Ecology Ottawa 2010 Council Watch Report

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Ecology Ottawa 2010 Council Watch ReportVoting Grey

Voting Green

www.ecologyottawa.ca



Written and edited by the volunteers of Ecology Ottawa’s Council Watch

committee.

September 2010

Committee chair: Ian Thomson

Staff coordinators: Ben Liadsky and Lori Waller

Design: Shawn Thompson, www.srtdesign.net

About Ecology Ottawa

We are a not-for-prot organization working to make Ottawa the green capital of

Canada. We believe that Ottawa residents are concerned about issues such as

pollution, waste, and global warming, and that they want a sustainable communitywhere public transit, renewable energy, recycling, and the protection of green spaces

take priority. We are working with residents and local organizations across the city to

ensure that their voices are heard at city hall. Together we can make a difference, but

we need your active support to move our city in the right direction.

Find out more and sign up for our e-mail updates at www.ecologyottawa.ca.



Executive Summary .......................................................................................2-3

Ward Maps.........................................................................................................4

How They Scored..............................................................................................5

Track Record of This Council: 2007 - 2010...................................................6-7

the votes that counted in 2010

Clean Energy ......................................................................................................8

Green Buildings.................................................................................................9

Greenspace and Natural Areas.................................................................10-11

Transportation............................................................................................12-15

Urban Growth and Land Use..........................................................................16

Water...........................................................................................................16-17

Grading Calculations 2010........................................................................19-21

Table Of Contents

1



Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Long on Indecision, Short on Vision

The current Ottawa City Council will be remembered not or their its bold vision, butrather or their its repeated moments o indecision. Flip-ops, delays, and reversalshave been the order o the day. It has been no dierent on environmental issues. Forinstance, the long-awaited organic waste diversion program was approved in 2008, thendeerred by Council in 2009, and fnally implemented this year. Light rail transit becamea political ootball with indecision putting Ottawa several years behind where it shouldbe. New protections or distinctive urban trees were adopted into bylaw last year butCouncil ailed to hire the sta to implement it. The list could go on and on.

Four years at a glance

A new eature in this year’s Council Watch Report is a our-year retrospective o City Council’skey environmental decisions (see pages 5 & 6). At a glance you can see where this Council has

voted green or voted grey on issues like air quality, buildings, clean energy, greenspace, transpor-tation, urban growth, waste diversion, and water.

Looking back over the past our years, it becomes clear that some environmental issues have beenmore divisive than others. Judging rom the voting patterns, transportation and urban growthrevealed a split in Council, while clean energy and waste management were more generally ac-ceptable issues, garnering unanimous or near unanimous support around the table.

Where Council has clearly ailed us over the past our years is around issues o urban growth and

land use. A slim majority o councillors has consistently ailed to contain urban sprawl, promotereasonable intensifcation, or stand up to developers proposing environmentally regressive proj-ects.

How they did in 2010

The most important environmental decision o 2010 was probably the approval o the OttawaRiver Action Plan. Ottawa residents have long expressed anger and shame over how the Ot-tawa River has been orced to act as a dumping ground or our untreated sewage. The City’s newmulti-year plan involves the construction o large underground holding tanks that will eliminate

virtually all sewage overows into the river. Although it took public outrage and pressure romboth provincial and ederal governments to get some action, Ottawa is on track to dealing with

this problem in a cost-eective way.

2



This year’s budget process had its high points and low points. Council made good investments

in improved cycling and pedestrian inrastructure, but dropped the ball on other pressing issueslike expanding transit service and protecting and maintaining our urban orests.

Council took a shine to Hydro Ottawa’s plan to convert one o the City’s ormer landfll sites intoa solar energy park. (Though we did learn that at least one councillor can still vote against abright idea like this one!) But Ottawa has only just scratched the surace when it comes to cleanpower generation. The City has done relatively little to capitalize on our clean energy potential,including the environmental and fnancial opportunities presented by Ontario’s new Green En-ergy Act. At present, the clean power generated by municipally-owned Hydro Ottawa amountsto only 2 per cent o Ottawa’s total electricity demand. Council must become more ambitious i ithopes to ramp up our clean energy portolio and attract more clean energy jobs to our region.

Although the ate o Lansdowne Park dominated headlines this year, Council Watch decided

not to add it to this year’s report card, as the environmental dimensions are too complex. Theproject has some green elements, including greenspace redevelopment, improved stormwatermanagement systems, and a highly successul armers’ market providing access to local oods;its greyer side includes lack o public transit access to the site, the environmental ootprint o big box superstores, and more backroom dealings with big developers In the end, it seemed thatthere was no single Council vote that dealt adequately with Lansdowne Park’s environmental is-sues. O course, Ottawa residents (and voters) will be drawing their own conclusions.

