Residents who reach out to municipal government through letter-writing, phone calls or other means are often ignored. I want to change that.
In the early days of the not-for-profit organization Synapcity, senior leadership met with a senior municipal political leader to talk about our work.
The organization’s goal is to increase civic engagement between Ottawa residents and the city government. A sincere commitment to civic education and building authentic relationships between a city and its communities will improve public participation and help residents develop a voice that can meaningfully inform decisions in the city.
The elected politician’s answer was curt. “We don’t need more activists,” he said.
Since then, and especially since being elected the councillor for College ward, I have been standing up for informed public participation in decision-making. Residents who attempt to reach out through letter-writing, phone calls, meetings, social media and especially through protests, can too easily be dismissed as noisy or messy — undeserving of serious consideration.
The transition to monitoring operations does not signal the end of the City’s recovery efforts. The ECC has established an integrated task force to maintain situational awareness and coordinate access to recovery programs and services. The task force will support consistent, accessible, and equitable personalized support for affected residents throughout the recovery period.
The City’s Election-Related Resources Policy (ERRP) and its procedures prohibit Members of Council who are seeking re-election in a municipal election from using City resources such as office budgets and staff for newsletters and general communications from August 27, 2026, up to and including October 26, 2026 (known as the “blackout period”). As a sitting Member of Council, I must adhere to the City’s ERRP, meaning that this website will not be updated during the blackout period. My office remains open to deal with day-to-day constituency matters.
I’m hearing from a lot of residents who want answers about why flooding happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again. I certainly want those answers as well.
There won’t be a simple fix. 25 neighbourhoods have been dramatically affected and each had their own particular contexts. The City needs to examine the different local factors that may have contributed to flooding.