The federal authorities has provided to purchase a bit of Wellington Road from the town of Ottawa with the aim of conserving it completely closed to automobiles, in response to CTV Information.
As the town prepares to reopen the street in entrance of Parliament, the minister overseeing the parliamentary district has written to Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe searching for an settlement to maintain the street closed whereas the 2 governments negotiate a good switch.
The April 4 letter from Public Works and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek obtained by CTV Information asks Sutcliffe to discover the opportunity of getting into into an interim care and management settlement that will preserve the street closed.
The aim of this settlement can be to deal with the speedy security crucial by sustaining the present street closure whereas giving the town and the federal authorities time to achieve a good settlement and start planning actions.
The part of Wellington Road has been closed because the Freedom Convoy demonstration rolled by the town in January 2022. Ottawa metropolis council voted earlier this 12 months to reopen it to vehicular site visitors. Officers mentioned this week it’s slated to open in late April or early Might.
However Jaczeks’ letter asks Sutcliffe to place the brakes on that plan, citing security considerations and a parliamentary committee that discovered final 12 months it ought to stay closed to vehicles.
I’m directed to work straight with you to carry Wellington Road and Sparks Road below federal jurisdiction, he mentioned. This in fact should be achieved in a approach that helps environment friendly metropolis operations and supplies honest compensation to the town.
The transfer can be to work collectively to reimagine this area as Canada’s preeminent city discussion board for Ottawa residents and all Canadians, he wrote.
Sutcliffe, Jaczek and Emergency Preparedness Minister Invoice Blair have mentioned the way forward for roads. In December, a parliamentary committee beneficial that it stay closed to vehicles and be transferred to federal jurisdiction.
As now we have mentioned, the 2022 unlawful protests in Ottawa uncovered vulnerabilities associated to Wellington Road serving as a significant thoroughfare by the Parliamentary District. It additionally highlighted a number of longstanding safety and policing gaps, Jaczek wrote. These points will solely improve as further parliamentary capabilities take up area south of Wellington Road.
Regardless of the federal authorities’s proposal, Sutcliffe mentioned the town stays dedicated to opening the street.
“We’re open to discussions with the federal authorities about the way forward for Wellington Road, as we at all times have been,” he advised CTV Information on Friday. “However within the meantime now we have taken the choice to reopen Wellington Road and will probably be reopening it within the coming weeks.”
Jaczek mentioned the 2 governments can work collectively to “create a vibrant public area that works for MPs, residents, native companies and attracts guests. She additionally mentioned the federal authorities can be keen to pay for short-term beautification of the road in time for this 12 months’s summer time vacationer season.
Whereas we work on the interim settlement, we will probably be keen to fund short-term enhancements equivalent to landscaping and shade parts, bike lanes, seating and a possible bistro in time for main seasonal occasions, together with Canada Day.
Sutcliffe mentioned he’s conserving an open thoughts about taking the street to the federal authorities.
“I perceive the federal authorities’s considerations about safety and about parliamentary area, so I am open to any discussions going ahead and any concepts they’ve,” he mentioned. “I feel all of it comes all the way down to what’s in one of the best curiosity of the individuals of Ottawa.”
However so much must occur earlier than such a switch, he mentioned, together with negotiating the phrases of an settlement, agreeing on using the area and contemplating transportation impacts.
“We must agree on what the town of Ottawa would get in return as a result of that is our street proper now, it is our property and it is a main artery in downtown Ottawa,” he mentioned.
“There may be numerous work to be achieved earlier than the street is closed to automobiles once more.” Metropolis employees started putting in site visitors lights on Wellington Road Wednesday.
Coun. Tim Tierney, the chairman of the town’s transportation fee, mentioned Thursday that Wellington must reopen to accommodate extra site visitors as extra public servants return to workplace work.
“It is our street. Town of Ottawa owns it. And if the feds need it, they will purchase it,” he mentioned.
Coun. Ariel Troster, who represents the ward that features Parliament Hill, says the Wellington Street closure was an “preliminary response” to the “Freedom Parade” and the federal authorities has up to now achieved nothing to enhance the street.
“The 12 months this street was closed, the feds did nothing to assist beautify the street (apart from a number of planters) or enter into critical negotiations to purchase it. affect on our downtown core,” Troster mentioned.
