BY THE NUMBERS

City council expected to vote Wednesday on approval of land use for development

Ottawa

38: New confirmed cases, as of 3 p.m. Sunday

13,708: Total cases

456: Active cases

2: New deaths

426: Total deaths

23: In hospital

6: In intensive care

611: Swabs processed at Ottawa assessment centres on Sunday

1.6 per cent: Positivity rate in Ottawa residents, Feb. 1-7

Ontario 1,265:

New confirmed cases, as of Sunday afternoon 279,472: Total confirmed cases

219: Confirmed cases with U.K. variant

1: Confirmed case with South African variant

33: New deaths

6,538: Total deaths

901: Currently hospitalized 335: In intensive care

226: On a ventilator

6,987: Doses of vaccine administered Sunday 386,171: Total doses administered

106,163: People fully vaccinated

The OPP are warning drivers to be on their guard as they investigate incidents in which debris was found on Highway 17.

In the latest incident, several vehicle rims were found on the highway near Sawmill Road in Laurentian Valley Township at about 3:20 a.m. Sunday, Upper Ottawa Valley OPP said Monday.

The driver who reported the hazard avoided hitting the rims, which were seized by police, and OPP forensic identification services officers helped with the investigation.

Two vehicles were damaged Jan. 8 when three rocks, each slightly larger than a basketball, were found on the highway near Rox Siding Road in Whitewater Township, Renfrew OPP reported.

Police advise drivers “to be alert and watch for debris, especially in the early morning hours on Highway 17.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Upper Ottawa Valley OPP at 613-735-0188 or Pembroke/Renfrew County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or at valleytips.ca.

The Algonquins of Ontario's vision for an isolated community of up to 45,000 people in rural south Ottawa is above all a planning decision. It might be the only thing people on each side of the controversy agree on.

As a scheduled vote on the future of the project gets closer, council will likely hear more about why the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) and its development partner, Taggart Investments, believe their new Tewin suburb checks the city's boxes for inclusion in an expanded urban boundary.

The vote on Wednesday will approve the lands that will come inside the urban boundary in an updated official plan for the City of Ottawa.

The AOO has successfully pitched the project to councillors on two planing-focused committees as something that could go a long way toward Indigenous reconciliation. Algonquin communities not part of AOO are incensed by the notion that allowing the land for development would be an act of reconciling with Algonquins.

The reconciliation question has overshadowed the central question: is the Tewin land suitable for urban expansion as a satellite community?

The city has laid out why the Tewin site was scored “category 3,” and consequently, far down the line for inclusion in the urban boundary.

Residential development near the city limits, separated from established suburbs, would be the kind of urban sprawl usually frowned upon.

However, a recommendation from the planning committee and agriculture and rural affairs committee would have the effect of catapulting Tewin to a category 1 site and considering it development eligible as part of an updated official plan.

The planning consultants for AOO and Taggart aren't convinced that the city gave the Tewin site a fair analysis in deciding where to expand the urban boundary and they don't think the scoring system works well for establishing new, big communities. In fact, they think the Tewin project would almost perfectly stack up against the city's “five big moves” established as goals in the next official plan.

“There is nothing like what is being proposed here,” according to Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, a partner with Urban Strategies who's on the Tewin project team.

AOO/Taggart's planning rationale for the “low-carbon” project leans heavily on the community being a highly eco-friendly suburb, one that lives up to the “One Planet Living” philosophy, potentially rivalling the Zibi development in central Ottawa-Gatineau as the region's most sustainable community.

For council, an argument emerges that if you're going to expand the urban boundary, as council already agreed to do in May 2020, why not do it in a way that aligns with the city's climate change objectives, one of which calls for the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

It's not the first time that the land has been considered for a new community.

The land was eyed for an Ottawa suburb about 50 years ago based on a provincial vision for a satellite city, but the idea faded when planners became spooked about the difficult clay ground conditions and the reality that the community would be far from services.

AOO scooped up the land in recent years as provincial Crown agency Infrastructure Ontario was looking to unload the property. It was a market-price sale, outside of an ongoing government landclaim process, and AOO brought Taggart on as its development partner.

The AOO/Taggart project team has addressed the concern about ground conditions by having the development potential confirmed by engineers.

On the question of waste water services, the project team points to an east-end sewage tunnel that was installed decades ago, saying the infrastructure is highly underused and was always intended to support a large development like Tewin.

The long-term cost of operations for Ottawa's property taxpayers is still murky, even with AOO/Taggart committing to pay for water, waste water and stormwater infrastructure being extended to the site, along with using revenue from an area-specific development charge for OC Transpo bus service to Tewin.

Meanwhile, five rural community associations — Greely, Manotick Village, Metcalfe, Osgoode Village and Richmond Village — wrote to council on Monday asking for further review by city staff on Tewin because they're concerned about traffic impacts.

AOO and Taggart are eager to get started on designing the community.

They believe the first phase of Tewin could happen within five years if all the short-term approvals fall into place.

While it's a land-planning decision first, the reconciliation question still hangs heavy over council as politicians see more irritation from non-AOO Algonquin communities.

On Monday, the Algonquin Nation Secretariat, which represents the Timiskaming, Wolf Lake and Barriere Lake Algonquin communities, voiced opposition to the city's intention to approve Tewin in the name of reconciliation, echoing the strong objection by the Quebec-based communities of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council.

Lynn Clouthier, the AOO negotiation representative for Ottawa, said it's “very, very disappointing ” to see other Algonquin communities criticize the Tewin project.

“It's just a distraction,” Clouthier said. “It's taking attention away from how important this project is.”

While it's a land-planning decision first, the reconciliation question still hangs heavy over council.

Re: The green death: How environmentally friendly options are changing the way we bury our dead, Feb. 5.

I'm glad the death industry and advocates are concerned about the impact we'll have on the Earth from whence we came.

However, the article, I believe, misses a point it could have made about the ultimate recycling plan: organ donation.

There is no downside: healthy, usable tissue passing to another in need, to extend life, rather than being environmentally disposed of. Objections to such a selfless act can only be based on fear born of ignorance.

When my earthly remains go into the only patch of ground they will occupy for eternity, there will be as many parts of me as possible living on in someone else.

Everyone can participate in saving and extending life. Sign a donor card. Tell your doctor. Tell your family.

Organ donation: It's good for the Earth. It's good for the soul. It's good for humanity. Wayne Sollows, Ottawa