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Achievements
Overview
Thanks to Bob Chiarelli's leadership and initiatives, Ottawa:
Safety and Security – Safer Communities
Ottawa is a safe city. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, Ottawa is the second safest city in Canada after Mississauga. To help reinforce this record, Ottawa has hired 181 new police officers over the last three years, and another 180 will be hired over the next two years. In January 2006, the City and the Police Services Board announced a new strategy to help reduce gun crimes. This program builds on the millions of dollars the City is investing in our high level of gun recovery and crime prevention.
Gun Amnesty/Gun Crime Stoppers Line
The Gun Amnesty Program was announced on Thursday, January 5, 2006, and has been a great success.
To date five hundred and six (506) unwanted firearms were collected. This includes one hundred and eighteen (118) handguns, three hundred and twenty-nine(329) long-guns and fifty nine (59) other, such as pellet guns and replicas. In addition, one hundred (100) various types and quantities of ammunition were collected and there were three hundred and fifty five (355) visits made to private residences in order to retrieve the firearms.
The Gun Amnesty Program will be followed up with the Gun Crime Stoppers Program. The objective of the Gun Crime Stoppers Program is to focus on illegal firearms, illegal weapons and persons in possession of illegal firearms, who engage in criminal activity.
Mayor Chiarelli is committed to new and innovative approaches to public safety that will mean concrete results on the streets of Ottawa.
More Police Officers
As a member of the Ottawa Police Services Board, Mayor Chiarelli is committed to improving police visibility in our neighbourhoods. Over the last three years, the City has hired an additional 181 police officers. Another 180 police officers will be added to the force during the next two years.
Mayor’s Annual Award for Safe and Friendly Schools
This award acknowledges and celebrates staff, students and parents who promote safer, friendly schools in the City of Ottawa. An award ceremony will take place at City Hall in June to recognize all participating schools with finalists receiving a plaque and an in-school pizza party. The school considered to be the safest and friendliest in the city will receive a full sized flag to fly outside their school.
Youth on the Move
This program involves a partnership between the Ottawa’s Police Service, Parks and Recreation and Bylaw Services departments. The program’s goal is to engage our young people in positive activities and to help reduce complaints dealing with late night or illegal activities in parks. In 2005, four students were hired, including two in Barrhaven, to address concerns in that part of the city. The four students made over 600 visits to parks and common meeting places for youth. The end result was a reduction of calls to police for youth related incidents.
Other initiatives include: Crime Prevention Ottawa, the Somali Task Force on Youth, 13 Community Houses located throughout our social housing communities and new funding for four Youth Outreach workers. As well, the 2006 budget also provides funding to organizations from every corner of our city, from the Youth Services Bureau to the Osgoode Youth Association. In Central Ottawa alone there are nine fire stations, five Community Police Centres and three ambulance bases.
Emergency Preparedness – Ice Storm
When the ice storm, the most expensive natural disaster in Canada, hit Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, Ottawa was not spared. The ice storm of 1998 saw trees, hydro wires, utility poles and transmission towers totally destroyed. There were massive power outages, some for as long as a month affecting more people than any other previous weather event in Canadian history.
Farmers were especially hard hit as they were left without power, many sharing generators to run milking machines. They saw their livestock die, barns destroyed, and produce spoiled because processing plants were shut down.
In Ottawa, Bob Chiarelli had just been elected as Regional Chair. With only a few weeks at the helm of the National Capital Region he dove into action. He quickly assessed the situation and declared a state of emergency, he set the wheels in motion for daily emergency measures meeting with top executives, and daily briefings with the media gave some comfort to those who could access radio, television or newspapers.
The Mayor along with City’s well organized and equipped Emergency Measures team have been recognized for conducting one of the best disaster response efforts in the history of the region.
There were many lessons learned from this emergency and the City is now better prepared than ever to respond to other emergencies such as threats of terrorism and bio-terrorism, procedures to deal with hazardous material as well as natural disaster.
Snap shot facts: Results of the storm (source Environment Canada):
Your Tax Dollars – Property Tax Reform
The City of Ottawa has again received an AAA financial rating (the highest possible) from Moody’s Investor Services. The report stated that it was in recognition of the City’s “effective fiscal planning, history of strong financial results and low debt level and associated debt servicing costs”.
Mayor Chiarelli has made property tax reform a priority for City of Ottawa taxpayers. That effort paid off during the 2006 budget when the Ontario government gave the City of Ottawa $20 million in special funding. More cooperation with the province will be necessary to address Ontario’s $3 billion dollar municipal fiscal gap. Ontario is the only province that mandates municipalities to help fund education, public health, ambulance services, social services and housing. That means every city in Ontario faces perennial budget challenges because all those services and costs have been uploaded to municipalities. Through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Mayor Chiarelli is leading the charge in addressing the $3 billion provincial-municipal gap. A solution between governments must be found if municipalities in Ontario are to become more fiscally sustainable.
