613-234-5181 for urgent support or a space free from violence.
• Dial 3-1-1: to reach the City of Ottawa's Outreach and Housing team for assistance or referrals to services.

Ottawa's Zoning By-law Review, Part III

As is often the case in planning policy, there has been a lot of discussion about parking rules in the draft Zoning By-law. 

In this draft, City staff are recommending no minimum parking requirements for new developments citywide. That’s a shift from the current Zoning By-law – especially in the outer urban and suburban areas – where a minimum 1.0 spaces per unit is usually required. 

Our current Zoning By-laws are a bit of a mess when it comes to parking. Minimum parking required is usually determined by building use and building form, but the rules often contradict and work against more important goals, especially affordability. The cost of building a parking spot can be tens of thousands of dollars, which gets passed on to new buyers or tenants – whether they need the parking spot(s) or not. 

A very small example of where these rules don’t make sense: stacked townhomes in suburban Ottawa require 1.2 parking spaces per unit, whereas back-to-back townhomes require 1.0 parking spaces per unit. This is regardless of their size or number of bedrooms or any other factor that might suggest a higher level of car ownership, or neighbourhood walkability scores. Nobody knows why these rates were set differently. 

Most cities (including Ottawa) have carried over parking requirements from one by-law update to another, without examining whether the underlying assumptions make sense. A lot of the planning standards for parking minimums stem from engineering guidelines in the 1970s. So we’re making decisions on parking today that are based on travel patterns (and planning objectives) from 50 years ago. 

Many cities in North America have eliminated minimum parking requirements, including Edmonton. The idea is to have the market decide the right number of parking spaces. In other words, let developers decide how much parking will be needed by the new residents, in the context of their neighbourhood. 

For apartments, there would still be requirements for visitor parking and delivery parking. The City would also need to update its on-street parking rules. There might even be a need for a parking permit system for some neighbourhoods, to better manage street parking. 

I brought forward a motion to the March 31st joint Planning and Housing and Agricultural and Rural Affairs Meeting asking staff to review the communal parking provisions in Draft 2 and develop a transect approach to permitting privately owned “communal parking lots” and consider car sharing provisions. I am curious to see what they come back with in the fall and am interested to hear your thoughts too.  

Overall, I’m supportive of this change. It would remove a layer of regulation and allow the market to decide what’s the appropriate number of parking spaces. In some neighbourhoods, builders will still voluntarily provide one or more spaces for cars because buyers will demand this, although car ownership continues to decline. But if there’s a development aimed at seniors, or lower income residents, or another demographic that doesn’t necessarily need all those parking spots, they’ll be able to save on that cost and make the housing more affordable. 

Your feedback 

I’m interested to hear from College Ward residents on this proposed parking policy. Contact me at [email protected]. You can also email [email protected] to reach City planners who are working on this project.