Decision time

Indecision may have plagued City Council over the past our years, but 2010 is a time o decisionor Ottawa voters. With a municipal election on October 25, we have an historic opportunity to

set our city on a new course o environmental leadership by voting or the greenest candidates inevery ward.

Some councillors have consistently championed the environment and seen environmental ini-tiatives as an important investment or our community. Councillors Bédard, Bellemare, Cullen,Doucet, Feltmate, Holmes, Hume, Leadman, Legendre and McRae have a good track record onthe environment. The others either have been inconsistent when environmental matters camebeore Council or, worse, have shown a total disregard or environmentally sensitive policy devel-opment and decision-making. Our Mayor is unortunately in the latter category. Although MayorO’Brien avoided a ailing grade in this year’s report, he has shown no substantial leadership onenvironmental issues nor oered an inspiring green vision or our city.

We hope that this Council Watch Report on the environmental track record o current councillors

will help voters decide which incumbents are best suited to crat a greener vision or Ottawa andwin support or environmentally responsible policies at City Hall.

Executive Summary

3



Ward Maps

5

21

20

19 Rural Ottawa Ward Map

7

15

4

23

3

168

16

98

6

Ottawa West Map

1

21113

18

12

17

1610

22

14

4

Ottawa East Map

Don’t know which ward you live in? Find out by checking the Cof Ottawa’s map at www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/ward/new_structunal_map.jpg



How They Scored

5

Methodology

Council members were given one point for each environmentally positive motion theysupported and one for each environmentally negative motion they voted against. To seethe full record of votes and how these scores were translated into letter grades, see page19-21 of this report.

17 - Capital

14 - Somerset

12 - Rideau-Vanier

7 - Bay

13 - Rideau-Rockcliffe

15 - Kitchissippi

11 - Beacon Hill-Cyrville

23 - Kanata South

18 - Alta Vista

16 - River

10 - Gloucester-Southgate

2 - Innes

4 - Kanata North

19 - Cumberland

6 - Stittsville

21 - Rideau-Goulbourn

8 - College

22 - Gloucester-South Nepean

5 - West Carleton-March

3 - Barrhaven

9 - Knoxdale-Merivale

1 - Orleans

Mayor

20 - Osgoode

Clive Doucet

Diane Holmes

Georges Bédard

Alex Cullen

Jacques Legendre

Christine Leadman

Michel Bellemare

Peggy Feltmate

Peter Hume

Maria McRae

Diane Deans

Rainer Bloess

Marianne Wilkinson

Rob Jellett

Shad Qadri

Glenn Brooks

Rick Chiarelli

Steve Desroches

Eli El-Chantiry

Jan Harder

Gord Hunter

Bob Monette

Mayor Larry O’Brien

Doug Thompson

Councillor Ward Average 2010 2009 2008 2007

A

A

A-

B

A

C

B

C+

B+

C+

B

C+

D

F

C+

C-

C

D

D

F

F

F

C

F

A+

A+

A

A

A

A-

B+

B+

B+

B+

B

C+

C+

C

C

C-

C-

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

A+

A+

A-

A+

A-

B+

B

A+

A

B

C-

C

B+

C-

C-

C-

C-

D

C-

D

C

F

C-

D

A+

A+

A+

A+

A

A

B

C-

B

C

C

C-

C

C

D

C-

F

D

F

C-

D

C

F

D

A+

A+

A+

A+

A+

A

A+

A

B

A+

A+

A

B

B+

C

D

C+

D

D

D

D

C

C

D



T r ack R

ecor d Of T

h i sCounci l : 2 0 0 7 -2 0 1 0

6

AIR QUALITY Voting Green Voting Grey

Air Quality and Climate Change Plan 2007 13 11

GREEN BUILDINGS

LEED building incentives

Deferral of LEED Green Pathway

Green Building Promotion Program

Street lighting pilot projectGreen building policy loophole

2007

2008

2009

2010

2010

24 0

23 0

23 0

3 16

0 24

CLEAN ENERGY

Leasing land for solar energy park 2010 23 1

GREENSPACE AND NATURAL AREAS

Protection of Tallwood Woods

Continuation of Green PartnershipEndorsing cosmetic pesticide ban

Funding acquisition of natural featuresFunding for Carp River restoration

Community Garden Action PlanPurchase natural areas #22 and 97Urban natural area acquisition