Property Tax Assessment Reform
Mayor Chiarelli has led a campaign for an overhaul of the tax legislation affecting cities and property tax payers. In Ontario, annual assessments are sent out annually through a provincial agency known as the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. Two years ago, Mayor Chiarelli convinced the Ontario Finance Minister to freeze the assessment system for one year to give our property tax payers relief for a one-year period. Due to pressure from Mayor Chiarelli and the City of Ottawa, the Ontario Ombudsman has launched an investigation into how MPAC determines the assessment of homes and businesses.
Transportation – Ottawa on the Move
Record economic growth brings with it a big jump in both population and road traffic. Lots of project planning has turned into construction activity aimed at making it easier for new and old east end residents to get to and from other parts of the city.
Residents who drive into the city can use OC Transpo's Park & Ride facilities at one of the Transitway stations, and take the bus to get around. Lots are available at Baseline, Eagleson, Fallowfield, Greenboro, Place d'Orléans and Trim Transitway stations, as well as in various locations throughout rural Ottawa.
A new 3.2 km section of Transitway from Barrhaven to the Nepean Sportsplex was officially opened in December, 2005 to provide residents of South Nepean with a convenient and reliable rapid-transit link to downtown. At a cost of $10 million, the project was funded jointly by the City of Ottawa, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada.
The City has invested $50 million to widen Innes and has initiated a project to remediate the east end split at Highway 417 and Highway 174. $1.6 million has been added to the City’s budget for this project.
In 2005, Mayor Chiarelli had meetings with Ontario Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar, and discussed the priority of widening of Highway 417 westerly from the Highway 416 cut-off. He also relayed residents concerns with regard to new Highway 417 ramps and a traffic roundabout at Hampton Park and Island Park Drive. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has now rejected the province's own proposal for this project and has announced the widening of Highway 417 from the Highway 416 split, westerly past Carp Road.
The City of Ottawa looks forward to working with the Province to find more suitable options to improve the traffic situation at Carling and Kirkwood.
Light Rail – Making it easier to get there...
Within just a few short years, Ottawa will be home to a new environmentally friendly Light Rail Transit system. When fully completed, the Light Rail Transit system will reach across the city and change the way people experience their community.
With convenient, clean and comfortable Light Rail Transit within walking distance from home for many people, couples can do a night on the town, go to the National Arts Centre or shop downtown without using their cars. Teenagers can work part-time jobs in other parts of the city, and return safely via Light Rail. tudents can choose from a wider range of housing options along the Light Rail corridor and affordably travel to and from universities with ease. Commuters can travel efficiently to and from major employment centres. Families can reduce the number of cars needed to support their transportation needs, saving thousands of dollars each year and using the money saved to fulfill other dreams. And all these people will be contributing to a cleaner environment each time they ride the Light Rail Transit system.
The first leg of Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit system will run from the downtown core near the Rideau Centre south through the communities of Riverside South and South Nepean. The initial phase of this expansion began with an Environmental Assessment. On September 9, 2005, the City of Ottawa submitted the Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for a formal review as required under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act. The EAR identifies the recommended plan for the project and documents the study process, findings and public consultation. The recommended plan consists of 31 km of twin track electrically powered Light Rail Transit including 35 stations, four additional Park & Ride lots, one maintenance and storage facility, and other supporting infrastructure (including vehicles) required for this project. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2006. The first phase of this line, 27 Km in length from the Rideau Centre to Woodroffe Ave. is scheduled to open in 2009.
The procurement process started with a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), which provided the City with a list of vendors who have the ability to provide the services and products that are needed to design, build, maintain and potentially operate the North-South Light Rail Transit line from Rideau Centre to South Nepean. As part of the RFQ process, three teams are now on the list of qualified vendors. As a next step, a Request for Proposals (RFP) has been initiated, and for the next five months potential proponents will prepare proposals for the project. Evaluation of those proposals will lead to the selection of a preferred proponent by May 2006. That proponent will then prepare a detailed design and work plan/schedule in order to commence construction later in 2006.
After the extension of the North-South Light Rail Transit line to the Rideau Centre and South Nepean is underway, the next step in the expansion of Ottawa's Light Rail Transit system is the completion of an Environmental Assessment for the East-West line from Orléans to Kanata. The East-West Light Rail Transit line will be built in stages. The Environmental Assessment study has been underway since October 2004 and is expected to take about 20 months. Public consultations have already begun and will continue until Summer 2006. The target date for the final Environmental Assessment report for the East-West Transit line is fall, 2006.
