Hi neighbour,
Hope you all had a good week and managed to stay warm despite these polar temperatures! While 2025 is winding down, it’s still a very busy time at City Hall and across Bay Ward, with the 2026 budget coming to Council on December 10th, the new zoning by-law coming to a joint meeting of the Planning and Housing and Rural Affairs committees on December 17th, and the final weeks of Stage 2 construction before a quieter period over the holidays.
Here’s a look at what my team and I have been working on this week.
December 3rd: Celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities at City Hall
On Wednesday, December 3, I was pleased to join my colleagues on Council, the Mayor, community members, and advocates for a flag-raising to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the ceremony for the first annual Accessible Ottawa Awards. I’d like to congratulate this year’s winners:
- Kyle Humphrey (Individual): For more than six years, Kyle has worked tirelessly to improve accessible public transit, ensuring that our city is inclusive for everyone. His persistence, courage, and dedication have inspired others and brought vital attention to the barriers faced by people with disabilities. Through his advocacy, Kyle has become a voice for change — one that reminds us that accessibility is not a privilege, but a right. Beyond his advocacy, Kyle’s creativity, kindness, and passion for our community, and of course his love for the Ottawa Senators, truly reflects the spirit of our city. Kyle Humphrey exemplifies what it means to make Ottawa stronger, fairer, and more inclusive for all.
- Whimble (Organization): Founded on the belief that disability should never limit personal freedom, Whimble connects individuals with vetted, experienced care attendants for urgent, short-term, or event-based support. The service fills critical gaps when routine care systems fail or aren’t able to accommodate, ensuring people can live, work, travel, and participate fully in their communities, on their own terms. With thousands of hours of care delivered and growing partnerships across major events and venues in Ontario, Whimble is raising the bar for true accessibility and inclusion. Its mission is simple: provide timely, flexible, client-directed care that respects independence, safety, and dignity for all.
I am committed to working with my colleagues across Council, as well as the City’s Accessibility Office to ensure that accessibility is at the core of all city services and programs, and that we’re continuing to build a city that meets the needs of all its residents.
New Zoning By-Law: Agenda for the December 17th meeting is now online
The agenda for the joint meeting on Wednesday, December 17th to consider the City’s new comprehensive zoning by-law is now online (link). This meeting is one of the final steps in a years-long process to update the City’s existing zoning by-law to better meet the needs of our rapidly growing city, to support intensification in the urban boundary, and to meet the objectives of the Official Plan, adopted by Council in 2022. I want to thank all Bay Ward residents as well as the neighbourhood community associations who have reached out to my office and the new zoning by-law team to share their input on the latest draft. There are a number of staff-recommended changes to the zoning map, and I’m hopeful that some of the revisions specific to Bay Ward will alleviate some residents’ concerns.
It’s still not too late to have your say! If you want to share your input, you can participate in the joint committee on December 17 either as a delegate (in-person or online), or by sending a written submission to the committee coordinator. More details on how you can participate are available online. I’m looking forward to the discussions at the joint committee, and plan on raising some of the concerns I’ve heard from residents with city staff.
Stage 2 Construction/Tree Removal on Byron Ave
I want to thank residents in Woodpark who reached out to my office with concerns about the tree removals on Byron Ave earlier this week. For some context, late last week Stage 2 notified my office of planned construction work on Byron Ave between Richardson Avenue and Compton Avenue, as part of the Richmond Road Complete Streets Project. They assured me that all the impacted residents had been contacted. This turned out not to be the case, and the removal of trees on an individuals’ property without notice was completely unacceptable. I share the community’s frustration and have been working with the Stage 2 LRT team as well as KEV (the contractor) to ensure that the impacted residents’ concerns are addressed. I have also asked the Stage 2 team to work with KEV to ensure a better process is in place with regards to resident communications and will be continuing to advocate for more proactive communications from the LRT construction team with impacted communities.
Residents in the communities adjacent to the Stage 2 LRT and Richmond Road Complete projects have already endured years of construction noise and major inconveniences and detours. Incidents such as the tree removal that happened this week are beyond frustrating. I have made it clear to KEV and Stage 2 that they need to do better. Although this is an exciting project coming to our community, more attention needs to be made to communication and respect for residents during this construction process.
As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office at Bayward@ottawa.ca, as well as the Stage 2 team (stage2@ottawa.ca).
Read the full newsletter for more news and events across Bay Ward!
