Kim Sheldrick releases election platform

Where do I stand on…and how can it be done?

Light Rail Transit

LRT needed more work before approval-stations without bathrooms? I would rather see expansion of the O train as opposed to current LRT 2 plans.

I do not see the value for the amount to be paid for LRT. I would like to see rail services expanded even further east and west and especially to the south. None of the current plans include any services to the airport eventhough there is a rail line/right of way just east of it. I would like to see rail services such as the O train use the existing tracks and rights of way that already exist.

We lost a valuable means of transportation when many of the rail lines were decommissioned. Funding currently promised by the province would cover most of the costs to expand O Train service as opposed to the current LRT2. I would also ensure there are bathrooms at stations both for convenience and safety.

Casino

I agree Rideau Carleton Raceway is the best location. RCR is a large site with ample parking for events and services. It is already established. RCR has a commuter bus from South Keys that links it to OC Transpo and the OTrain. This bus could increase in frequency should demand increase to those levels.

Weekly garbage pickup

Though I am fine with biweekly, constituents are not so I would work to return to weekly pick up. While I personally have no issues with biweekly garbage pickup, the residents in my Ward do so I would investigate a return to weekly pickup for up to 2 summers (May-September) before returning to biweekly once residents became more familiar with the green bin program. We need to continue moving forward with recycling.

Pathways

we need more multiuse paths for cycling, walking, ATVs, widening roadways, creating connecting paths between subdivisons, looking into opening lands along hydro corridors, and working with landowners to open small tracts of land for paths, are all ways of increasing safe pathways.

The work of clearing pathways in winter could be contacted out to students needing community service hours or to special needs people that may have issues in finding employment but are physically able to work.

Arts Court

I believe it is too expensive and extravagant. While Arts are important, I feel that $100million is a little bit extravagant and I would have voted no to that particular amount.

Our Museums within the Ottawa Museum Network are invaluable to conserving and preserving our history. We must maintain funding to them. We also need to ensure we that funds are available to have music and arts of various mediums come to the City. As with everything, funding is key. With Arts however, funds that go towards bringing programs and to aid festivals usually brings a return of more than granted.

I have stated that I will take the time to revisit the full budget to find not only inefficiencies but programs that are no longer effective or serving the public in the scope of which they were created and intended. Infrastructure and core services are key but life also needs music and art.

Public bathrooms

I'm in favour of bringing some to Ottawa. As businesses enforce the "restrooms for patrons only" policy, we need to ensure that restrooms are available for our tourists. I have been in contact with the 'Gotta Go Campaign' and believe we should be working with them as it is something we should have in Ottawa. This includes bathrooms in LRT stations.

Landfill in the east end

I do not support any new landfills. I don't support creating new or expanding existing landfills. I believe we should be recycling more through the blue and black boxes and green bin. I am also researching the grey box program in Niagara in which plastic bags and plastic out wraps are also recycled. There is much talk of incineration however the dioxins released through the smoke stacks and the ash created are issues which keep me from pushing for it at this time.

Energy East pipeline

I do not support the pipeline. After an openhouse in April, I created a list of questions and submitted them to Energy East. They have acknowledged receipt of the questions but have yet to respond. I have heard Energy East’s explanations as well I have spoken to some members of Ecology Ottawa, in regards to the pipeline as well. I would be willing to request an independent 3rd party risk assessment.

Green bin program

I support the green bin program but not the contract. I agree with expanding to restaurants, schools, multi-unit complexes and other business but I do not support cutting it from the rural areas. We need more recycling not less. I am opposed to creating new or expanding current landfills and recycling helps with this idea. There are many rural residents who use their green bins and appreciate them, however, they are less vocal than the naysayers. I would like to re-examine the contract and see if we can renegotiate it, but not cancel it.

Volunteer Advisory Committees

I support bringing them back. I wholeheartedly agree with the return of volunteers to Advisory Committees and that meetings should be open to the public. The members should be a mix of qualified community volunteers in unpaid positions on the committees. I frequently attended RIAC meetings and had hoped to join but changes to Committees were then made. I believe the public is invaluable in many situations and that more transparency is needed which in turn may assist with accountability. Councillors and Staff are here to work for the community and the best way is to work with them.

Commuter and/or shopping bus

I’d like to see both expanded Route 541 currently starts in Chesterville and travels north, mainly on Hwy 31/Bank St with stops within Vernon, Metcalfe and part of Greely. I would like to see it also include Osgoode Village and the western part of Greely.

If Route 541 cannot accommodate this, perhaps Route 543 from Kemptville could have a shift in route. We also have Route 528 from Russell and Embrun that may be able to reroute to include Kenmore if it were warranted. A second bus on these existing routes at a later time of day has also been brought up by residents.

