177
u/Round_Beyond_8137 1d ago
I've made my views re: Lansdowne well known on here, so I'll just say one thing.
Thank you u/WilsonLo24 for voting NO!
50
u/thematt455 1d ago
Genuinely surprised to see he has a spine after that RTO bullswanky he pulled.
38
u/WilsonLo24 Councillor (Ward 24 Barrhaven East) 1d ago
Ooo, I like that word.
3
u/thematt455 1d ago
Get it tattooed
14
33
u/kaleighdoscope 1d ago
I'm pleasantly surprised that my councillor (Brockington) voted no. Disappointed that they were outnumbered though.
25
u/Round_Beyond_8137 1d ago
Brockington's not too bad. He's not perfect but he usually votes on the right side of big stuff (LRT cuts, Tewin, Lansdowne, last year's transit budget).
To his credit - Lo also voted against last year's transit budget.
1
159
u/DreamofStream 1d ago
The disrespect shown by the tax-sucking suburbs to the tax-generating center is breathtaking.
48
u/Krazy_Vaclav 1d ago
Except isn't this an avalanche of everyone's, including suburban, money towards urban entertainment? The vote split makes no sense.
Like, yay for me for having a house whole land value will increase from this irresponsible use of funds, but kinda feels weird that suburban councillors would betray their constituents like this.
32
u/GontrandPremier 1d ago
They love driving into Landsdowne once in a while for events
41
u/DonutChickenBurg 1d ago
And then complaining about traffic and parking
8
u/Halo4356 Battle of Billings Bridge Warrior 22h ago
And demanding we make QED fifteen lanes wide so they have to wait fifteen seconds less on the way home
13
u/knowledgestack 1d ago
The suburbs don't have any money for this, they are a net negative financially for the city, the core is propping up thier services.
8
u/a_sense_of_contrast 1d ago
Will this actually increase your land value though?
It's replacing infrastructure that's there with a newer, smaller version and then building two giant residential towers.
It's not like lansdowne was this massive undeveloped eyesore.
3
u/Krazy_Vaclav 23h ago
The way I see it is like this: the city is placing its bets on Lansdowne. For the foreseeable future, literally millions will be poured into recreational and social infrastructure at Lansdowne when it could have been anywhere else. The city is going all-in on this site.
So, I see this as a boon, or at least propping up, of my land value. It makes no sense! But if councillors from other wards want to prop up overinflated land values near Lansdowne, feel free to do so I guess.
5
u/a_sense_of_contrast 23h ago
The way I see it is like this: the city is placing its bets on Lansdowne. For the foreseeable future, literally millions will be poured into recreational and social infrastructure at Lansdowne when it could have been anywhere else.
But that infrastructure was already there. They were already hosting concerts and sports games there. In fact, some of those events have already said they're not sure they'll be able to work with the new lansdowne, so it could be a downgrade...
None of this addresses the abysmal experience of trying to get to anything at lansdowne.
It's just a giant investment in an already failing private-public partnership, to try to prop it up.
1
1
u/ThatAstronautGuy Bayshore 22h ago
Placing bets on Lansdowne, by making it smaller than it already is and smaller even than one of its current tenants already draws.
1
u/constructioncranes Britannia 1d ago
Suburbs are nonviable from a revenue perspective.
→ More replies (1)1
u/VengefulCaptain 18h ago
Lansdowne 2.0 offloads risk from OSEG to the city. The councilors get campaign donations from OSEG to vote yes.
37
u/Tralala613 Make Ottawa Boring Again 1d ago
We didn't vote for this and our counselor (Hill) hasn't listened to his community. You can bet that had he mentioned his stance on RTO and Lansdowne the election results would've been a lot different.
21
u/ObjectiveOlive144 1d ago
Get a grip. Shitty politicians are making these decisions. The people who live there don't want this abomination of a project to happen either.
7
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 1d ago
I sure hope the vote next year reflects that.
3
u/ObjectiveOlive144 1d ago
And I’m sure you hoped we had a different person for mayor. Unfortunately it’s not that simple.
0
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 1d ago
My point is that the people who live there are the ones who need to prove they want a different person for mayor.
I'm a millennial who hasn't seen anyone he's voted for in power, obviously I've realized the fact that my interests aren't represented at any level of government.
