By Rebecca Pace
A proposal to rethink the National Capital Commission’s public consultation process for the next phase of the LeBreton Flats redevelopment is not very workable, says the chair of a local city group.
Ed Broadbent, MP for Ottawa Centre, and Diane Holmes, Somerset Ward councillor, have proposed a new consultation process in which the NCC would get public input by meeting with a committee of local Ottawa residents.
Broadbent said the selection of committee members would be based on demographics and would represent “a real cross-section of the community when it comes to gender, age, occupation, and ethnicity.”
In the first phase of the redevelopment project, Broadbent said the committee was made up of people representing different interest groups.
Broadbent said he met and discussed the idea with NCC chair Marcel Beaudry. He said the new process would see “experts” speak to committee members about issues regarding the redevelopment. Broadbent said it would then be left to the members to voice any opinions or concerns to the NCC.
“Citizens can make responsible decisions if they’re informed,” Broadbent said. “You also get community ownership because everyone’s face has been reflected in the plans.”
But David Gladstone, chair of the City Centre Coalition, says Broadbent’s proposal doesn’t seem very workable.
“Basically, you’re asking the NCC, which is spending large amounts of money, to listen very seriously to people who come out of the blue,” he says. “Why would they want to do that?”
Gladstone was a member of an interest group which met with the NCC in the first phase of the LeBreton Flats redevelopment. He says the groups are a good way for locals to provide feedback, but more meetings could be organized.
Sandra Pecek, manager of the NCC’s public consultations, says the commission is open to new approaches to innovation in the next phase of the LeBreton Flat project.
In the first phase of the LeBreton Flats redevelopment, Pecek says the NCC used various types of consultation.
She says the NCC had a meeting every six to eight weeks with local interest groups comprised of environmentalists, historians and elected officials.
Pecek says she received positive feedback regarding the process used in the first phase of the project.
Pecek says the NCC also organized public meetings. She said the meetings were advertised in local newspapers and over 10,000 mailings invited people to offer their opinions. It was an open-house format where the public could talk to staff, followed by a formal presentation and then a question and answer session, Pecek says.
Pecek says she couldn’t offer any timeline as to when the NCC would decide on whether or not to accept Broadbent’s proposal. “I can’t tell you exactly what we’re going to do because we’re just not there yet,” she says.
Broadbent said he will give a follow-up call to Beaudry, who he said is taking the proposal seriously. Broadbent added he recognizes the consulting the NCC has done in the past.
“I’m not criticizing the NCC,” he said. “I’m merely suggesting a new idea.”
Holmes could not be reached for comment.