As for the shopping bus that runs through Osgoode Ward, it runs once per week and the only mall it travels to is Billings Bridge. Although the bus does have stops at transit stations and light rail connections, many riders stay on the bus to the mall. At one time the bus ran to Carlingwood and many riders were happy with this. A second day of travel to a different mall has also been requested. If a second day per week is not affordable, alternating weeks of trips to Billings Bridge and Carlingwood could increase ridership. It has been requested by many residents to expand the pick up route to include Osgoode Village.

Social housing/homelessness

I support increasing funding as lack of appropriate housing has a negative domino effect. While Osgoode Ward appears to have less of a homelessness issue than some urban wards, it is still here as well. I support increasing funding as lack of appropriate housing has a negative domino effect. A person with no home may have many reasons. It may be mental illness, addiction or another cause. People with a home feel they are a part of society while homeless people feel a sense of disconnect and like they don't matter. We need to ensure everyone has somewhere to go and access to services they need.

I have been working with various drug prevention programs to help kids choose alternatives to drugs and to just say no. This is linked to homelessness as it is much more difficult to help a 20 year addict than to help a youth say no. Prevention of drug use is a small key to prevention of homelessness. An increase in mental health awareness, services and treatment is also required to help with the issue of homelessness and would decrease health care costs overall. Some social programs are being uploaded back to the province and will no longer be paid by municipalities. These funds that will still be collected through taxes should be put into housing/homelessness programs.

I have been in contact with Acorn and the Alliance to End Homelessness. I have pledged to help increase funding by $2m/year for 4 years should I be elected. I would support inclusionary zoning as I see that it would be a beneficial start to some of the housing issues in the city. Inclusionary zoning bylaws are ways for municipalities to use their development regulation and approval process to have private developers provide some affordable in market projects. It increases the amount of housing stock.

A big problem related to housing that has been identified by low income families who rent in Ottawa is the problem with the state of disrepair in apartment buildings. The problems are severe and include massive pest infestations, elevators not working for long periods of time, problems with proper heating, safety issues related to doors not locking properly and basic repairs in apartments that tenants are entitled to but are not receiving.

Enforcement mechanisms at the municipal level need to be improved. There should be a more severe consequence to landlords and set timelines in which landlords need to do critical repairs for their tenants. Within the consequences, I would also support publicizing landlord names in extreme cases. I believe there should be timelines for all but minor/inconsequential repairs (an example would be a small hole in a screen that a simple patch could cover or a minor hole in a wall from moving a picture to a new location).

Child Care

I support increasing spaces and subsidies I believe the number of subsidies should increase to help parents as opposed to constructing new buildings to house daycares. As a home daycare provider myself, I wholeheartedly believe that large, for profit daycares are not in the best interests of kids. Locally, I will continue to support both Osgoode Cooperative Nursery School and Metcalfe Cooperative Nursery School as I have in past years. I attend events and help with Rural Family Connections when I can. I also help promote the fact that United Way contributions can be directed to RFC in hopes to increase funding to RFC. I will do what is necessary to ensure RFC and other similar agencies remain a part of our community.

Cycling

I support registering bikes for identification, increasing cycling safety education programs, mandatory helmet law for all bikes should be registered and have identifiable plates the same as vehicles, snowmobiles, and other means of transportation. Enforcement would be similar to cars and yes bikes should bear plates. We already have Ottawa Police on bikes and on foot that could enforce rules. Currently many riders do not follow the rules of the road and identifying these riders is near impossible. Many people have complained of near misses for incidents with bicycles and again, bikes are not easily identifiable. As with cars with licence plates, bikes would be registered to a person and that person is responsible for it with the understanding that if they lend the bike, it is still ultimately their responsibility. A minimal fee would be charge to cover the cost of the plate and the data input into the registry. Annual renewal is also a possibility.

D-5-5

Return it to guideline status or remove it municipally. Provincially D-5-5 is a guideline. The City of Ottawa can chose to implement it or chose not to. It has been changed to a regulation municipally however it should be returned to guideline status in Ottawa. If source water can be made potable by using commonly used water treatments, then the source water quality should not prevent a severance from occurring. The source water used by urban and many suburban areas is not potable as it is river water that is treated before use. The same consideration should be given to rural sources but on a smaller scale.

Community Centre

Lower rental costs as to increase use. The theory that raising rates will bring in more income is flawed in this situation. People are not renting city facilities as costs are much lower at private halls and centres. Should prices be lowered somewhat, people would return to using city facilities.

Shop Local, Live Local, Buy Local, Eat Local

I strongly support our local economy. This is self-explanatory. We have many organizations to help promote local businesses and I’d like to increase our working with them. We have Just Food (with the Mobile Market), Savour Ottawa, the Community Garden network, Greely Business Association and many Farmer’s Markets just to name a few.

