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Covid-19 updates

Starting tomorrow morning, Sunday May 23, at 8 am, booking will be open to anyone 12 years old or older for an appointment at one of the City's mass vaccination clinics. Kids will have to be 12 or older at the time of booking. To book, visit the provincial booking system here.

More pharmacies will also begin offering Pfizer vaccine, although - and I'm sorry for this - there's not a lot of detail about what that means for Ottawa. Read the most recent news from the Province on expanded age eligibility here.

As I sometimes do, I'll just caution that as I write this morning that while eligibility will be broadened to include virtually everyone, the City clinics are already fully booked as far ahead as we have confirmed vaccine supply. As the City confirms the arrival of more doses it will open up further bookings. Below, I've copied the link for the City's vaccination newsletter through which it will disseminate news of new available slots. You can also follow credible media as well as social media from press, the City and polticians.

The Province has announced a re-opening plan that addresses allowing more people to gather outdoors, re-opening retail and food and beverage services, and recreation and sport services as more people become vaccinated over the summer and case numbers, hospitalizations, test positivity and other indicators fall. The plan's first stage starts when 60% of residents are vaccinated (along with several other indicators), and provincial authorities consider we're likely to start it at some point during the week of June 14.

Around 55% of residents 18+, 44% of the total population now have a first dose of vaccine so we're on our way. You can find the vaccination dashboard here, and the most recent case numbers and monitoring indicators here.

The re-opening plan covers a lot of ground (with the glaring exception of school re-openings) and I encourage people to take a look at it here.

Finally, I'll just note that our splash pads are open. There was some boomeranging on that as the Province initially proposed prohibiting those from opening, but a full court press of advocacy by residents and area politicians was successful in reversing that.

Find all the latest news about the pandemic, including special statements by Dr. Vera Etches and other officials here, and sign up for the vaccination newsletter offered by the City here.

Enjoy a great long weekend, Kitchissippi!

Pop-up office hours June 1

My next pop-up will be Tuesday, June 1 from 3-5 pm for our next pop-up hours. Send me an email for the link to join us one-on-one with no appointment during those hours to chat about whatever's on your mind.

Committee of Adjustment June 2

The Committee of Adjustment will hear three applications in our ward on June 2, in addition to the resumption of one adjourned hearing. Find the details of those here.

• At 230 (232) Holland, the owner is seeking to sub-divide their property to create separate ownerships for either half of the existing semi.​

• At 544 (542) Kirkwood, the owner wants to demolish the existing dwelling and detached shed in order to subdivide the property into two separate parcels of land and establish separate ownerships for a proposed two-storey semi-detached dwelling. I don't see any zoning variances associated with the proposed semi.

• The hearing for 81 Pinhey will resume after it was adjourned. The owners want to subdivide their property into two separate parcels of land. The existing detached dwelling would remain on one parcel and a two-storey detached dwelling is proposed to be constructed on the other parcel.

Official Plan open house for renters June 3

Several councillors and I are hosting an open house to explore the new Official Plan and its implications for renters. It will be held on the evening of June 3. See more details of that here.

Ward forum

We've scheduled a ward forum for the evening of May 31. It'll be an opportunity to get neighbourhood updates, participate in a Q&A/open forum, and hear from our special guest Ian Douglas who is a water quality engineer at the City who will be speaking to how Ottawa protects its water supply. Get more details on that here.

Wedel vandalism this morning

I was dismayed this morning on my way through Westboro to come across the police and vandalism at 300 Richmond Road. Rocks were again thrown through the windows at this corner with extensive breakage. No entry was forced, however. Last April, the same property saw the same kind of vandalism. I spoke very briefly with the owner, Justyna, on scene and will be heading back this afternoon along with the BIA. I don't know if there will be a crowd-funding effort but if there is will let folks know on social media. I'll reach out to police next week to get their perspective on the vandalism. I am confident that police will investigate this thoroughly. The shop is expected to re-open tomorrow, and I hope residents can pop by and provide a little support.

Join my Run For Women team!

I'm really pleased to join the annual Run For Women 5k/10k event, this year as a team captain. Consider joining my 5k run/walk team, WalkABitRunABit, here or making a donation. The proceeds will go directly to The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre's women's mental health program that is doing such critical work across the city right here in our ward. The event, of course, is virtual and participants will take part any time between July 4-11.

Experimental Farm poetry book launch

The poetry collection Our Farm in the City by Kalli Dakos will have a virtual launch on June 24 at 2:00. The book explores the beautiful farmlands of Ottawa's Experimental Farm with illustrations and funny, silly and inspiring rhymes. The book will soon be available through DC Canada Education Publishing here. You can join the virtual launch on Zoom here.

Walkable Ottawa workshops

A grassroots organizaton called Walkable Ottawa has been doing some significant work looking at how to ensure our neighbourhoods are complete as the intensification thrust continues. The next will be on June 2 when they offer a workshop Growing Community Step by Step. They'll explore how walkable communities might change our social interaction and understanding of community. Get all the info on this and upcoming sessions here.

Home energy audits webinar May 27

How can you make your home more energy efficient and help fight climate change at the same time? Getting a home energy audit is a great place to start. It will help you understand how your home uses energy and identify retrofits opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. Join us to learn more about the process and how you can make your home more comfortable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Register now to secure your spot

At City Hall

Audit Committee

Council's Audit Committee meets on May 25 with an agenda that includes the 2020 consolidated City financial statements, sinking fund statments, the report on the fraud and waste hotline and other items. See the full agenda here.

City Council

City Council has a meaty agenda on May 26 and I expect that a number of items will engender some discussion beyond what was debated at the committee level. We'll hear an update on Covid-19 and vaccine distribution, as well as consider the draft parks and recreation master plan. That plan won't be approved at Council, but receiving it will kick off a consultation process. With relatively few new recreation amenities proposed for the core area, I and other councillors will likely be seeking changes to the plan in the coming months. We'll also receive the source-separated organics program (green bin) update, and anything to do with the green bin is often contentious. The update may simply be received without further discussion after a robust committee hearing, though.

The headline item will be the application for a grant by Mrak Holdings to offset some of the cost of its new Porsche dealership on Montreal Road. I believe that the application fails to meet some of the important criteria in that program and will likely be voting against it. There will also be a motion presented to have the Integrity Commissioner conduct an investigation into who provided the press with a copy of a confidential LRT legal-related memo.

In our ward, I expect that Council will pass the zoning recommended for approval at 177-179 Armstrong and 268 Carruthers, which I voted in favour of at Planning Committee, and a brownfield grant for 320 McRae/315 Tweedsmuir will also likely pass. 

It's a very substantial agenda with multiple other important items related to heritage, paramedics, asset management, the 5000 Robert Grant zoning application, accessibility and more besides, and I encourage residents to take a look here.

Planning Committee

Planning Committee has a number of zoning applications to consider at our meeting on May 27. In our ward, the application for 166 Huron to allow the Jewish Youth Library has been recommended for approval and I've indicated my support for that. A townhome development proposed for 316-322 Clifton Road will also be considered, and I expect to support that. A key document will be the vacant urban residential land survey 2019 update; I know our community associations and other planning-interested stakeholders will want to take a look at that. The full meeting agenda is here.

For more, visit our site at KitchissippiWard.ca.