Weekly newsletter: October 21, 2025
Hi everyone!
The photo above is from the Barrhaven Food Cupboard garden’s open house this past weekend. The Food Cupboard operates a garden to provide some fresh produce to its users, except the type of gourd in the photo, which was planted in an adjoining pollinator garden for fun and will be made into birdhouses.
Week one of parenthood has come and gone, and my wife and I have successfully kept our newborn alive. He and his super pinchable cheeks are an absolute joy!
My wife now has a small album of photos with our son falling asleep on my chest… me also having fallen asleep.
I do have a small (but manageable) backlog of emails, though, which I should get through by the weekend.
Lansdowne 2.0
Meeting dates set and final project information released.
The final report↗ for the redevelopment of Lansdowne was released yesterday evening.
The report outlines final recommendations for the Lansdowne 2.0 project and will be discussed and voted on at a special meeting of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee on Wednesday, October 29 at 9:30 am, rising to a special meeting of City Council on Friday, November 7 at 10:30 am.
Additionally, the Auditor General is completing another audit of the Lansdowne 2.0 project, which will be reported to the Audit Committee on Tuesday, November 4.
In April 2024, I moved a direction directing staff to release the Lansdowne 2.0 documents as early as possible, ideally 30 days before Council votes on the matter. This did not happen, as the documents were released only yesterday evening, eight days before Committee and 18 days before Council. I have a few options to address that and am currently considering them.
As the report was released just yesterday evening, I have not had the chance to read the documents in detail. I will share more information and my thoughts once I do, possibly in an extra off-cycle newsletter.
In the meantime, the staff reports and attached documents can be viewed online↗ through the City’s meeting agenda portal.
Tewin
Planning and Housing Committee votes 7-to-5 to keep Tewin in Official Plan.
Last week, the Planning and Housing rejected Councillor Kavanagh’s motion to remove the Tewin development lands from the Official Plan.
The Tewin lands are a 445-hectare site near Highway 417/Leitrim in the southeast of the City that were added in 2021 as urban expansion lands in the then-under-development new Official Plan.
At the time, City staff indicated the site was least preferred for urban expansion, due to the cost to service the lands given its distance from the City. The lands were ultimately added by Councillor motion at a Committee meeting in January 2021 when discussing urban expansion lands as part of the development of the Official Plan.
The Official Plan was later approved by the previous term of City Council in 2021, then by the province in 2022.
In June 2024, City Council approved the infrastructure master plan, which includes $591 million in water, sewer, and stormwater servicing costs for Tewin. (Despite its name, the infrastructure master plan is mostly for the water, sewer, and stormwater systems only.)
The City would pay for $11 million of that $591 million, as some sewer and stormwater works will benefit parts of Alta Vista. Development charges and deals with the City would fund most of the remaining amount needed to service Tewin.
Councillor Kavanagh’s motion sought to reverse the 2021 decision that added the Tewin lands to the Official Plan, citing a variety of reasons, including bypassing consultation with First Nations, infrastructure costs, and urban sprawl.
While those concerns are legitimate, I focused on what would happen if the motion succeeded and Tewin was removed from the Official Plan.
An equal amount of land (445 hectares) outside the urban boundary would need to be added into the urban boundary as replacement greenfield expansion lands. Councillor Kavanagh’s motion actually included a clause directing staff to study that and report on their recommendations early next year.
Concurrently, Tewin’s developers would certainly appeal the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal, a process that will outlast the timeline for identifying replacement lands.
That means early next year, staff would have reported back with recommendations for replacement expansion lands while the decision to remove Tewin was still under appeal.
As the Official Plan was approved by Council in 2021, then by the province in 2022, the appeal would most likely succeed at the Ontario Land Tribunal.
That all means in the end, the City could be left with not one, but two Tewin-sized developments outside the urban boundary, each with its own infrastructure requirements (not to mention the legal costs of defending the City’s position at the Ontario Land Tribunal).
That was the consequence that ultimately guided my vote against Councillor Kavanagh’s motion. Far from the best option, it was the least worst option.
Work to develop detailed subdivision plans for Tewin will continue through 2027, with timelines for the remaining work to be shared by City staff later in the autumn.
Bite-sized updates
Sorted alphabetically!
