We Need Stronger Public Participation at Ottawa City Hall

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.

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Year Two in Review: A Progress Report for College Ward Residents

As part of my commitment to transparency and accountability to College Ward residents, I am pleased to provide a summary of the progressive we've made in our Ward over the past year, as well as a look ahead at the things I hope to accomplish.

Many thanks to residents, Community Associations, small businesses, City staff and my own team for getting all of this done.

 

Read the Progress Report

Why the Baseline BRT should be Ottawa's next big transit expansion (and the LRT 3 shouldn't be)

By Laine Johnson

With the O-Train service now running south to the airport, the east and west expansions a year or two from service, and Line 1 rail service serving downtown, City Council will soon be turning its attention to – and making funding decisions about – the next stage of public transit expansion.

No one is happy with the state of transit in Ottawa right now. Years of underfunding have reduced the frequency, reach, and reliability of our bus service. The City, on its own, has no way of rebuilding OC Transpo (and the public’s faith in it) without either senior government financing or untenable property tax increases.

It’s a shameful situation of which no member of Council is proud, but for which we haven’t found a reasonable solution.

There is a way.

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