Latest News

Algonquin Times: More than 100 people attend Nepean Remembrance Day Ceremony

The ceremony saw the attendance of numerous guests, including the president of the 593 Royal Canadian Legion branch, Shawn Taillon, and College ward city councillor Laine Johnson.

Johnson placed a wreath at the base of the cenotaph.

“I think it means something a little closer to home this year because my 96-year-old grandfather is in the hospital right now in Weyland, Ont.,” said Johnson. “So I’m thinking a lot about him and the lifetime he’s seen and just thinking about what he’s witnessed growing up, raising a family and the wars he’s seen.”

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CBC: City wants to end 'insanely inequitable' insurance program

College ward Coun. Laine Johnson, who has previously spoken out about the unfairness of the existing program, said like Amys, she's interested in seeing how city policies can be adjusted to ease the burden.

"I don't want the City of Ottawa's risk-averse processes to choke out any good energy coming from communities," Johnson said.

She said a vibrant network of community associations representing Ottawa's neighbourhoods is vital for local democracy.

"Community organizing, in any form, is where true democracy happens," she said. "That's where neighbours are meeting neighbours and sharing their voice. Without those community groups, my job becomes a lot harder."

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CBC: OSEG defends Lansdowne 2.0, as committee defers vote

College ward Coun. Laine Johnson asked several rounds of questions about the viability of the plan and risks for the city.

"We are stewards and we have a fiduciary responsibility to look at the risk to the City of Ottawa. That is why we are here today," she said.

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College Ward Lansdowne Park Survey Results

Over the past week, I invited #CollegeWard residents to let me know their thoughts about Lansdowne 2.0 via an online survey. Over 450 people responded. Here’s what I asked, and what they told me.

About 15% of residents fully support the current proposal, while 37% are completely opposed. 44% “support some aspects of the proposal but not all”.

What do these people want to see change? Primarily, less debt from the City and greater contribution to affordable housing. (We’ll dig into “other changes” over the next few days and report back).

These results strengthen my own resolve that any final deal includes affordable housing and limited financial risk for taxpayers. This plan must work for everyone.

See the survey results here

CTV story about Hydro Ottawa and outages

I spoke with CTV Ottawa about the challenge for residents when Hydro services are lost.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hydro-ottawa-warns-more-multi-day-outages-possible-due-to-severe-weather-1.6617269

Staff presentation on changes to Zoning By-law resulting from Bill 23

Presentation

At the October 4 Planning and Housing Committee meeting, we passed interim Zoning Amendments, until Council adoption of the new Zoning By-law, for the City of Ottawa to be compliant with Bill 23, the Provincial legislation that permits 3 units to be built on every site that has city services. This means that R1 zoning, which restricts building to one home on one lot, is effectively over for many College Ward neighbourhoods. Single units can now be three units, and semi-detached can effectively have 3 units each, for a total of 6 units on one lot. This is a big change, and one I know will be felt by many neighbours in Ottawa. I was sure to share information about the provincial bill during my campaign, and in my first communications in office, but if you missed it, you can find it here: How will Bill 23 affect residents?

Town Hall 2023 Video

We held a College Ward Town Hall meeting on September 28 at Ben Franklin Place. Residents attended in-person and online to share to ask questions and their views with Laine and senior City staff. Please find the video below.

College Ward Town Hall 2023 Video

Field Street - As we Heard It

City staff have released a report showing the results of their public consultation on the Field Sidewalk Project, which is planned for construction in the next couple of years. Staff said they have made some changes to the design as a result of the consultation. Please see the report below.

Report

July 28 storm clean up

Public Works has been actively clearing service requests related to the July 28 summer storm. This storm was characterized by high winds with impacts primarily related to wards 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16. 

Here are the latest numbers provided by staff related to this windstorm:  

• As of today, Forestry has received a total of 194 calls.  
• All emergency calls have received a response. Forestry inspectors continue to complete secondary assessments which will allow for the scheduling of additional non-emergency related work. 
• Follow up work related to right of way tree debris generated through the initial response phase will be coordinated this week.  
• Roads and Parking Services received and completed a total of 59 total service requests. These included: 
  • 38 roadway flooding due to blocked catch basins 
  • 17 tree debris blocking roadway/pathways 
  • 4 police barricade requests due to downed power lines 
• Parks have identified 22 parks in the affected wards that require tree support from Forestry operations. All immediate hazards have been addressed at this time. Debris cleanup will occur as the larger work is completed. 

Video of the City View ditch and culvert rehabilitation meeting

Interested in learning more about the City's ditch rehabilitation project in City View / Crestview? The recording from our info session earlier this week is now posted online for your review.

Letter to City View's Bassano Park neighbourhood

Update on Bassano Park

Zoning and development application: 2946 Baseline Road

We are seeing our first major development application come to the College Ward office since I was elected. At 2946 Baseline, Brigil is asking for a rezoning to permit for two high rise towers at 32 and 28 stories respectively, and a 9-story mid rise building (Application Details - Development Applications Search (ottawa.ca). We are inviting residents to an online open house on July 19^th from 7-830pm.

RSVP at Laine Johnson - 2946 Baseline Open House

This is your opportunity to learn more about the proposed zoning bylaw amendment so that you can inform your comments to Kieran Watson, the lead planner on the file (Development applications feedback form | City of Ottawa). The first round of comments are due by July 31, but there will be additional opportunity to comment between now and the final report to Planning and Housing Committee later this year.

For those interested in understanding City staff's process, you can read the Terms of Reference Design Brief and Planning Rationale.

For myself, I have concerns about the proposed height and massing at this site. A 32-story building would be the first of its kind in the area.

It does meet the City’s Official Plan criteria, which permits up to 40 stories on a main street with the appropriate right-of-way width from the road, which Baseline allows. However, the planning context sees more mid-rise buildings in this area, and so high-rises would need to demonstrate consistency. This could be resolved through a reimagining of the podium, currently at 6 stories, or a revisit of the proposed transitions to the surrounding neighbourhood.

I am also concerned about the implications for transportation, given this site is quite a distance from the nearest major transit station at Algonquin College. Since there are so few amenities, one can only imagine that people will be using their cars for many trips and we want to see viable mode share targets through the area.

The Baseline Rapid Transit Corridor will alleviate some of that congestion over time and I look forward to the timing of that corridor with the final construction of this project. As currently conceived, the project would be completed by 2030.