News & Announcements

As has been related in the press, the re-location of the Phase 2 LRT alignment through the property at 747 Richmond Road would mean the commercial tenants in that building would face upheaval. The tenants have written to me, asking why the City is proposing to locate a station there, and whether the City and I have taken into account the impact on their business. I dropped in last week to speak with just about all the tenants at length. The process has moved quickly, and those tenants have very understandable concerns.

Staff sent me this week a summary of by-law complaints in our ward. I haven't had the chance to review it in-depth, but find a little unnerving the number of graffiti complaints in the most recent quarter as a percentage of all complaints in the city. The summary is posted below for your consideration - click on the .xls file.

Yesterday morning, I was caffeinated a little earlier than usual, so headed to the drive-thru at the corner of Carling and Broadview to capture some footage of how it works from a transit and pedestrian view. I was disappointed that the sidewalk was consistently blocked by cars - even when drivers could clearly see pedestrians and had a choice to let them pass. I made a quick video to show the impact. Of course, my main concern is to demonstrate the impact putting a drive-thru at the corner of Island Park and Richmond Road would have.

In a first for the City's planning department, on May 4 from 7-9 there will be a presentation and webcast by former president and CEO of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. to talk about design and sustainability in the public realm. It should be a fascinating discussion. Following Campbell's presentation, city planning staff will offer practical tips for residents interested in presenting at City standing committees and insights about how the Committee of Adjustment works. 

A huge congratulations to the Westboro Village Business Improvement Area for its successful launch party held this week for the Westboro FUSE. FUSE will be held on Richmond Road June 10-12, with street activities, food and drink, a comedy night, the Mountain Equipment Coop Westboro Mile, fashion, shopping and music.

21 April 2016

Media release

Protect community policing after meaningful consultation, Leiper to tell Police Services Board

A successful model of community policing may be in jeopardy as a result of changes by the Ottawa Police Service, but a new update doesn't provide enough details to know, Kitchissippi Councillor Jeff Leiper will tell the Police Services Board on April 25. At that meeting, the Board will consider a sweeping reform of how the OPS will deliver services as part of its Strategic Initiative.

We would like to extend an invite to everyone for our ribbon cutting event & community party with Mayor Watson to marking the completion of the new Field House at 29 Van Lang Private. Jeff has been working closely with the community, Dovercourt, Carlington Community Health Centre, OCH & the City to make this building a reality and we are ready to celebrate its completion! It will be a vibrant community event complete with a BBQ lunch, bouncy castle & other fun surprises. We hope to see you there!

It's time for our quarterly ward forum. This time, it's being held on April 30, from 2-5, at the Hilson Avenue Public School - 407 Hilson Avenue.

Our forums offer updates from the community groups on what they've been working on, an update from me about what's happening at City Hall, and an open format question period. I've been very pleased that these have helped open some new channels of communication between our stakeholders, and helped us get ahead of issues of concern. We'll have refreshments on hand, as always!

For a couple of months now, I've been making a 10-minute or so video version of the newsletter. Here's this week's.

Any of the documents or links I reference are in the newsletter that I've been sending out roughly weekly-ish. If you're not subscribed, get on board here.

This morning, I voted in favour of the committee recommendations this morning to allow new Private Transportation Companies (PTCs) to operate beginning this fall.