Funding for forest maintenanceEnforcement of distinctive tree bylaw

Development of wildlife strategy

2007

2008

2008

2008

2008

2009

2009

2009

2010

2010

2010

23 0

24 0

24 0

24 021 120 4

9

9

14

14

14

17 7

1311

3

TRANSPORTATION

Anti-idling bylaw

Cap transit fare hikes

Funding for Citizens for Safe Cycling

7.5% transit fare hike

Approval of Ottawa Cycling PlanDeferral of electric bus orderLight rail transit plan

Approval of Ottawa Pedestrian PlanTransit emissions reductionU-pass fee increase

Expansion of urban transit area Approval of U-pass for studentsFunding for Ottawa Pedestrian PlanIncrease transit budgetPurchase of more fuel-efcient busesCosting for different transport modes

Allowing hybrid taxis

2007

2007

2007

2008

2008

2008

2008

2009

2009

2009

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

12 812 11

10 14

10 1422 011 1319 4

22

22

0

2

2411

0

24 0

13

18 311 9

21 1

4 20

23 0



T r ack R

ecor d Of T

h i sCounci l :2 0 0 7 2 0 1 0

7

URBAN GROWTH AND LAND USE Voting Green Voting Grey

Reduction in spending on new roadsRejection of Manotick subdivision planRemoval of parking space maximums

Denser housing type mixFreeze on urban boundary

Approve Kanata West development

Road expansions and widenings

Ban corporate donations in elections

2008

2008

2008

2009

2009

2009

2009

2010

4

4

2015 5

7 17

6 1510 137 15

10 14

19

WASTE REDUCTION AND DIVERSION

Establishing curbside give-away dayEstablishing greenbin program

Bi-weekly garbage collection

Implementation of organics collection

IC&I waste diversion strategyOrganics deferral

2007

2007

2008

2008

20092009

24 023 1

10 1223 1

24 00 24

8 12

24 0

WATER

Accelerated lead pipe replacement

Funding to prevent sewer overows

Funding for Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program Approval of Ottawa River Action PlanWater mobiles to promote municipal drinking water

2008

2008

2010

2010

2010

11 1022 0

21 1



8

YES (23): Councillors G. Bédard, M. Bellemare, R. Bloess,

G. Brooks, R. Chiarelli, A. Cullen, D. Deans, S. Desroches,

C. Doucet, E. El-Chantiry, P. Feltmate, J. Harder, D. Hol-

mes, P. Hume, R. Jellett, C. Leadman, J. Legendre, M.

McRae, B. Monette, S. Qadri, D. Thompson, M. Wilkin-

son, Mayor O’Brien

NO (1): Councillor G. Hunter

HOW THEY VOTED

LEASING LAND FOR SOLAR ENERGY PARK (PASSED)May 26, 2010 - Planning and Environment Committee Report 70, Item 1

City Council agreed to lease 120 hectares of a former landll site to Energy Ottawa, the green energy subsidiary of HydroOttawa, for the construction of the Trail Road Solar Energy Park. Consisting of two ground-mounted photovoltaic elds,the park will generate 12 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power 1,500 homes. Over the 20 year term of theproject, the City will collect $2.5 million in rent, in addition to enhanced dividends from Hydro Ottawa.

In granting this land lease, the City of Ottawa has increased its investment in locally-generated renewable energy. TheCity will need many more such projects to capitalize fully on the Province’s Green Energy Act, and ramp up its generatingcapacity in order to power all municipal facilities with clean power.

Clean Energy

The Votes that Counted in 2010



Green Buildings

YES (23): All Councillors, Mayor O’Brien Absent: Councillor J. Harder

HOW THEY VOTED

YES (23): All Councillors, Mayor O’Brien Absent: Councillor J. Harder

HOW THEY VOTED

PILOT PROJECT FOR SMART STREET LIGHTING (PASSED) April 28, 2010 -- Transportation Committee Report 38A, Item 2

This vote approved a pilot project, in partnership with Hydro Ottawa, to install an advanced control system to helpreduce the electricity required for street lighting. Conventional street lights have two modes: on or off. With the more ad-

vanced control system, the City will gain the ability to dim street lights during periods of low pedestrian activity, therebyreducing electricity consumption. It will also become possible to control and monitor the lights remotely, enabling theCity to plan the lighting of streets more efciently. A similar pilot project in central British Columbia reported energysavings of 30% with no negative public reaction from the test site. The test site for the city of Ottawa as not yet beendecided, but once the system is installed the results will be reported within a year.

Outdoor lighting in Ottawa consumes approximately 300 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, at a cost of around $5million. Reducing electricity demand for street lighting will not only reduce the City’s costs but also its environmentalimpacts, as much of Ontario’s electricity comes from nuclear power stations or coal-red power plants.