“I assist a pedestrianized future for Wellington. I am additionally not against the thought of the feds taking it over. However this is a crucial, iconic street in our metropolis and we definitely have to get one thing essential in return. We additionally want to check methods to attenuate of site visitors impacts’.
Troster says she agrees with Sutcliffe that the town shouldn’t “hand over management” of Wellington Road till “now we have accomplished a complete negotiation.”
– with recordsdata from Natalie van Rooy, CTV Information Ottawa
Right here is the complete textual content of Minister Jaczeks April 4th letter to Mayor Sutcliffe:
Expensive Mr. Mayor:
I’m writing to comply with up on the conversations that you just, Minister Invoice Blair, and I’ve had concerning the way forward for Wellington Road in serving the wants of each the Canadian Parliament and the Metropolis of Ottawa. Because the federal minister answerable for the care and stewardship of the Parliamentary Constituency, I wish to take these discussions additional with you and your group in order that we seize this chance to work collectively to appreciate this imaginative and prescient, which I imagine supplies nice potential for revitalizing downtown Ottawa as a vacation spot befitting a contemporary capital metropolis.
As now we have mentioned, the 2022 unlawful protests in Ottawa uncovered vulnerabilities associated to Wellington Road serving as a significant thoroughfare by the Parliamentary District. It additionally highlighted a number of long-standing safety and policing gaps. These points, which had been additionally raised in a 2022 examine by the Standing Committee on Process and Parliamentary Affairs into evolving dangers within the Parliamentary District and a 2023 report by the Public Order Emergency Committee, will solely improve as further parliamentary capabilities take over. area south of Wellington Road, along with the Prime Minister’s workplace and the Privy Council.
To handle this pressing safety crucial and to reply to the suggestions arising from the 2022 Course of and House Affairs examine, I’m directed, with the assist of Minister Blair in his position as President of the Kings Privy Council, to contact you instantly concerning the switch of Wellington Road and Sparks Road to federal jurisdiction with a purpose to work collectively to reclaim this area as Canada’s preeminent civic discussion board for Ottawa residents and all Canadians. This in fact should be achieved in a approach that helps environment friendly metropolis operations and supplies honest compensation to the town.
As now we have seen in different main capitals all over the world, together with Berlin, Oslo, The Hague, Budapest, London and Washington, collectively we will create a vibrant public area that works for MPs, residents, native companies and attracts guests. Loads of good work has already been achieved on this imaginative and prescient, together with the Sparks Road Public Realm undertaking. Consolidation of roads inside the Parliamentary District below federal jurisdiction permits this undertaking to be funded and applied in a coordinated method with the continued rehabilitation and modernization of the parliamentary grounds by the Lengthy Time period Imaginative and prescient and Plan.
The collaboration between our organizations has created the muse to maneuver ahead. Our organizations signed a letter of intent to formally advance these discussions within the fall of 2022 and started a joint transportation examine in early 2023. As a subsequent step, I would really like our groups to discover the opportunity of an interim care and management settlement. The aim of this settlement can be to deal with the speedy security crucial by sustaining the present street closures whereas permitting the town and the federal authorities time to achieve a good settlement and start planning actions, together with engagement with Indigenous companions. residents and companies, long-term development alternatives.
With the busy vacationer season quick approaching, I acknowledge the necessity to guarantee Wellington Road is a vibrant area within the capital. The federal authorities is already working with the town and different key stakeholders, such because the Nationwide Capital Fee, to advance planning for summer time road animation and beautification. Whereas we work on the interim settlement, we will probably be keen to fund short-term enhancements equivalent to landscaping and shade parts, bike lanes, seating and a possible bistro in time for main seasonal occasions, together with Canada Day.
I wish to categorical my honest appreciation for the continued cooperation of the Metropolis of Ottawa on these issues, notably within the wake of the challenges confronted by the unlawful protests of 2022. I’d counsel a gathering within the coming days with you, Minister Blair and I to to assist offering clear route to our organizations on subsequent steps.
Sincerely,
The Honorable Helena Jaczek, MD, PC, MP
Minister of Public Providers and Procurement
cc: The Honorable Invoice Blair, PC, MP
Minister of Emergency Preparedness and
President of the Kings Privy Council