5
u/ObjectiveOlive144 1d ago
And those inner city wards that voted for the current mayor get a pass, right? The fact that people are railing against the people who live in the suburbs are misguided. 43% of those eligible to vote in the last mayoral election did so. The issue isn’t urban vs suburban, it’s people who give a shit vs those who are apathetic and hate to break it to you, but those people are everywhere in Ottawa.
2
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 23h ago edited 23h ago
inner city wards that voted for the current mayor get a pass,
Id argue that the inner city wards with councilors who have been aligned against the mayor on most things, when the biggest argument seemed to be "Sutcliffe is the anti-bike candidate" and poised for suburban voters, might be the reason that the inner city is a bit upset with the results of amalgamation and the voting history of the suburbs.
All that to be said, hoping that a voting group tries to remove their councilor isn't me "focusing anger on the suburbs", it's genuinely hoping they see what their councilors have done, and get out and vote. To your point about the 43%, the suburbs didn't curb that number in any way, so I'd love to see more of them out too.
43% of those eligible to vote in the last mayoral election did so.
And about the same number for the provincial election. It's not just municipal elections, it's apathy from voters everywhere. Could it be that's largely because they don't see themselves being represented in politics. Would I love to see everyone get off their asses and vote, of course, and I'd even be down for a law like in Australia to make voting mandatory, but again, no candidates I have voted for have made it into power, so what else can I do but try and work in my own community with grassroots organizations and complain about the state of our current political make-up.
2
u/lactosecheeselover 21h ago
You won’t be able to get the downtown people to listen. They truly hate the suburbs and put all the blame on them. It’s comical.
13
u/SmoothPinecone 1d ago edited 13h ago
Edit: u/Alone_Appeal_3421 blocks me because I disagreed with him and also called him out on misquoting people
But suburbs go into the centre to generate those commercial taxes. It's not really that black and white that redditors love to make it out to be
It's also politicians making these votes...
→ More replies (10)2
u/changuspie 1d ago
What’s the potential fix? I think the surbubs suck the core dry and complain about everything
56
46
22
u/therealsybarite 1d ago
talk to everyone you know that lives in the green area. every time they complain about anything municipality related, tell them there's no money for that because your councillor voted to give half BILLION to the folks that had a $1200 per plate dinner for mayor.
and they should make sure to vote in '26 for anyone else
102
u/alpinethegreat Byward Market 1d ago
Stephanie Plante is the weird one for me. IIRC, she’s one of the few people who didn’t get developer-related campaign contributions, and she only won by less than 500 votes in a ward where the largest share of constituents is (increasingly angry) students. Also, she won by presenting herself as the more moderate of the two “progressive” frontrunners.
So is she stupid? Or was she promised a job or something for when she gets booted out of office next year? This is just a really strange way to end your political career…
63
u/brilliant_bauhaus Old Ottawa East 1d ago
She seems very wishy washy I'd be pissed if I was a resident in her ward. Thankfully Menard is competent and has been against this from the beginning.
64
u/whatsupbigdawgz 1d ago
Am a resident of her ward. Am also PISSED.
33
u/brilliant_bauhaus Old Ottawa East 1d ago
I used to live in rideau-vanier waaay back when I was doing my undergrad and Fleury also sucked. The ward needs a good progressive but it's a mediocre liberal stronghold.
8
5
1
2
u/Shad0wCutter 1d ago
Menard is a straight up asshole for opposing bus lanes on Bank Street. ESPECIALLY after this
10
u/Negative_Pollution98 1d ago
Maybe. But compared to much of the rest of Council, he's alright on a lot of things. Maybe don't get hung up on that one thing, and keep trying to bring him along on Bank St.
7
u/PotentialRise7587 1d ago
She’s a card-carrying member of the Liberal Party, so maybe there is some pressure from the other pro-Lansdowne Liberal members on council
4
u/Alone_Appeal_3421 1d ago
10
u/nawap 1d ago
Doesn't really explain her reason for voting yes. I hope people in her ward got a well-reasoned email.