LOOPHOLE IN GREEN BUILDINGS POLICY (PASSED) June 9, 2010 – Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee Report 55, Item 9

This vote weakened the City’s Green Buildings Policy by allowing Council to exempt newly constructed municipal build-

ings from meeting the minimum LEED certication when “all reasonable efforts” have been exhausted. This conditionis vague and could be open to various interpretations. The existing policy already set the bar fairly low by requiring newmunicipal buildings to meet only the “certied” level within the LEED system. Other levels of government, such as PublicWorks Canada, have committed to the higher “gold” standards for new federal buildings. The City will have an evenharder time convincing Ottawa’s property developers and building owners to embrace green building standards if it is notwilling to do so itself.

9



HIRING FOREST MAINTENANCE STAFF TO DEAL WITHTHE EMERALD ASH

BORER BEETLE (LOST) January 25-28, 2010 (Budget Meeting) – Motion 82/15

The intent of this motion was to implement the recommendations of the City’s Auditor General concerning timelymaintenance of forests within the city. In particular, the motion sought to ensure adequate stafng to deal with theimmediate problem of the invasive Emerald Ash Borer beetle. This insect, responsible for killing off millions of ash trees

in Ontario and in the United States, was rst discovered in Ottawa in 2008.

Despite a declaration by the Mayor of an “Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week” in mid-May 2010, the Mayor and amajority of councillors decided against taking the recommended action on the issue. As a result, the budget to hire sevenfull time employees to manage this problem was not approved. This means that the city will have to manage the issuewith existing employees or avoid taking responsibility for the problem.

YES (11): Councillors C. Doucet, P. Hume, M. Wilkinson,

D. Holmes, M. Bellemare, C. Leadman, M. McRae, A. Cul-

len, P. Feltmate, J. Legendre and G. Bédard.

NO (13): Councillors G. Hunter, R. Jellett, R. Bloess, S.

Desroches, E. El-Chantiry, G. Brooks, R. Chiarelli, S. Qa-

dri, D. Thompson, B. Monette, J. Harder, D. Deans, and

Mayor O’Brien.

HOW THEY VOTED

ENFORCEMENT OF DISTINCTIVE TREE BYLAW (LOST) January 25-28, 2010 (Budget Meeting) – Motion 82/16

This motion was intended to ensure adequate stafng in order to implement the Urban Tree Conservation Strategy,approved by Council in May 2009. The strategy had been adopted after numerous incidents in which trees were cutdown without approval due to insufcient regulation of tree cutting. These incidents involved clearing of lands prior toapplication for permits, as well as cutting of trees in Natural Environment Areas.

The stafng required to implement the conservation strategy requires two inspectors, but Council voted against thenecessary budget funding. The result is that the city still does not have an active tree conservation program to preventinappropriate cutting of city forests. It also means that city is not able to play a proactive role in evaluating opportunitiesfor conservation of forest areas within the city.

Greenspace and Natural Areas

10

YES (9): Councillors C. Doucet, P. Hume, M. Wilkinson, D.

Holmes, S. Desroches, A. Cullen, P. Feltmate, J. Legendre

and G. Bédard.

NO (14): Councillors G. Hunter, R. Jellett, R. Bloess, M.

Bellemare, E. El-Chantiry, M. McRae, G. Brooks, R. Chi-

arelli, S. Qadri, D. Thompson, B. Monette, J. Harder, D.

Deans, and Mayor O’Brien.

HOW THEY VOTED



Greenspace and Natural Areas

YES (14): Councillors P. Hume, M. Bellemare, R.

Chiarelli, J. Legendre, D. Deans, C. Doucet, M. Wilkinson,

S. Qadri, P. Feltmate, G. Bédard, G. Hunter, A. Cullen, R.

Bloess, and Mayor L. O’Brien

Absent: Councillors S. Desroches, D. Holmes and M.

Mcrae

NO (3): Councillors B. Monette, J. Harder and D.

Thompson.

HOW THEY VOTED

DEVELOPING A WILDLIFE STRATEGY (PASSED)February 24, 2010 – Community and Protective Services Committee Report 50, Item 3

This vote to develop a Wildlife Strategy for the City of Ottawa was a product of the growing debate over how toaddress coyote issues, as well as other wildlife found to be wandering into urban areas. While several Canadian citieshave implemented “Living with Wildlife” programs over the past decade, Ottawa still has yet to do so. The strategy isexpected to focus on educating the public and creating more awareness about human safety issues.

As urban sprawl consumes more greenspace and pushes development deeper into natural areas, human-wildlifeinteractions have become a bigger problem. It is promising to see Council taking a more integrated approach to thiscomplex issue and avoiding simple, knee-jerk reactions.

