President’s Message

New board members

The most important news for 2019 is that Manor Park Community Association (MPCA) has two new Board Members who are already adding gas to our tank! Diana Poitras joins us as our Secretary. She brings a wealth of volunteer experience and an in-depth understanding of how the City works from her career in the legal department at City Hall. Derek Taylor teaches mathematics at Ashbury College and is currently the school’s point person on a study of educational effectiveness that is done regularly for private school accreditation. Both Diana and Derek were drawn to work with us by our 2018-2020 Strategy and our Values Statement. We are thrilled to have them as part of our team.

By Election: Ward 13 Rideau-Rockcliffe

The presidents of the Manor Park (MP), Cardinal Glen, Lindenlea, New Edinburgh, Overbrooke and Rockcliffe Community residents associations met with the 11 candidates who had, as of February 15, declared their candidature for Councillor of Ward13, Rideau-Rockcliffe.

The purpose of our meeting was to help our residents get an early sense of who the candidates are, why they are running and what experiences and insights they bring to the position. Each candidate received the same five questions 1 hour before meeting with the presidents for 30 minutes. Do read their responses to our questions elsewhere in this issue of the Chronicle. How would you rate them so far? What do your neighbours think?

Hearing why these candidates were drawn to run was inspiring. Most want a better city: a vision befitting our nation’s capital. Some want more “vibe”. Others focused on a more accountable city that delivers better services – especially transit and housing – with a sense of civic pride and clear purpose. Others want to encourage our diverse ward to work better together…working to provide opportunities for the young and diverse talents across all neighbourhoods. Many referred to a fractured power structure at City Hall that appears to allow the self-interests of a few to dominate, tilts too far toward satisfying suburban concerns at the cost of nurturing a world-class capital city and deprives our most vulnerable neighbours of the services necessary for them to contribute to our community.

As federal and provincial governments download more responsibility for delivering services to lower levels of government, our quality of life depends more and more on how well we work at the ward and community levels. Community associations across the city are becoming more vocal about the escalating demands being put on their volunteers by the City.

Municipal elections generally attract low voter turnout despite the fact that cities affect our everyday lives ever more directly. Turnout in by-elections is even lower. This election is very important for Manor Park and our Ward 13 neighbours. Let’s see a high and informed turnout on April 15!

Please see also the column by Allan Martel, President of Cardinal Glen Community Association, on page 37 of this Chronicle for more information on the City’s election website. The individual candidates’ sites will help you to follow them as their platforms evolve.

Since this article, six new candidates registered to run for Ward 13 Councillor. They will be interviewed as this paper goes to press on March 6 by Community and Resident Associations Presidents This article and the additional interviews can be found on most Ward 13 Community Association Websites including https://manorparkcommunity.ca/home/.

Please vote to show the city that Ward 13 is paying attention and cares about our City.

Come and meet the candidates at candidates meetings. One is planned for Overbrook Community Centre, 33 Quill St. on March 29, 7-10 pm, and another will be held on the northern part of the ward – please check the website.

Thanks to Tara Doucet and her team at Governor’s Walk Residence for hosting this presidents’ event and providing welcome refreshments! A big thanks to Natalie Belovic for meeting our candidates and staying with them until their interview time.

OC Transpo Route 17 bus stops on Hemlock

Two MP residents have expressed safety concerns regarding the Route 17 stops on the south side of Hemlock Rd. These concerns are similar to those expressed in the MPCA letter to OC Transpo in April 2018. There have been no developments re the proposed crosswalk at Thornwood and this issue will be raised again with our new Councillor following the byelection. Meanwhile, Tobi Nussbaum’s staff have been contacted regarding the delays in snow clearing of a pedestrian space around the OC Transpo stops on the south side of Hemlock Rd. at Thornwood, Whitemarl and Lansdowne roads. Please be careful driving down Hemlock Rd. STOP and wait when a bus is stopped at these points until its passengers cross the street. Hopefully, someday soon, we will have crosswalks.

Car break-ins

There have been more reports of car break-ins during early morning hours across Manor Park and other communities. Residents are urged to always lock their vehicles and to ensure that nothing of value is left inside. Thank you to those who report incidents to the police.

Spring: keeping basements dry

I join my colleague Allan in exhorting you all to dig out the storm drains at the edge of your property! Over the past decade, I’ve enjoyed meeting many of you while chopping ice and shoveling at the corner of Eastbourne Ave. and Dunvegan Rd! There are tens of thousands of storm drains in Ottawa! If the City kept the drains open our taxes would go up! Let’s prepare in March for the big melt. Get that water flowing so we can walk the dog and push the stroller more easily. And keep that water out of our basements!