Latest news with #HorizonOttawa
Ottawa Citizen
3 days ago
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Pellerin: Ottawa People's Summit shares ideas for a better city
Maybe I'm too optimistic for my own good, but I have a feeling we'll look back on this time as when people power was born. In the United States, so many Americans are organizing to resist abuses coming from the White House. We don't have Donald Trump in the capital of #Never51, thank goodness, but enough of us are sick and tired of being unheard when it comes to making this the best city it can be that we're organizing. Article content Article content Article content On Tuesday evening, I was downtown for the first People's Summit, put together by Better Ottawa and supported Horizon Ottawa as well as by other community organizations including a few I've written about before, such as Ottawa Community Land Trust and the Urbanism Book Club. Article content The sold-out crowd packed Impact Hub on Slater Street. This in itself was impressive given that the event wasn't advertised very much, and there was a $25 admission fee. Organizer Neil Saravanamuttoo told me he was hoping for 30 or maybe 40 people. Nearly 100 bought a ticket, including Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who said he went to listen. Article content People came for different reasons, including networking with like-minded folks and debating issues that are front of mind. I walked around the room listening to conversations, and I heard 'Lansdowne' mentioned more than once. Urban gardening and LRT were often heard, too. Article content Article content Mostly I think people came because, as Saravanamuttoo said in his opening remarks to enthusiastic applause, 'we love this city, but we don't like what's happening at City Hall, and we want to do something about it.' Article content Article content The crowd was treated to a live recording of the Better Ottawa Municipal Panel with the fantastic duo of municipal journalism experts Joanne Chianello and Jon Willing. They answered questions from the audience covering subjects such as leadership, engagement, security, public bathrooms (or rather, the ever-frustrating lack thereof), and why councillors' emails often provide better information than anything the city puts out, regardless of platform. Article content Events such as this People's Summit help address a challenge that activists often face when dealing with a large city that is so bureaucratic it moves at a glacial pace — when it moves at all, that is. It takes years to approve simple changes like allowing residents to grow carrots in their front yard. Now imagine more complicated matters like, I don't know, running a transit system that works or building sidewalks that aren't full of badly patched cracks.
Ottawa Citizen
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa City Hall rolling out 'hostile' new security measures
Article content Tom Ledgley, a coordinator with local advocacy group Horizon Ottawa, called the new security measures extremely problematic and hostile because it is a barrier for residents who want to make their voices heard in council chambers or with their councillors. Article content In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Ledgley said the measures give the impression that the city does not want to be scrutinized in a public forum. Article content '(City staff) are not coming out with really strong evidence for why this is necessary. To us, it really sends a bad message at a particularly bad time. It's telling folks that they're not welcome and discouraging people from showing up to city hall in person to do things like deliver delegations,' Ledgley said. Article content The advocate also called the new security measures 'invasive,' especially for people from communities which have been historically marginalized by law enforcement. These communities already face a lot of barriers trying to make their voices heard in council chambers, he said. Article content Article content 'A lot of these people are the ones that we really should be hearing from at these public meetings, and these people are going to especially be the ones who are discouraged from showing up,' Ledgley added. Article content 'When you tell people that there's going to be extra security and we're putting them through metal detectors, it gives the impression that (the city is) trying to find something they're doing wrong. That can be really stressful for people.' Article content Article content But most importantly, Ledgley said Ottawans will be losing a public space. City Hall was designed by famed architect Raymond Moriyama to be open and spacious, drawing in thousands of people weekly. Around 35,000 people pass through the building each week, and another 1,000 people work in the building. Article content On any given day, high schoolers can be seen walking through the halls to grab food and snacks during lunch break. Tourists and visitors often stop and admire the art installations inside the building. Others are grabbing coffee in the cafe or getting paperwork sorted at the Service Ontario office inside. Article content 'I don't speak on behalf of every resident of the city, but to me, that feels really hostile. I just really don't like that feeling walking in there (with the enhanced security measures),' Ledgley said.