11



FUNDING FOR OTTAWA PEDESTRIAN PLAN (PASSED) January 25-28, 2010 (Budget Meeting) – Motions 82/21 and 82/22

A motion to defer the Bank Street Reconstruction Project in the Glebe by one year allowed Council to reallocate $3.35 millionof the capital budget to start implementation of the Ottawa Pedestrian Plan. The Plan is designed to facilitate walking as ayear-round, comfortable, viable and well-integrated component of the transportation plan in Ottawa. The long-term goal ofthe Pedestrian Plan is to increase the number of walking trips residents take by 33 percent over the next 20 years.

Walkable cities are desirable places to live, work, and play, and therefore a key component of smart urban growthand development. Communities that are designed to support walking promote healthy living, contribute to a cleanerenvironment, ease road congestion, reduce future vehicle infrastructure costs, and even increase a sense of local prideand belonging. Ottawa needs to re-establish a culture of walking, and sustained funding for the Pedestrian Plan is animportant step in the right direction.

YES: (24) All Councillors, Mayor O’Brien. NO: none

HOW THEY VOTED

YES (4) : Councillors C. Doucet, D. Holmes, A. Cullen andP. Feltmate.

NO (20) : Councillors G. Hunter, P. Hume, R. Jellett, M.Wilkinson, R. Bloess, M. Bellemare, S. Desroches, C.Leadman, E. El-Chantiry, M. McRae, G. Brooks, R. Chi-arelli, S. Qadri, D. Thompson, B. Monette, J. Harder, J.Legendre, D. Deans, G. Bédard and Mayor O’Brien.

HOW THEY VOTED

INCREASE OF $2 MILLION TO 2010 TRANSIT SERVICES BUDGET (LOST) January 25-28, 2010 (Budget Meeting) – Motions 82/39 and 82/40

This vote to add $2 million to the 2010 Transit Services budget would have increased the level of transit service in thecity. The vote was lost so there is no room for substantial service increases by OC Transpo in 2010. This is a disap-

pointing setback for the improvement of Ottawa’s public transit, especially since the Transit Committee’s list of 2010budgetary pressures included expanding the overall transit system and meeting increased demand for service on exist-ing routes. It also appears to run contrary to Council’s earlier decision on November 25 (see above) to expand the UrbanTransit Area into newly developing neighbourhoods in the south and east. A better transit system is essential for Ottawato attract new employers to the region, get its road maintenance budget under control, and keep its commitment to low-

ering greenhouse gas emissions.

Transportation

12



13

COSTING FOR DIFFERENT TRANSPORTATION MODES (PASSED) April 28, 2010 - Transportation Committee Report 38A, Item 1

By adopting this motion, Council will have more information on the capital and operating costs of various modes oftransportation (i.e. single occupancy vehicle, express bus, rural/suburban route, inner greenbelt transit services, walkingand cycling) when considering municipal budget proposals in 2011. This information can be used to calculate thedifferential impact on the tax rate of the provision of these services.

At present, it is difcult to calculate the hierarchy of costs or the level of subsidy provided by the City to various formsof transportation. We hope that the availability of such information will allow for more effective budget planning. Regret-tably the motion did not ask, as city staff had recommended, for estimates to include the broader societal costs, such ashealth impacts, pollution (i.e. air, noise and water), enforcement, land value, and accidents.

YES(11): Councillors M. McRae, A. Cullen, M. Bellemare,G. Bedard, J. Legendre, C. Doucet, C. Leadman, P. Felt-mate, G. Hunter, D. Deans and D. Holmes

NO(9): Councillors R. Bloess, R. Jellett, S. Desroches, E.El-Chantiry, G. Brooks, B. Monette, S. Qadri, M. Wilkinsonand Mayor L. O’Brien

HOW THEY VOTED

Absent: Councillor J. Harder

Transportation



Transportation

14

EXPANSION OF URBAN TRANSIT AREA INTO NEWER SUBURBS (PASSED)November 25, 2009 – Transit Committee Report 33, Item 2

With this vote, Council brought recently developed land east of Trim Road and in Riverside South into the Urban Transit Area (UTA). Within the UTA, transit service is guaranteed to be available within a 5-minute walk for 95 percent of thepopulation during peak periods. In non-peak periods, transit service is available within a 10-minute walk. Bringing theUTA and its associated transit levy into suburban areas is an important part of building a city-wide transit network andproviding equitable service to all Ottawa residents. Interestingly, the two councillors who voted against this measurerepresent suburban wards.