The Mayor was successful in negotiating $400 million of funding from the federal and provincial governments for the project.Public Health – Non Smoking Bylaw
Ottawa is recognized as a world leader for introducing a tough anti-smoking bylaw. The bylaw prohibits smoking in all public places including bars, restaurants, private clubs and gaming establishments. Ottawa’s success was quickly followed by other cities in Canada and throughout the world, including New York, Denver, and Ireland. On July 24th, the Canadian Coalition for Action on Tobacco presented the City of Ottawa with a commemorative award for its efforts.
On July 23, 2003, Mayor Chiarelli presented Ottawa resident and cancer sufferer Heather Crowe with a World Health Organization Award at the City Council meeting. Ms. Crowe received the prestigious international award for her work across Canada in promoting smoke-free workplaces and public places. Ms. Crowe, a life-long non-smoker, developed lung cancer from second-hand smoke after having worked as a waitress for 40 years. In the hopes of being the last person to die from exposure to second-hand smoke, she has encouraged municipal governments across Canada to pass legislation that will protect all hospitality workers and the public from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
The City of Ottawa also ensures it has a role in helping our local hospitals with long overdue capital expansion. Since 2001, the city’s contribution to our hospitals through forgiveness of development and permit fees and land grants is $32 million. This contribution will result in better patient care for our citizens and a full partnership between the City and local hospitals.
More Paramedics/Ambulances
Another 18 new paramedics have been hired to help reduce ambulance response times in both the urban and rural areas of our city. We now have more than 312 paramedics responding to about 96,000 calls.
Public Defibrillator Program
When someone suffers from cardiac arrest, every second counts. The City of Ottawa has implemented the largest public defibrillation program in Canada. There are 325 defibrillators at our community centres, swimming pools, and arenas and in all our police and fire vehicles. This program has saved the lives of more than 20 people. The City also provides CPR training courses for members of the public who are interested in learning how to use an external defibrillator to save a victim.
Integrated Drug Strategy
Mayor Chiarelli has convened a community task force comprised of hospital and health care representatives, the Police Chief and civic leaders such as David Smith to deal with the growing problem of youth addiction. The community task force has developed an action plan that will deal with better prevention, law enforcement and harm reduction initiatives. Mayor Chiarelli will work with the community task force to establish a new residential drug rehabilitation centre for our youth. As the fourth largest city in Canada, Mayor Chiarelli finds it unacceptable that our young people have no place for overnight or extended treatment periods.
Accessibility and Diversity – Caring for People
The City of Ottawa has adopted an aggressive approach in removing barriers to accessibility.
These include:
Ottawa is known around the world for its tolerance. Interfaith Ottawa was created by Mayor Chiarelli to ensure our different faiths speak out in one voice on issues of hate and intolerance. Interfaith Ottawa also promotes peace and harmony in the community through different programs such as the 2005 Israeli-Palestine Youth meeting in our city.
Economy – A City of Prosperity
Ottawa’s economy is healthy and resilient. The city’s focus through our economic agencies is to create and sustain jobs. Through the Mayor's office and in partnership with OCRI and the provincial government, Dell chose Ottawa for a new job technology call centre creating 500 new jobs. The high tech job market has rebounded with impressive job creation numbers - 13, 600 new jobs in 2005.
Other highlights include:
Under Mayor Chiarelli’s leadership, the “New Deal” campaign for cities has paid off for Ottawa. The City of Ottawa now receives about $60 million in either GST or federal and provincial gas tax rebates. That helps the City of Ottawa’s bottom line, improves our transit system and funds new infrastructure. Mayor Chiarelli’s negotiations with the federal and provincial governments also paid off when they announced $400 million in funding for the O-train expansion.
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Housing – Homes for All
Mayor Chiarelli delivered on a promise for major changes to the city-owned 14,000 units of community housing. A new President and Board is now in place giving tenants more confidence that issues affecting them will be dealt with. There are new security measures in place and housing complaints are dealt with in a prompt manner. There’s also a new attitude that is focused on action and results instead of indifference.
The City of Ottawa has supported the funding and development of 449 units of new low income housing over the last four years. This includes new housing shelter for people with mental illness and the first co-op developments in a decade.
With the return of funding from the federal and provincial governments, the city is building 136 new units in four different projects. This funding will create over 1,000 affordable places to live through rent supplements, Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), the Affordable Housing Initiative, and the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Agreement.
Mayor Chiarelli will continue to pressure the Federal and Provincial Governments to extend funding for housing and to introduce additional capital grants for affordable housing in our community.