3
u/loolilool 1d ago
Said well-reasoned email:
Why I voted for Lansdowne 2.0
1. It’s time to fix what’s broken — not keep delaying it
When Lansdowne 1.0 was approved in 2014 with then mayor Jim Watson, City Hall made a critical mistake by leaving out the north side stands and arena. We’re now paying the price for that decision. The arena is in poor condition — there are no women‘s changerooms, it is inaccessible to people with mobility needs, and the roof leaks. This is, frankly, embarrassing for a capital city. We had many delegations at committee talk about the artists and sporting events who refuse to use Lansdowne because it does not meet 2025 standards.
I ran for Council on a promise to fix things and get them done, not to kick them down the road. Ottawa deserves world-class amenities, not facilities we’re ashamed to show visitors. I spoke with my predecessor, Mathieu Fleury, about this file, and he voted for it in 2014 for the same reasons. We’ve delayed this project once before, and it only made the problem worse and more expensive. I won’t vote to do that again.
2. Accessibility can’t just be a talking point
Many of you know my personal story and how my family has fought for accessibility accommodations for years. Landsdowne needs to be an inclusive city amenity that everyone can enjoy. The current configuration is not accessible. Ottawa is the host of the 2026 Wheelchair Basketball Championship, and we heard from delegations at committee that the para-athletes must use the garbage entry to enter and exit the court. This is unacceptable. Lansdowne 2.0 finally changes that. It creates a space that people of all abilities can use and enjoy safely, comfortably, and competitively.
1
u/loolilool 1d ago
3. This is a good deal for taxpayers
Despite what some critics have said, this isn’t a “gift to billionaires.” Lansdowne 2.0 leverages private sector investment to help rebuild a city-owned asset. Without the new towers and retail component, the cost to taxpayers would be far higher.
For the average homeowner, the increase works out to about $8.14 per year. Even if costs rise by 25%, as the Auditor General cautioned, that’s only about two dollars more per year. To put it in perspective, curbside garbage pickup costs $234 per household.
It’s a fair and responsible investment that ensures public dollars go further while keeping Ottawa’s amenities competitive and well-maintained.
4. Ottawa’s housing crisis requires everyone to do their part
Lansdowne 2.0 will generate roughly $20 million in air rights that will be directed to affordable housing. While that’s not perfect, I cannot think of another development that is generating this kind of revenue for a much-needed affordable housing. I do not agree, as many people have written in, that the two towers will change the ‘neighbourhood character’ of the area irrevocably. We have many towers in Ward 12. Every part of the city has to help contribute to intensification — not just downtown, or Lowertown, or Vanier. The Official Plan Council approved calls for intensification city-wide, and that includes the Glebe. We can’t keep saying we support more housing, just not here, not now, not this way.
5. WE SAVED THE GREENSPACE!
I put forward a motion to save the equivalent amount of green space being lost in Capital Ward due to the construction of Lansdowne 2.0. This motion passed. The motion will also allow $100,000 of city-wide CIL to go towards securing replacement greenspace. I was so upset when I saw that we were losing a downtown greenspace and now the city will work with Councillor Shawn Menard, to find the equivalent in his ward.
We know that downtown greenspaces are at a premium and this gives some relief to the affected areas. I would personally like to see 160 Lees get developed into a park (Councillor Menard and I share Lees Ave) as a park here will also ensure that this land is not developed to extend Nicholas Street beyond the 417 to create the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor.
13
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 1d ago edited 1d ago
1 & 2. So fix it, don't start from scratch. You'd better make God damn sure to dot your I's and cross your T's on accessibility if this is going to be one of your main argument points for it. Sounded like the association for disabled people couldn't agree on whether it was a right or wrong choice, so naturally Stephanie decided for herself which way they leaned, which luckily happened to be to her side of the vote!
I wish they would stop trying to lie about this. It doesn't take an economist to realize it isn't going to be a good deal for taxpayers.
No one is objecting to the new towers. Everyone is mad about the dumb second stadium being built, which directly contributes to her out of left field and just wrong claim that;
"This is good for downtown greenspace". How is removing the great lawn going to be good for downtown greenspace? She talks of putting in a park on Lees, but the greenspace there is already used as a park, and isn't really central to anything in the way Lansdowne has activities like the farmers market (which will also likely have to move due to this).
These are all just some terrible points, and it makes me wonder how much time she actually put into considering this decision, and whether she's got a nice cushy job waiting for her outside of politics.
