News & Announcements

We had a great meeting this week with representatives from the National Capital Commission, City of Ottawa, Dovercourt Recreation Association, Champlain Park Community Association, and my office to hammer out some details about bringing the popular SJAM Winter Trail to the doorstep of the Champlain Park Field House. It means skiers, walkers, snowshoers and fat-bikers will be able to use the washrooms and change facilities during the hours when the park rink is in operation - generally weeknights and weekend afternoons. It's great news.

My thanks to staff for responding quickly to an inquiry about infill statistics I made recently. I've posted that here for quick access by residents. Click on the .pdf below.

Think about the qualities that drew you to live in the neighbourhood of Hampton Iona and/or the surrounding Westboro and Wellington Village areas.  What made this part of Ottawa a place in which you wanted to live, raise a family and retire?   How do you feel about the way your neighbourhood is developing now?  What concerns you?  What excites you?  How do we retain the qualities that make this a special part of the city in which to live, while dealing with issues such as intensification and opportunities such as the LRT?

There are many different reasons that hold us back from getting the help we need. It can feel daunting to ask a friend or family member for help, let alone a professional, especially when it comes to our mental health. But once we get past the societal stigma (that is currently on the decline), there are other factors that can hold us back, that we’re not even aware of.

On October 5, I held a Facebook Live session looking at infill in Kitchissippi. I'm not sure this is a format I'd use exactly again, but I do hope it was helpful for those who tuned in. The slide deck I used is available by clicking on the .pdf below.

After several years of discussion, it looks like the future of the Rosemount Branch of the Ottawa Public Library is clearer as staff recommend a $2-million renovation to begin next year. Yesterday, a report was published that explores the business cases for expanding or renovating the branch through a variety of approaches. With scarce dollars the deciding factor, staff have recommended that the way forward is to renovate the existing space to better serve users. If adopted by the Library Board, that renovation would get underway in late 2018 and be completed roughly a year later.

You are invited to join Councillors Chernushenko, Fleury, Leiper, McKenney and Nussbaum for BudgetSpeak, an evening session focused on moving four key priority areas forward via the City budget.

Tuesday, October 17 

6:00pm - 8:00pm

Ottawa City Hall - Jean Pigott Hall (110 Laurier Ave W)

Following a similar format to last years’ event, this session will consist of short plenary presentations with opportunities to provide input on four themes:

Wednesday morning, four bur oaks in the Champlain Park neighbourhood of Kitchissippi Ward were officially marked as heritage trees by Forestry Ontario as part of an initiative to grant 150 trees heritage designation in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. The ceremony noted the importance of honouring natural heritage, especially in a nation such as our own, which is known for its natural resources.

Hi Kitchissippi. First, thanks to all of you who participated in our poll to determine what our ward's contribution to the Ottawa 150 time capsule! Those were some amazing ideas.

As it turns out, the winner was to put as many street-level photos of the ward as possible to be preserved for posterity in that capsule. Now I'm in a bind: we only have a few days to submit that.

Better late than never.

Last winter, in the wake of the news that the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital would re-locate to the eastern end of the Central Experimental Farm and Queen Juliana Park, I hosted a town hall for the Civic Hospital neighbourhood to begin hearing concerns. I was grateful for the attendance, in addition, of our MPP Yasir Naqvi and the hospital’s Kate Eggins.