Hi neighbour,
Happy Halloween! I hope everyone who celebrates has a safe and spooky time tonight. 🎃
At City Hall this week: Older Adult Plan, Lansdowne 2.0, and Food Security
Earlier this week at the Community Services Committee meeting, I welcomed city staff’s presentation of the Older Adult Plan for 2025-2030. I’m proud to serve as the City’s Co-Liaison for Older Adults with my colleague Councillor Hubley. The City’s Older Adult Plan is a strategy to ensure that older adults in Ottawa can live with confidence, comfort and a strong sense of belonging. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with city staff to increase access to recreational programs, accessible housing, and reliable transit to ensure older adults can be a part of thriving communities across our city.
Although I am not a member of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee, I’ve been monitoring the delegations and discussions regarding Lansdowne 2.0 over these past few days. Last week in this newsletter, I shared my statement on the issue , and am looking forward to seeing the updated Auditor General’s report on the project next week. I also want to thank all Bay Ward residents who have taken the time to share their views on Lansdowne with my office over the past few weeks. Your dedication to building a city that meets the needs of all residents is always inspiring, and I plan on raising some of the questions you’ve asked at Council next week.
Developing Systemic Solutions to Food Security
On Monday, I visited the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre to join some of my colleagues from Council, staff from across the city, and community organizations for a cross-sector dialogue on systemic solutions to food security. I was impressed with the work of the City’s Community Safety and Well-Being office to bring together groups from across the city as well as community organizations to build and strengthen networks and work on solutions to the ever-growing problem of food insecurity in our city. According to Food Banks Canada’s Hungercount Report released this week, over 760, 000 people accessed food banks monthly in Ontario between 2023 and 2024, a 125% increase since 2019. It is my view that food insecurity is at its core, an income issue. I continue to advocate for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income because in the end I believe this is the best way to address the multiple issues facing families living in food insecurity. Food insecurity is also part of a systemic failure to address a vast array of related issues, including affordable housing. As Chair of Ottawa Community Housing, I continue to take every opportunity to advocate for affordable housing for people at all income percentiles, but especially those whose daily challenge is simply to pay the rent and feed their families. I hope that events like Monday’s dialogue continue to shine a light on this important issue in our city and will encourage my council colleagues to make decisions to fund solutions to this critical problem.
Reminder: Bay Ward Remembrance Day Ceremony – Tuesday, November 11 at 9 am
I’d like to invite residents to join me and my team, as well as members of the community for our annual Bay Ward Remembrance Day Ceremony on Tuesday, November 11th at 9 am at the Blood Red Memorial Flagpole in Britannia Park. More details are in the event section below.
Read the full newsletter more news and events across the community!
PS: Go Jays Go!⚾