HOW THEY VOTED

NO (2): Councillors R. Jellett, B. MonetteYES (21): Councillors G. Bédard, M. Bellemare, R. Bloess,G. Brooks, R. Chiarelli, A. Cullen, D. Deans, S. Desroches,C. Doucet, E. El-Chantiry, P. Feltmate, J. Harder, D.Holmes, P. Hume, G. Hunter, J. Legendre, M. MacRae, S.Qadri, D. Thompson, M. Wilkinson, Mayor Larry O’Brien

Absent: Councillor C. Leadman

YES (4) : (18): Councillors M. McRae, R. Bloess, R. Jellett,S. Desroches, E. El-Chantiry,

A. Cullen, S. Qadri, M. Bellemare, G. Bédard, J. Legendre,C. Doucet, C. Leadman, P.

NO (3): Councillors R. Chiarelli, B. Monette and D. Deans.

HOW THEY VOTED

PURCHASE OF MORE FUEL-EFFICIENT BUSES (PASSED) April 28, 2010 – Transit Committee Report 38, Item 1

This vote approved the purchase of 226 New Flyer buses to replace 226 buses bought from New Flyer between 2001and 2004. This purchase should increase the reliability of the OC Transpo service and, since the new models are morefuel efcient, result in signicant fuel savings and reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOX) gases and carbon dioxide.The rst buses are to be delivered in August 2010 and the agreement should be completed by the rst quarter of 2011.

While public transportation is a vital service and provides a more environmentally friendly transportation alternative toprivate automobile use, OC Transpo operates diesel buses that contribute to the problem of city smog and release ofgreenhouse gases. Fortunately the new model of New Flyer buses are 26 per cent more fuel efcient than the older2001-2004 buses. The newer buses are also expected to be more reliable and experience less mechanical breakdownthan the older models resulting in an increase in bus availability.



ALLOWING LOW-EMISSION AND HYBRID TAXIS (PASSED) June 23, 2010 – Community and Protective Services Committee Report 56, Item 3

The vote to allow taxi drivers to drive low-emission and hybrid cars was actually part of a larger motion to update theCity’s taxi bylaw, including its outdated vehicle standards. The motion also included a request that the Province providemore nancial incentives to offset the higher costs of hybrid or electrically powered vehicles being used in taxicab eets.In approving this bylaw revision, Ottawa is catching up with other Canadian cities like Vancouver, which initiated the veryrst hybrid taxicab service in North America in 2000.

Absent: Councillor J. LegendreYES (23) : All councillors, Mayor O’Brien

HOW THEY VOTED

15

Transportation

NO (2): Councillors S. Desroches and B. MonetteYES (22): Councillors G. Hunter, C. Doucet, P. Hume, R.Jellett, M. Wilkinson , R. Bloess, D. Holmes, M. Bellemare,C. Leadman, E. El-Chantiry, M. McRae, G. Brooks, R.Chiarelli, S. Qadri, A. Cullen, P. Feltmate, D. Thompson,J. Harder, J. Legendre, D. Deans, and G. Bédard, MayorO’Brien

HOW THEY VOTED

APPROVAL OF A UNIVERSAL STUDENT TRANSIT PASS, OR “U-PASS” (PASSED) January 25-28, 2010 (Budget Meeting) – Motion No. 82/12

This vote approved a two-year pilot project to establish a Universal Student Transit Pass (U-Pass) for all students atCarleton University and the University of Ottawa. Students in Ottawa had been lobbying the City for over 10 years forsuch a program. Starting in September 2010, students will be charged $145 per semester for the pass, which representsa substantial savings over the cost of a regular student pass.

U-Pass programs in other Canadian cities have encouraged students to use public transportation more often, as thepass is included in their registration fees. The program can reduce the carbon footprint of the student population andbroaden a public transit culture on the 2 campuses.



BAN ON MUNICIPAL ELECTION CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DEVELOPERS,

CORPORATIONS AND UNIONS (LOST) January 13, 2010 – Motions 81/10 and 81/11

Partly in an attempt to curb the inuence of developers at City Hall, this motion requested the Province of Ontario toallow municipalities to ban municipal candidates from accepting donations from corporations and unions. Council votedagainst revisiting this touchy subject, which had been the subject of a similar motion in 2009.

The inuence wielded by developers in city planning has been the subject of heated debate in Ottawa recently. In 2009,an Ecology Ottawa report revealed that developers donated more than $120,000 to city councillors and the mayor in the2006 municipal election campaign. The 2010 election campaign is likely to keep up this troubling tradition. At present,only the City of Toronto has the right to ban these types of donations, due to special powers granted under the City ofToronto Act. City councillors should represent the public interest and shouldn’t be beholden to vested interests.