On homelessness, the City has invested a total of $46 million over the last five years on more than 17 projects. These projects include partnerships with the following:
Our Rural Communities – Rural Summit
The rural-urban divide is one of the most significant issues facing our city and our country. In order to help find some community building solutions to some long standing problems, Mayor Chiarelli announced a Rural Summit that was held in November 2005.
The frank and open discussion at this Summit led to the creation of the Mayor’s Rural Task Force which is now dealing with how to implement recommendations such as more power for the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and a Rural Advisor.
Turning the Rural Summit into Real Change
People from every part of Ottawa’s rural community have worked with the City to build a better relationship and address rural issues. Many of those people attended public meetings last summer to identify specific areas of concern. In November, 2005 hundreds of residents and business owners recommended solutions at Ottawa’s first Rural Summit. Since then a lot has been done to turn those recommendations into lasting change.
The Rural Summit Task Force, made up of rural councillors and rural residents, has been working since the end of the Summit torefine the Summit’s recommendations, set priorities, and work with City staff to put practical and realistic action plans in place.
Budget 2006 - Delivering Results for Rural Communities
Council approved a final budget that includes $1.9 million in new funds to implement priorities recommended by the Task Force. Those priorities scheduled for implementation this year include:
In addition to the new funds for Summit initiatives, the City’s 2006 budget includes other investments in our rural communities such as:
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Environment – The Green Capital
The City of Ottawa is using smart technology to turn waste into electricity. At the Trail Road landfill site, a new plant will soon convert landfill gas into electricity with enough power to service 5,000 homes. This project will reduce smog and odour. It will also save our city millions of dollars in capital and operating costs.
City Council also approved a Plasma Waste Conversion Project. This plant to be built at Trail Road once all government agreements have been signed and will use high heat to turn waste into three products, clean heat, a synthetic gas, and a reusable inert solid. The heat and gases will be used to generate electricity. This is not incineration and there will be no emissions.
Other environmental initiatives include:
Community Spirit – A Vibrant Metropolis
Ottawa’s high quality of life is measured through the efforts of thousands of volunteers who help to make community fundraisers a huge success. From the CHEO Telethon to the annual Run for the Cure for breast cancer research, our city always responds in record numbers. The United Way also set a record in the 2005 campaign. The Mayor’s Walk for Volunteerism held every September helps to raise funds for 350 non- profit agencies in our city.
Our community also opens its heart when people are in crisis. For example, more than 270 residents of Kasechewan felt right at home in Ottawa when they were sent here because of a water quality crisis on their reserve.
Community pride is also measured in events such as the Bell Capital Cup, the largest peewee and atom hockey tournament in the world. There are 500 hockey teams including teams from the U.S, China and Europe. The idea of the Bell Capital Cup came from Mayor Bob Chiarelli seven years ago at a meeting with Ottawa Senators and community representatives.
The Mayor’s Annual Christmas Party at City Hall has attracted thousands of families since it began five years ago.
The Mayor’s Annual Arts Festival each fall turns City Hall into an art gallery. More importantly, it provides our local artists with more exposure and opportunities to display their work.
A strong city is one that provides a wide range of recreational facilities and choices. Mayor Chiarelli created the first Public-Private Partnership office in Canada to help our city build more recreational and cultural facilities. The result is more ice arenas and soccer fields, ultimate frisbee leagues, cricket, rugby and golf. This includes:
The new City has meant more facilities throughout the city including:
Arts – An Integral Part of Growth
When Ottawa’s first Official Plan was being developed Mayor Chiarelli insisted that it include an Arts and Heritage Plan. A huge supporter of the arts, he understands that every community planning for change and growth needs a thriving arts sector.
For the first time in over 15 years, the City is investing millions of dollars into new arts and cultural facilities in Ottawa.
This includes $1.3 million for the new Great Canadian Theatre Company for its new home in the “Currents' development at 1233 Wellington Street; the City’s $6 million share of funding for a new Concert Hall on Elgin Street; support for a new East End Arts Facility through a Public-Private Partnership which includes existing land and building.
The Mayor has supported the move of Bluesfest to Festival Plaza; assisted other major festivals in Ottawa; and partnered in the creation of a Film Office, which has led to a number of major productions being produced in Ottawa.
Also, the Mayor’s Art Festival launched in 2005 attracted interest from more than 400 local artists. This festival transforms City Hall into an art gallery for several days and works by local artists are displayed in different venues including the Council Chambers.
In 2006 Mayor Chiarelli initiated a budget increase of $700 thousand for a Museum Sustainability Fund.
Mayor Chiarelli is also committed to securing stable multi-year funding for the arts and culture community.
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