■ COUNCIL NUGGETS
The empty chair left by Coun. Jan Harder's resignation as head of the planning committee will be filled by two councillors, a first for the City of Ottawa.
Councillors Scott Moffatt (Rideau-Goulbourn) and Glen Gower (Stittsville) had both thrown their hats into the ring to replace Barrhaven's Harder, whose resignation came after an integrity investigation alleged “an apparent conflict of interest” stemming from her relationship with an area developer.
Moffatt and Gower received more votes than the third contender, Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Jeff Leiper, after Coun. Allan Hubley moved a motion to allow for two chairs to head up planning committee for the rest of this term of council ending in 2022, considering among other things the heavy workload with getting a new official plan to approval.
Harder's departure also left a vacancy for a planning committee member. Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard was the only one to put his name forward and was voted into the role.
The other job Harder stepped down from — member of the board of directors with Ottawa Community Lands Development Corp. — went to River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington, who edged Hubley in the council vote.
COUNCIL BACKS LETTER TO DECLARE OVERDOSES NATIONAL EMERGENCY
Mayor Jim Watson will be asking the federal government to declare the overdose crisis a national public health emergency, with council backing a motion Wednesday directing him to do so.
Council will also ask the federal government to seek immediate input from those most affected by the crisis and to meet with the provinces and territories to create a pan-Canadian overdose action plan that includes “comprehensive supports,” such as more access to harm-reduction and treatment services, and fully considers reforms such as “legal regulation of controlled substances to ensure safe supply of pharmaceutical alternatives to toxic street drugs” and “decriminalization of people who use controlled substances for personal use.”
A number of councillors spoke in support of the motion, which Ottawa Public Health said it would support if asked, according to Leiper, who made the motion.
“We talk about treatment, and, if that's where some people get to, they'll only get there through that spectrum of harm reduction. But they'll only get there if they're alive,” Coun. Catherine McKenney said.
Coun. Rick Chiarelli suggested it had become a trend to declare an emergency when an issue became a significant priority without looking at how doing so actually addressed the problem.
Coun. Mathieu Fleury, on the other hand, argued the importance of this motion ahead of a federal election, saying it will get residents engaged with candidates who come to their doors, asking what action their parties would take.
GLEBE DEVELOPMENT SCORES APPROVAL FOR ZONING AMENDMENT
Council approved a zoning amendment for a 16-storey mixeduse development for the Glebe's north end despite opposition from Menard, the councillor for the area.
Stephen Willis, general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development for the city, acknowledged that if a Bank Street height and character study — which Menard said was about to be approved — had been adopted by council and in effect the day the applicant applied, it would have been “a dominant consideration” for staff's review.
But at this point, said Gower, the planning committee's new co-chair, it's a study and not policy.
“There's a lot of policy work, a lot of initiatives in (the new) official plan that I wish we could apply to some of the applications coming through committee and council right now, but we can't because it's not actual policy yet,” said Gower, who encouraged a vote in favour of the application for 30-48 Chamberlain Ave.
In response to a question from Watson, a city staff member also advised that, if council did not approve this, it was assumed the matter would be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal and that, when there is a staff recommendation in favour of a development, as there was in this case, the application is approved by the tribunal more often than not.