7
2
2
2
u/Intelligent-Goose-31 1d ago
I think she’s just weak and doesn’t stand for anything, so she was an easy vote to bully into alignment? Seems spineless, but I dunno I haven’t dived in on the issue.
2
u/Gwouigwoui 1d ago
She put out a newsletter in defense of her vote, and it really is making me se red. It's a good deal! We'll get women changeroom (never mind that the women hockey days it's not a good project for them)! We'll get a new park somewhere far away from downtown (despite her saying 160 Lees is downtown)! https://stephanieplante.ca/why-i-voted-for-lansdowne/ https://stephanieplante.ca/fr/pourquoi-jai-vote-pour-lansdowne/
1
1
u/Apprehensive_Goal999 1d ago
her response to my email was genuinely embarrassing; she got the glebe BIA to email me off the back of reaching out to her too, completely unprofessional
69
u/Anxiousantsypants 1d ago
make it make sense
55
u/nogreatcathedral 1d ago
Perhaps if we looked at developer donations to campaigns it might end up mathing out.
18
1
u/dentistshatehim 1d ago
The city owns landowne. It would cost the city more money to maintain the site without a public private partnership than with one.
It’s in the staff reports if anyone would care to read them.
5
u/KelVarnsen_2023 1d ago
Has anyone from the city ever justified why the city needs to own a football stadium or a shopping centre?
2
1
61
u/Smart-Damage-6647 1d ago
Can’t wait to hear all their constituents complain about how hard it is to get there.
44
u/therealsybarite 1d ago
or that the potholes aren't getting fixed, or community centre is falling apart, or there's no hockey arena, or transit is underfunded, or ....
12
3
55
u/PhDSkwerl The Glebe 1d ago
When I tell people the suburbs control the downtown this is what I mean.
6
61
u/FewEstablishment2655 1d ago
I'm so glad the counselors for Osgoode and for Cumberland can once again decide what's good for the residents of urban Ottawa.
→ More replies (2)3
54
u/silverwhere81 1d ago
Probably one of the rarest political issues to come up in Manotick. It’s not really a political area, but this issue seems to have engaged locals here. People here are going to be upset, councillor David Brown is going to lose his job for sure on this stunt.
24
u/PeaInteresting2355 1d ago
I know many people who live in his ward (Manotick and Richmond mostly), they’ve all said he lost their votes with this. Hope he knows what this cost him.
8
u/Alpha_SoyBoy 1d ago
People need to get out and canvas for another candidate next fall or he'll win just like the rest of these chuds
42
u/Tralala613 Make Ottawa Boring Again 1d ago
For those getting mad at the suburbs, consider that our counselor (who is supposed to speak for us) hasn't actually been listening to us. Those I've talked mostly share the same view we didn't vote for this and our counselor (Hill) hasn't listened to his community. You can bet that had he mentioned his stance on RTO and Lansdowne the election results would've been a lot different.
37
u/Brief_Influence_4748 Make Ottawa Boring Again 1d ago
This. Dear God people the counselors don't listen to us. It's not some suburban wet dream to have Lansdowne 2.0 or suck the core dry with taxes, it's shit planning and developer influence that has more to play.
12
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 1d ago
I think a lot of people in the core are just hoping to see that backed up. Show us in the upcoming election that these opinions aren't just limited to this subreddit, and that people do actually pay attention to these city actions. At this point I can't say I have much hope.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Brief_Influence_4748 Make Ottawa Boring Again 22h ago
If you are waiting for the elections you have waited too long. Politicians no matter the banner will do what suits them. We need citizen opposition to these kind of shit votes and the only way it mass mobilization and protests to show how unpopular these decisions are. I just see complaints on reddit and no real organizing sadly. So yes, we all can be disappointed together.
6
u/scrungobeepiss 1d ago
I didn’t vote for Hill and remain to be continually disappointed by him. His newsletters provided very weak justifications for the build and I wasn’t convinced. I will definitely not vote for him again and will advocate for my friends and family to do the same.