YES (10): Councillors D. Holmes, G. Brooks, C. Doucet, P.Feltmate, C. Leadman, R. Jellett, P. Hume, R. Bloess, A.Cullen and G. Hunter

NO (14): Councillors E. El-Chantiry, S. Desroches, M.McRae, G. Bédard, D. Thompson, D. Deans, B. Monette,S. Qadri, J. Legendre, M. Wilkinson, M. Bellemare, R.Chiarelli, J. Harder and Mayor O’Brien

HOW THEY VOTED

Urban Growth And Land Use

16



17

Water

APPROVAL OF THE OTTAWA RIVER ACTION PLAN (PASSED)February 24, 2010 – Planning and Environment Committee Report 64A, Item 11

This vote approved the Ottawa River Action Plan (ORAP), which includes 17 projects to be completed over ve years, at atotal cost of $251.6 million. The Plan will upgrade the City’s water and wastewater systems and improve the health of theOttawa River. The upgrades include the construction of massive water storage tanks, which will reduce sewage overowsinto the Ottawa River. The Plan aims to achieve “zero overows during the swimming season in the ‘average’ year.”

This is a signicant undertaking to improve the health of local water ecosystems. In the past, Ottawa’s sewer systemshave been overwhelmed by the amount of water entering the systems during rain and other wet weather events suchas snowmelt, resulting in the overow of wastewater directly into the river. The combined sewer overows resultedin shoreline pollution, beach closures, and damage to the local aquatic ecosystems. Once constructed, the storagetanks will contain excess water in times of heavy ow until it can be released more gradually at a pace that can behandled by the sewage treatment plant.

YES (21): All councillors and Mayor O’Brien. Absent: Councillors S. Desroches, D. Holmes, M. McRae

HOW THEY VOTED



Water

HOW THEY VOTED

YES (8): Councillors A. Cullen, G. Bédard, J. Legendre,C. Doucet, P. Feltmate, P. Hume, M. Wilkinson and D.Holmes.

Absent: Councillor J. Harder

NO (12): Councillors R. Bloess, R. Chiarelli, R. Jellett,S. Desroches, E. El-Chantiry, G. Brooks, B. Monette, D.Thompson, S. Qadri, G. Hunter, D. Deans and Mayor L.O’Brien.

PROMOTION OF MUNICIPAL DRINKING WATER, INCLUDING MOBILE WATER

STATIONS (LOST) April 28, 2010 – Motion 88/3

While debating a new strategy to promote municipal water as a source of drinking water, Council split over whether to ap-

prove the full plan that included the purchase of two mobile water stations (i.e. a water trailer and a pickup truck) to servelocal events and festivals. Providing mobile water stations would reduce the consumption of bottled water at festival sitesand demonstrate the benets of municipal drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Ottawa residents each year.

Funding for the stations at a cost of $200,000 was a key part of the City’s strategy and should have been non-controversial, having already been approved in the 2010 budget. This compromise motion (88/3) would have approvedthe purchase of only one mobile water station instead of cancelling the program outright, but it did not pass. A subsequent motion, which did pass, resolved that the program would only proceed if a corporate sponsor could beidentied. To date, no sponsor has been found.

FUNDING FOR THE OTTAWA RURAL CLEAN WATER PROGRAM (PASSED)November 16, 2009 – Planning and Environment Committee Report 59A, Item 6

This vote approved $250,000 in funding to the Ottawa Rural Clean Water Program for 2010. This initiative pays50 to 75 per cent of the cost of some rural property owners’ projects to improve surface water quality. Ruralresidents are the primary stewards of their lands and this program is among the City’s best tool to engage them in

water quality improvement and protection.

YES (24): All councillors, Mayor O’Brien

HOW THEY VOTED

18



19

Grading Calculations 2010

Council members’ grades were based on how they voted on 17 key decisions made at City Council between Novembe2009 and June 2010. Councillors were given one point for each environmentally responsible motion they supportedduring council meetings, and one for each destructive motion they voted against. These points were then added up anddivided by the total number of decisions voted on by that councillor. The numerical score was converted into a lettergrade as shown in the grading scheme in the table on the following pages.

Admittedly, this system of grading is not rigorously scientic. It does not capture every element of a councillor’sperformance at city hall. For example, in order to consistently measure each councillor against the same criteria, wehave omitted decisions made at the committee level, where many decisions are debated by a subset of councillorsbefore reaching council. That said, the report does provide us with a rough tool for comparing the relative positions ofthe mayor and councillors, and in reviewing the results from the four report cards, the patterns become quite clear.




