By Damali Nabagereka
Technical delays at the National Capital Commission mean Centretown residents will have to wait a little longer for the report on the first phase of public consultations on the NCC’s 50-year vision for Ottawa.
The report was to have been released in November and a revised proposal was supposed to be announced this month.
But it won’t be ready for a few more weeks because analyzing and tabulating the results is taking longer than expected, says NCC media relations officer, Luc Bégin.
Another reason for the delay is that the report has to be translated into French.
“We want to make sure the report is thorough and the translation is vital,” says Bégin.
However, the delay has some, such as Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation Director Walter Robinson a little concerned.
“It’s a question of where they’re going to go with it (the report),” says Robinson. “I’ll be concerned if they decide to go ahead with what I think is a stupid idea.”
The idea is a proposal contained in the NCC’s 50-year vision for Ottawa, to create a “grande boulevard” or “urban square” running south from Parliament Hill along Metcalfe.
The proposal, announced last June, would require demolishing buildings on the west side of Metcalfe from one to 17 blocks.
The goal is to create wide open space for people to have full view of the Centre Block and the Peace Tower from the south.
The NCC proposal contained four options to achieve this goal, including the creation of a grande boulevard lined with trees extending all the way from Mcleod Street to Parliament Hill.
Other options include a square running south, directly across Wellington Street from the Peace Tower, either extending to the south of Sparks Street or stretching down to Albert Street.
A third option would extend south to Laurier Avenue and would be wider, with a divided street and trees down the centre, providing only a partial view of Centre block.
The NCC held public consultations and set up public kiosks throughout the past summer and was supposed to release a revised proposal based on these by this month.
Robinson says he’s concerned about the delay. In the past the NCC has ignored public input into its proposed projects.
He cites the NCC’s 1996 proposal to expand the Champlain Bridge which was implemented despite strong public opposition.
But Bégin says there’s no need for concern.
“We gave a time line, not specific dates,” he says. “The sequence is still the same, it’s the timing that’s changed.”
Meanwhile, Ottawa Centre MP Mac Harb surveyed Centretown residents on the NCC proposal late last summer and of the 100,000 residents surveyed, only 500 responded.
Harb says many did not select any of the proposed options and of those that did, most said they support a boulevard extending to Mcleod Street.
But the survey was unscientific and therefore cannot be released as an official report.
“It wasn’t a poll or anything like that,” Harb says. “It was just an opportunity for the community to express their views. It was an indication to me as to what the public feels about the issue.”
The survey was only one part of Harb’s consultation process which included town hall meetings, letters from the public, discussions and questionnaires, over a period of one and half years.
In the end, Harb’s position which he submitted to the NCC late last year is to create a boulevard on Metcalfe extending no further than Laurier Avenue and not requiring the destruction of heritage and residential buildings.
The NCC has combined this position with its other public consultation results in order to come up with a revised proposal to be released soon.
Robinson says he’s also concerned the visitors’ survey at the NCC information centre and Parliament Hill was irrelevant since mostly tourists would respond to what is essentially local a issue.
But the delay still has some, like Jack Cook, owner of Canada’s Four Corners, a store on Metcalfe Street, waiting eagerly.
“Sure we’re anxious,” Cook says. “It (the proposal) means so much to people like us.”