Wind Farms

I do not support a North Gower Wind farm. While I support renewable energy, I do not support the provincial Green Energy Act or the current deals for wind and solar power. There are health hazards associated with the wind turbines and the amount of power produced is minimal. I feel the Municipalities should be pressuring the Ontario Government, Independent Electricity System Operator, Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation, Ontario Energy Board, Ontario Power Authority, Hydro One, and Ontario Power Generation to improve services, regulate electricity better to prevent over creation, thus creating excess being sent to Quebec and the USA, remove the debt reduction payment, decrease fees and manage the funds appropriately before allowing more wind farms.

Fluoridation removal

I support its removal from municipal water. Fluoridation within municipal water systems has been shown to have little effect on the number of cavities people get. Fluoride is toxic. It is a chemical waste product. Even reading a simple tube of toothpaste you see that toothpaste should not be swallowed. This is because of the fluoride within it.

Biosolid Spreading

I am opposed to any further spreading of biosolids. Spreading of human biosolids should no longer occur. Biosolids from human waste contain just that, waste from humans. This includes pathogens, steroids, hormones, chemotherapy medications, other medications and viruses. Viruses are not killed through current procedures prior to biosolid spreading and the medical residue is not removed other than by natural decomposition. Current spreading also increases risk of airborne exposure. It spreads large amounts of phosphorus on the land allowing some to run off into the water system and altering it. There are too many risks to allow this to continue in our city.

Municipal Water/Sewer

Investigate the costs of expanding southward. Many areas within the northern section of the Ward have had insufficient/nonpotable water for many years. All residents should have access to clean potable water. We have much development occuring in and around Greely and Osgoode. With well and septic systems requiring separation distances, space will begin to be an issue for development within village boundaries. Aquifers naturally replenish themselves but there are limited amounts of clean water. It is best to evaluate what will need to be done before aquifers run dry. There are already areas in northern Greely who have had to drill new deeper wells as other new wells in the area are drilled. Proactive works better than reactive.

Bullying

Work at increasing awareness and ending it. Bullying is an issue that affects us all and all levels of government and society need to work together to stop it. As for a concrete plan, I do not yet have one other than continue to publicly support awareness and current programs.

Rec facilities

We need another icepad, a pool and/or a splashpad in Ward 20. A petition has already been started for a splashpad in Vernon. The City states that a splashpad needs to be on water and sewer to operate. This is incorrect. I have been in contact with people running splashpads on wells with tanks and they are fully within provincial standards. A multi-sport facility should also be created. There is not enough ice time and ice surfaces for current levels of activity. A pool would also be beneficial for both competitive and recreation sports and leisure. Greely would be an ideal location as it is accessible to rural, suburban and urban residents.

Greening Ottawa/Maintaining Greenspace

I support this Official Plan of 2003 and 2009 revision site alteration policy reads: "The City will work with the Conservation Authorities and other interested stakeholders to develop a by-law under the Municipal Act to regulate the removal of top soil, grade alteration, and placement of fill." (Section 2.4.5, Policy 10) I feel that a minimum of a draft should have been written by now. Woodlots are a vital part of our environment and the ‘air cleaning process’. We should not lose all woodlots for the sake of more farming land. There should be strong limits included within the bylaw which allows for some clearing in appropriate and approved areas while maintaining some woodlots for both aesthetics and environmental reasons. I fully support Ecology Ottawa and the Tree Ottawa initiative. I have also suggested that Scoutrees (through Scouts Canada) get involved in this initiative.

Ottawa River Cleanup

I fully support with push for provincial funding I will push the provincial government on their election promise to support the Ottawa River Cleanup plan. We must also work better with Quebec as the river is a shared asset. Attending the Water Roundtable has helped increase my awareness of the issues within and along the river.

Backyard Hens

I support further examination of this. A rural pilot project could be brought in before implementation within the urban areas. If residents are able to house pigeons, then hens should also be permitted. I state clearly hens-not roosters. Maximum limits would be set as appropriate for the lot size. Proper housing and fencing would be required. The biggest benefit would be fresh, local food.

Hydro One/HydroOttawa

I support all of Ottawa under Hydro Ottawa. I feel the Municipalities should be pressuring the Ontario Government, Independent Electricity System Operator, Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation, Ontario Energy Board, Ontario Power Authority, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation and possibly the Ombudsman to allow for the sale of rural Hydro One accounts to Hydro Ottawa.

Until now, the price Hydro One is asking is outrageous. Political pressure should be put forward to ensure a reasonable proposal is made and accepted to even the hydro rates and services within the City of Ottawa.