20

Mayor Larry O’Brien

Georges Bédard

Michel Bellemare

Rainer BloessGlenn Brooks

Rick Chiarelli

Alex Cullen

Diane Deans

Steve Desroches

Clive Doucet

Eli El-Chantiry

Peggy Feltmate

Jan Harder

Diane Holmes

Peter Hume

Gord Hunter

Rob Jellett

Christine Leadman

Jacques Legendre

Maria McRaeBob Monette

Shad Qadri

Doug Thompson

Marianne Wilkinson

Environmental/

Anti-environmental

Mayor

Rideau-Vanier

Beacon Hill-Cyrville

InnesRideau-Goulbourn

College

Bay

Gloucester-Southgate

Gloucester-South Nepean

Capital

West Carleton-March

Kanata South

Barrhaven

Somerset

Alta Vista

Knoxdale-Merivale

Cumberland

Kitchissippi

Rideau-Rockcliffe

RiverOrleans

Stittsville

Osgoode

Kanata North

C-

A-

B

CC-

C-

A+

C-

D

A+

C-

A+

D

A+

A

C

C-

B+

A-

BF

C-

D

B+

10/17

14/17

12/16

11/179/15

9/16

16/17

10/17

8/15

16/17

9/16

16/17

7/13

14/15

14/16

11/17

9/16

11/14

13/16

10/146/17

10/17

8/15

13/17

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

24/0

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

-

Yes

YesNo

Yes

Yes

Yes

21/2

1

No

No

No

YesYes

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

NoNo

No

No

No

10/14

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesNo

Yes

Yes

Yes

22/2

0

No

Yes

No

NoNo

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

NoNo

No

No

Yes

9/14

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

24/0

0

Grading Scheme:

A+ = 91-100% A = 86-90% A- = 81-85%B+ = 76-80%B = 71-75%C+ = 66-70%

C = 61-65%C- = 56-60%D = 50-55%F = 0-49%

G r a d e

S c o r e

F u n d i n g f o r O t t a w a R u r a l

C l e a n W a t e r P r o g r a m

E x p a n s i o n o f U r b a n T r a

n s i t

A r e a i n t o n e w e r s u b u r b

s

B a n o n e l e c t i o n d o n a t i o n s

f r o m c o r p o r a t i o n s

A p p r o v a l o f a u n i v e r s a l

s t u d e n t t r a n s i t p a s s

E n f o r c e m e n t o f d i s t i n c t i v e

t r e e b y l a w

F u n d i n g f o r t h e O t t a w a

P e d e s t r i a n P l a n

16-Nov-09 25-Nov-09 13-Jan-10 28-Jan-1 28-Jan-10 28-Jan-10

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yesx/17



21


No

Yes

Yes

NoNo

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

YesNo

No

No

Yes

11/13

0

No

No

No

NoNo

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

NoNo

No

No

No

4/20

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

21/0

3

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes-

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Yes

-

Yes

No

-

Yes

Yes

-

-

Yes

-No

Yes

No

Yes

14/3

7

No

Yes

Yes

NoNo

-

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

-

Yes

-

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

YesNo

No

-

No

11/9

4

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

23/0

1

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes-

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesNo

Yes

-

Yes

18/3

3

No

Yes

-

NoNo

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

-

Yes

Yes

No

No

-

Yes

-No

No

No

Yes

8/12

4

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

23/1

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

0/24

0

Yes

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

YesYes

Yes

Yes

Yes

23/0

1

H i r i n g

f o r e s

t m a

i n t e n a n c e

s t a f f t o d e a

l w

i t h E A B

I n c r e a s e o

f $ 2 M t o 2 0 1

0

T r a n s

i t S e r v

i c e s

b u

d g e

t

A p p r o v a

l o

f t h e

O t t a w a

R i v e r

A c

t i o n

P l a n

D e v e

l o p

i n g a

W i l d l i f e

S t r a t e g y

C o s

t i n g

f o r

d i f f e r e n

t

t r a n s p o r t a

t i o n m o

d e s

P i l o t p r o

j e c

t f o r s m a r t

s t r e e

t l i g h t i n g

P u r c

h a s e o

f m o r e

f u e

l - e f f i c i e n

t b u s e s

W a

t e r m o

b i l e s

t o p r o m

o t e

m u n

i c i p a

l d r i n

k i n g w a t e r

L e a s

i n g

l a n

d f o r s o

l a r

e n e r g y p a r k

L o o p

h o

l e i n G r e e n

B u

i l d i n g s

P o

l i c y

A l l o w

i n g

l o w - e

m i s s

i o n

a n

d h y

b r i d

t a x

i s

28-Jan-10 28-Jan-10 24-Feb-10 24-Feb-10 28-Apr-10 28-Apr-10 28-Apr-10 28-Apr-10 26-May-10 9-Jun-10 23-Jun-10Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes



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pollution, waste, and global warming, and that they want a sustainable communityies

where public transit, renewable energy, recycling, and the protection of green spaces

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Ecology Ottawa 2010 Council Watch Report

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