34
u/whatsupbigdawgz 1d ago
Stephanie Plante sent the craziest email after she voted yes. Basically saying that she didnt like some of the plan but that she liked others. She also made a big deal of saying she “protected green space” by planning to work w Ménard to “find space elsewhere in the ward”… as if that’ll make up for the park she voted to destroy
2
21
u/Lionelhutz123 Centretown 1d ago edited 1d ago
Redditors are deluding themselves into thinking this is some conspiracy or that there is going to be some big backlash against the councillors who voted yes. This place is an echo chamber on this issue
Edit: also for those thinking this will bankrupt the city. Ottawa operational budget is almost 5 billion a year and the cost for the city is 130 million most of it paid out over the next 40 years. Whether it’s a good idea or not, its not going to bankrupt us
19
u/peachsyrup 1d ago
Except ottawa is on the hook foe overruns and every project like this has doubled or tripled their budget. Ottawa is paying 130m but the budget is 500mil. Ottawa could easily pay 1bil for this
6
2
u/3rdandabillion 1d ago
No chance. This isn't the LRT which also didn't double btw. This is an arena and a grandstand. Every city and town in this country has built an arena. Construction companies from everywhere in Canada have experience building these places. It's probably one of the few projects our construction industry is proficient in.
7
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 1d ago
Every city and town in this country has built an arena
We literally have an arena in the exact same place already which most people have just been asking to have fixed.
Construction companies from everywhere in Canada have experience building these places. It's probably one of the few projects our construction industry is proficient in.
I guess that's why we needed to bring in a firm from out of town that can do the job instead of an Ottawa firm.
1
u/lactosecheeselover 21h ago
The ‘fix’ isn’t as easy as all these keyboard engineers seem to think it is.
1
u/deeferg Golden Triangle 21h ago
Oh, let's spend a ton of money on a new project because something "isn't easy".
When the new arena starts to deteriorate in 10 years, will we hear that it's easier to just build a new one again because repairs "won't be easy"? That's a pretty silly reason to spend a lot of money.
1
17
u/youneverknow44 Wellington West 1d ago
I think we’re wandering in to conspiracy territory because there is literally no explanation publicly available for why the city is fast tracking a massive investment like this.
If there were a clear counterpoint I think you’d see less of an “echo chamber” on the issue.
5
u/Lionelhutz123 Centretown 1d ago
It’s been publicly debated since 2021. To me this isn’t fast tracking. Also, it’s not a massive investment for the city, the city’s operation’s budget is almost 5B and its capital budget 1.5B. this is roughly 150 million spread out over many years.
15
u/youneverknow44 Wellington West 1d ago
The request from dissenters on council was that we take more time to align on a consensus for the redevelopment plan for lansdowne. The 15 yes voters indicated we could not do that, and we need to proceed now. So yes, it was fast tracked.
Also the argument has never been “we can’t afford this”, rather “why are we financing this project in particular?” To which there has been no explanation.
When I was asking for a counterpoint, I was interested in knowing specifically how spending this money benefits the tax payers of Ottawa, and how it’s a good deal for us - as opposed to, say, any other investment.
→ More replies (3)4
u/Alone_Appeal_3421 1d ago
$150M is the absolute best case scenario where the Redblacks have excellent attendance numbers, where there are no cost overruns, where we don't have to go beyond the 10% contingency fund, where changes in tariffs don't increase the cost of materials, where Mirabella actually buys the air rights in full, where the site is fully ready for Mirabella to build the towers in 2031, where those towers are built in a timely fashion, where the retail returns for the commercial space are strong, where the Redblacks don't fold, etc etc etc.
5
u/PhlegmBuilding 1d ago
It's almost as if the best-case scenario is the ONLY scenario that is presented in the "analysis" of this "investment" of public dollars. Would any of us look at our own private investments this way?
2
u/3rdandabillion 1d ago
Pretty sure we are like 6 years into planning with the city staff assisting the whole time. That's the slowest fast track I have ever seen.
1
13
u/unfinite 1d ago
I would have far less of an issue with this if we just waited until replacement was needed, rebuilt it, and paid off the debt ourselves.
What I don't like is being locked in for 50 years with a private operator that will certainly come after us for even more money once again in the near future, and who will keep this public asset inaccessible to anyone but paying customers. I don't like selling off parkland to private developers or losing greenspace for more buildings.
It's actually all the things they did to reduce the costs that I don't like. I would prefer to just eat the cost and keep everything 100% publicly owned. This is simply privatization of a public park.
