Vanier councillor says WC issues familiar

KINBURN – During the just-past 2018 to 2022 City of Ottawa term of council, politicians would lead you to believe there was a great divide between the rural, suburban and urban wards.

When committees were struck, urban councillors complained there wasn’t enough downtown representation. Rural councillors couldn’t possibly understand the needs of downtown wards, and vice versa.

But something you didn’t see that often were those urban and suburban councillors coming out to the rural wards of the city to see those differences up close. Well last Friday (Dec. 9) Rideau-Vanier  Coun. Stéphanie Plante took the opportunity to come out to the country, specifically Kinburn, and what she found, the challenges the rural and urban wards face, aren’t that different after all.

West Carleton-March Coun. Clarke Kelly had a spare ticket to Friday’s Kinburn Seniors Association (KSA) Christmas luncheon, and invited Plante along.

“I made a promise when I was elected, I wanted to go see every ward,” Plante told West Carleton Online from the community centre. “Breakfast or lunch with every single councillor. Some of that can be done just by their proximity to City Hall. But the rural wards are so important, I’m going to come out, show me around. Believe it or not we actually share a lot of the same concerns. We have residents who want to age in place; who want good infrastructure; we want families to be able to thrive. Obviously the downtown challenges are a bit different than the rural challenges. It’s been a bit of an eye-opener.”
Plante says it’s also just part of getting familiar with a new job.

“Clarke and I are both new,” she said. “We want to make sure we have all the information we need to make good decisions. I’m so happy I came, everyone has been really great.”

Both councillors are first-time municipal politicians replacing long-serving, well-liked councillors who chose not to run again, in Eli El-Chantiry and Mathieu Fleury.

Rideau-Vanier even went through amalgamation, still a popular topic in West Carleton.

“The same concerns,” Plante said.

And seeing them first hand brings it home.

“You have a lot of infrastructure challenges,” Plante said she witnessed during her first trip to West Carleton. “We do too, just a bit different. A lot of your roads are aging. Our roads include pedestrian access. A lot of people need sidewalks, bike lanes, room for strollers, wheelchairs. We have a lot more people who use pathways.”
Other shared challenges include recreation.

“We share the same exact concerns about recreation,” Plante said. “You don’t have enough recreation services, and our recreation services are aging. We have to make sure we support each other on these demands. We need to make our city a modernized, effective place and we can’t do that if we don’t work together. In French we say, you’re pulling the covers towards your side of the bed only. I want the sheet to cover the two of us, right?”

The former council was pegged as having two sides – those in ‘The Watson Club’ and those who were not. Plante says the new council has to all work together to find success for the City of Ottawa.

Plante was also pleasantly surprised to find a number of francophones in West Carleton.

“I actually found some francophones, just while I was pumping the gas here,” she said. “Meeting some of the residents I said, ‘bonjour,’ and they answered me. I thought, oh, okay, you do have francophones out here.”
Plante says Clarke comes to her riding two or three times a week as City Hall sits just on the border of her Vanier-Rideau Ward.

“He’s using the infrastructure in my ward several times a week,” Plante said. “I would love to take the councillors to some of the more high-needs areas. These are definitely urban issues. The Shepherds of Good Hope, The Salvation Army. We have a very serious homelessness issue in the downtown core. I have some issues I want to bring forward and I really want Clarke to support me, and I think he will, because he’s a great guy. But it’s really good when you can see it, feel it, touch it, smell it, all that stuff.”

Plante says she expects this term of council to stay united, and keep progress at the heart of all their decisions.

“I think it’s so important we support all of the councillors,” she said. “I know it sounds cheesy, but I’m so happy to be here and to meet everyone and to find out there’s a local newspaper. That’s so awesome.”