Hi neighbour,
I hope you are enjoying the sunshine today. Thank you to all of you who have already sent letters to Premier Ford and to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, to demand that Ottawa get the funding we need to fight (and eventually solve) chronic homelessness. This is a rare situation where the Mayor, city council and the community sector are aligned. We all agree that #OttawaNeedsMore.
This week, we received some shocking news from the provincial government, news that impacts every single one of us in downtown Ottawa. We were told that the increase we would be receiving in funding to address homelessness and build much-needed affordable housing is a mere 0.4% ($845,000) of the additional funds being distributed in Ontario. Toronto, a city roughly three times the size of Ottawa, has received an increase that is 60 times that of ours.
What does this mean in real terms in downtown Ottawa? It means that our already-overflowing homeless shelters will have to turn people away.
Hello and happy spring (for real),
It seems incredible that only a week ago, Ottawa was hit by a fierce ice storm and as I write this, the temperature is scheduled to hit 30 degrees. I would like to say that this is not a normal April, but it seems that climate change is leading to more extreme weather and dramatic temperature swings. And although we were largely lucky to not lose power for very long in Somerset Ward, we lost a lot of mature trees, both last week and in May 2022’s derecho storm.
This is particularly devastating in downtown Ottawa, where we have the lowest percentage of tree coverage in the National Capital Region – only 20%. The amount of tree coverage needed to mitigate climate change is estimated to be near 30-40%. We have a lot of work to do to recover from extreme weather and make our city more climate resilient.
Hello neighbour,
Well, spring has technically sprung, even though the weather doesn’t really feel like it. The emails about snow clearing are starting to give way to messages about potholes and speeding. My staff is receiving all your messages and are committed to helping, both at an individual and systemic level.
At last week’s Transportation Committee meeting, we discussed two issues that are synonymous with summer: e-scooters and patios. The committee heard a staff report detailing the accessibility and security features that were added to the e-scooters last season, dramatically decreasing the number of complaints.
In collaboration with Councillor King and Councillor Plante, we're reaching out and inviting neighbours to fill out our transit usage survey!
I am writing this letter as I spend some time with my family on the long weekend, taking a moment to breathe after an intense couple of weeks at City Hall. Our deliberations on the 2023 budget continue, with city committees hearing from community delegates and passing each section of the budget that will rise to Council on March 1st.
Last week, I dissented on the section of the Planning and Housing budget related to affordable housing, because I believe that $15 million for new construction is not nearly enough. It's been three years since Ottawa declared a housing and homelessness emergency. Since then, the number of people sleeping outside has doubled. Over 12,000 people remain on the waiting list for subsidized housing.
Between 2019 and 2020, 8,619 people experienced homelessness in Ottawa, 46% of them for the first time. The yearly capital spend on affordable housing has not changed since 2019. In real terms, in the face of record inflation, this is a cut.