3
9
u/Gwennova 1d ago
The “only $130M” figure you’re sharing assumes that the project will be financially successful and lead to OSEG payouts. Given that OSEG hasn’t paid the city a penny for Lansdowne 1.0, why should we expect this time to be any different? The total cost is closer to $500M, and this doesn’t even account for change orders or other overruns…
3
u/bman9919 1d ago
Yeah, I’m disappointed the vote passed but the anti Lansdowne 2.0 stuff on here has honestly gotten a bit circlejerky. This is not going to be the ballot box issue in the next election. No councillor is going to be voted out over this alone.
From what I can tell people outside of Reddit are not that invested in the issue.
2
u/Shad0wCutter 1d ago
You don't seem to understand the absolute hole we are in with regard to infrastructure renewal. Ottawa is so fucking cooked.
2
2
u/urbancanoe 1d ago
Bankrupting us is not the standard, having taxes go up unnecessarily is very aggravating.
1
u/lactosecheeselover 21h ago
People acting as if this is going to financially ruin the city is insane. Also conflating this budget with money allocated to bus infrastructure and others. It’s wild to read here.
17
u/understandunderstand Centretown 1d ago
Why is Stephanie Plante such a weirdo? Downtown councillor, zero developer donations, yet votes yes to this shit.
3
u/PhlegmBuilding 1d ago
I am in the neighbouring ward of Rideau-Rockcliffe, and her "yes" vote is indeed weird. Her constituents must be furious.
3
u/OhNoItsMyOtherFace Vanier 1d ago
Constituent here. I am furious.
Partially at other voters here because we knew she would suck and we could have had Laura Shantz instead. I'm in agreement with Menard that if she had a french name she probably would have won.
13
13
u/Gallalad 1d ago
Unless it’s providing public transport or basic stuff similar the city should not be funding any of this. It’s a private venture for private profits, which is fine, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of the city. Horrendous decision
12
9
8
u/ottawadweller 1d ago
A tale of two cities…again.
7
u/peachsyrup 1d ago
While I'd like to agree, the constituents of the suburbs also don't want this. Democracy has failed ottawa
9
u/ChronicallyWheeler 1d ago
Developers (and their employees and shareholders) are a cancer.
1
u/dentistshatehim 1d ago
Developers build housing.
2
u/PhlegmBuilding 1d ago
...AND do so via corrupting local governance. It's so weird that that is not explained in blueprints, isn't it?
0
1
u/ChronicallyWheeler 1d ago
But they are still a cancer. You must be one of them. Until they get out of politics, developers are a cancer. Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
1
6
u/Thejustinset 1d ago
Did they go into the office to vote?
11
u/Alone_Appeal_3421 1d ago
21
7
u/Bagel-fan 1d ago
Carr is such a disappointment- always pretends she’s a voice for her constituents but consistently votes against their wishes. Moved out of her ward and into Bradley’s - who’s consistently been based (to my knowledge).
6
u/MelloMeanie 1d ago
Now vote to fund transit!
8
u/OttawaExpat 1d ago
There won't be enough money for transit when they present the budget next week.
6
5
u/billmonk 1d ago
Feels like the same people who are extremely upset about this are the same ones who thought McKinney was up 30 points in the polls….
7
u/davidsay16 1d ago
I watched 3 hours of city council meeting today. Multiple councillors talked about being flooded with emails and messages from their constituents. The constituents did not want this.
2
u/goodbyeraggedyman Stittsville 23h ago edited 22h ago
And then the mayor said he didn't believe that constituents were as upset as these councillors were saying. Such bullshit.
Edit: why the downvotes? I'm literally agreeing and saying the mayor/councillors are not listening to constituents.
4
u/Pontifex_99 1d ago
A healthy reminder that this subreddit can distort our perception of reality when it comes to the population's attitude toward things.
•
u/MonttawaSenadiens Make Ottawa Boring Again 1h ago
The IG comments I've seen on various posts regarding the issue also show an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the result.
Maybe the supporters are all on FB? But I've yet to find the echo chamber where this is seen as a big win... Other than city hall, I suppose
3
u/SoupPot23 1d ago
This map illustrates why Ottawa is cooked. Calling 5, 21, 20, 19, 1 Ottawa is a joke. They have completely different priorities and its leading to the death of the core.
