The Ward with Erin Coffin

Everyone needs a roof over their head, but Ottawa is in a housing crisis. Whether buying or renting, housing costs too much, and families are having to decide where to cut expenses, whether it is recreation, transit, groceries, and/or other essential costs. The city needs to engage all levels of government, partners and stakeholders to invest in making our city’s housing accessible, affordable and a place anyone could comfortably and safely call home. Further, we need to ensure that the entities who are making and managing our homes have the capacity to do so, and that the city has the oversight to enforce any slack on proper management.

What can we do to have the best quality of life in the Ward? Listen in on the discussion of how we can all lead the best Ward life in Kanata south.

To thrive Ottawa needs to be able to move its residents safely, reliably, and affordably. Our transit system in its current state does not serve our needs. A renewed transit system will reduce traffic congestion, shorten our commute, make for safer roads, and contribute to a greener Ottawa.

Addressing the Shortfalls at OCTranspo

• We need to address the problems with OCTranspo and ParaTranspo so we are able to move around our neighbourhoods and communities safely and reliably
• We will work with the Transit Commission to re-orient OCTranspo’s routes to account for the new reality of life and work in Ottawa. This includes providing travel for more than daytime commutes to downtown: We need travel within our communities, to schools, to colleges and universities, and to places of work, such as tech and business parks, warehouses, and government offices being relocated to suburban areas
• We will learn from the mistakes made during the procurement, construction, maintenance and operations of Stage 1 of the Confederation Line, and ensure they are mitigated in Stage 2 (already started) and avoided in Stage 3
• Lessons learned and solutions recommended in the report from the Public Inquiry of LRT Stage 1 will be key in providing direction for these changes
• We will ensure the city includes and enforces penalties for construction delays, failed maintenance, and outages in any agreements with private sector contractors
• Provide transit to those who need it the most, those living on ODSP and Ontario Works, by providing them an EquiPass at no cost

ParaTranspo Parity
ParaTranspo riders deserve the same level of freedom as all riders on transit, and it is just not there for them. ParaTranspo riders have been stranded by cancelled trips and poor booking system services. To make sure our neighbours who ride ParaTranspo are rightfully able to fully participate in Ottawa life, the ParaTranspo system needs refocus and greater investment. ALL RIDERS deserve to be respected, supported, and have trust in a system that is reliable and moves them safely.

Kanata South was promised that no new development would happen in our neighbourhoods before investment in infrastructure was completed. This promise was not fulfilled. Increasingly frequent and severe weather has exposed all the shortcomings of our built infrastructure, and development has outstripped the ability of our different systems to manage our needs for safe and healthy neighbourhoods.

• In working with my council colleagues, we will encourage our infrastructure service providers, such as Hydro Ottawa, to invest in continued improvements to services, built infrastructure, and maintenance, with particular attention to greener opportunities and mitigating the effects that ever-increasing severe weather events have on our neighbourhoods in Kanata South

Residents must feel safe and secure in our city. This means making road safety for all users a priority by adopting Vision Zero in all road design, construction, and upkeep. Ottawa needs to make proactive investments in services that have shown to reduce crime, and we must work to rebuild trust between our community and Ottawa Police Services.

• Following best practices from other municipalities in Canada and throughout the world, I will move that Ottawa City Council adopts a strategy for road safety with the primary goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries, and ensuring the safety of all users,

including pedestrians and cyclists

• . This will promote and require:
• Better road design with expanded traffic calming measures
• Separated active transport infrastructure
• Connecting our existing paths and active transport lanes together (an example, being the TransCanada Trail crossing at Eagleson)
• I will push for proactive programming to reduce crime, including services that fight the causes of crime: investments in public health, social and community services, children and youth services, and educational opportunities for our community to grow to be safer and more inclusive for all of us
• I will support council efforts to create mental health and crisis teams that respond to emergency calls related to mental health, substance use and addictions
• I am committed to restoring trust in our police force by supporting and championing initiatives such as protection for OPS officers and civilian employees who report activities and complacency of misconduct