Amazon public information night – The in-person public information session has been postponed due to Lansdowne-related Committee meetings scheduled on October 29 (30 and 31 as overflow days). A new date will be announced as soon as possible.
Beatrice/Queensbury bus shelter – Following its untimely demise back in December, then multiple delays since May, the bus shelter at Beatrice/Queensbury (stop 3345) will soon be reinstated. Concrete pouring will soon begin, followed by shelter installation by month’s end.
Clearbrook/Bissett-Highpointe – Construction to improve safety and accessibility at the school crossing should begin early-November. The turning radius of the curbs will be tightened to slow turning vehicles and shorten the length of the crossing across Clearbrook. If the weather is uncooperative, this project will be delayed to spring 2026.
Gatineau bus strike – STO bus services in Gatineau, downtown Ottawa, and at Tunney’s Pasture will be restored this afternoon (Tuesday, October 21) following a brief labour strike↗.
Greenbank Park – The playground slide at Greenbank Park has been repaired and is back in commission.
Limebank Station pick-up/drop-off – The pick-up/drop-off location has been moved to a temporary location↗ until November due to construction. From Earl Armstrong, turn right on Limebank, then LEFT at the signals, proceed to the end of the roadway to make a u-turn (yes, really) back to the pick-up/drop-off location. Signage is in place.
Low water conditions - The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s major low-water advisory↗ continues across the entire Rideau River watershed. Households on well water are strongly encouraged to suspend non-essential uses. Shower facilities and water filling stations are available at the Minto Recreation Complex↗ and Walter Baker Sports Centre↗ for residents in Hearts Desire and Rideau Glen. Please call ahead to confirm availability (contact information and hours of operation in the links).
Mountshannon/Longfields – Several residents have reached out over the last few days about the state of the road cuts on Mountshannon and Longfields near St. Mother Teresa High School. I've asked for them to be smoothened out until the proper roadway remediation is complete.
New speed humps and cushions – Installation of speed humps on Springbeauty and speed cushions on Deerfox is complete. Road markings (triangles) have been added to the speed humps on Springbeauty, and will be added to the speed cushions on Deerfox in the next week or two, weather dependent. Permanent signage will be installed by mid-November.
OC Transpo route 110 – Trips departing Citigate at 4:45 am and 5:15 am have been extended↗ to Hurdman Station to provide early morning connections towards downtown (via a transfer to Line 1). This is an interim solution while staff continue working on earlier rail service on Line 2.
Ottawa Farmers’ Market, Barrhaven – The last farmers market of the season is this Sunday, October 26, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Nepean Woods Park and Ride. Drop by for some local produce and food! The farmers market will return in May.
Pedestrian crossover construction – Two new pedestrian crossovers at Paul Métivier/Beatrice and at Stoneway/Forest Gate east are currently under construction. The crossover on Paul Métivier will be raised to double as a speed hump. Expected completion is mid-November.
Via Chianti and Via Modugno – With the completion of nearby development, the two streets will receive their final layer of asphalt starting next week until early-November. On-street parking may become unavailable periodically during the paving. The City will assume control of the two streets upon completion.
Woodroffe/Deerfox-Stoneway – Lane closures and shifts may be required to accommodate the ongoing private infrastructure connection project. Expected completion is late-October, and I have asked that the northbound road cut across Woodroffe be smoothened in the interim.
Finally, October 23 marks 75 years since three Canadian doctors, Wilfred Bigelow, John Carter Callaghan, and John A. Hopps unveiled the portable artificial external pacemaker to the American College of Surgeons in Boston in 1950, following a successful test on a dog earlier that year.
Developed at the University of Toronto’s Banting Institute, the device was a medical milestone that laid the groundwork for future devices, including implantable pacemakers, saving many lives around the world.
Dr. Callaghan went on to perform the first successful open-heart surgery in Canada in 1956, while Dr. Bigelow continued to pioneer the development of open- and closed-heart surgeries. Dr. Hopps, who’d eventually be known as the Father of Biomedical Engineering in Canada, would continue working on pacemaker design.
All three co-developers of the first pacemaker were made Officers of the Order of Canada in the 1980s.
Enjoy the week ahead!
-Wilson