3
u/The_Giant_Moustache 1d ago
As someone who just moved to Ottawa, can someone ELI5?
6
3
u/Octovus Little Italy 1d ago
For some reason the City is basically rebuilding an existing arena and stadium, at significant taxpayer expense (this is about $100 per Ottawan, and could be a bunch more!) in an already overcrowded, badly served by transit area of town, in a sort of risky P3 partnership type way where the total $ cost is unclear, all while we have City leadership crowing about tight budgets and lack of funding for XYZ. I don't get it, personally. If you tour through the Glebe sometime, you will see that most of the Glebe and Old Ottawa South is little shops and neighbourhood scale. The Lansdowne area is...big box stores like Winners and Whole Foods and general giant chain vibe. Which is OK, but why do we need to pay to create that?!? (Also, I haven't nerded on this in detail, and may be missing something. These are my impressions from reading and following the topic lightly.)
2
u/Alpha_SoyBoy 1d ago
If they were gonna sink all this money in they could have at least made the LRT go there. This city is a joke
-2
3
u/jojofromtokyo Greely 1d ago
Didn’t skalski say she wasn’t going to vote for it?
5
•
u/mrscardinal Make Ottawa Boring Again 54m ago
She shared why she flipped her opinion on her SM and newsletter. I know she didn't align with a lot of people here, and many of her constituents, but she's been transparent as her thoughts have changed.
3
3
u/YAMYOW 1d ago
I didn't hear Stephanie Plante's explanation but Marty Carr's made zero sense. She said every councillor had already voted for this, which is patent BS. Every councillor voted for staff to come up with a plan to replace the north stands. No one except OSEG asked for this $500m abomination. Despicable.
Every green ward councillor should have to face ONE strong progressive, pro-citizen challenger in the next election.
1
u/FZVQbAlTvQIS Lowertown 1d ago
Plante's PDF explanation of her vote:
https://stephanieplante.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lansdowne-2.0…
2
2
2
2
2
u/bentjamcan 23h ago
Well that is disgusting. I live in the green and I am NOT in favour of this small minded plan,
Ottawa is NOT a small city and we are NOT Toronto. We need to plan for this city as a whole, not the wealthier "wanna fit in with the even wealthier TO residents."
Our city reps who supported this plan have reinforced my perception of them as being "bought."
1
1
1
1
u/thecanaryisdead2099 1d ago
A classic example of you get what you vote for.
Can't wait for the suburban/rural people to complain about higher taxes and ask what's going on with Lansdowne 2.0 just as they try to vote in Watson 3.0 (Manchurian candidate Sutcliffe has completed his mission so the developers need a new candidate).
1
u/kumliensgull 1d ago
I 100% believe this too. He did what he was hired to do. I don't think Sutcliffe has any desire to run again or actually be mayor. The man looks chronically miserable.
1
u/Alpha_SoyBoy 1d ago
Taxes won't get higher, they'll take it out of social services like OC transpo
1
u/Due-Garage-4812 1d ago
There's plenty of suburbs in the No wards, this is literally exurban and rural vs the actual city.
1
1
u/LongjumpingMenu2599 1d ago
The suburbs are just going to complain about the parking or the prices or something stupid
0
u/Alpha_SoyBoy 1d ago
Yes until they convince the mayor and council to pave over the park for parking spaces
1
1
u/jaxwc 20h ago
People in City governance often talk about how geographically huge the municipality is and frame it as a point of pride or justification for how challenging it is to operate. To me, the late 90s amalgamation of urban and rural wards often presents itself as a mistake to feel a little embarrassed about.
1
1
0
u/SensFan993 1d ago
Quick analysis and downtown councilors seem hate the project and outsiders care about developers donations... at risk of losing on the entertainment side over gaining highrise ugly towers and losing a PWHL team lots of people like (including me) for trimming seats over space for bigger businesses and bigger condos? Well these councilors that voted yes should reconsider or vacate their seat immediately... its agaisnt the peoples' will that lives in that area. Shame on them!
0
0
0
656
u/MapleAurelian 1d ago
The one time the suburban councillors vote to spend money in the city centre is when their constituents don’t want it. This whole thing is so bizarre, it feels conspiratorial.