Attempt to remove Tewin development from Ottawa’s official plan fails

A plan to remove the controversial Tewin development in southeast Ottawa from the official plan failed at planning committee. CTV’s Leah Larocque reports.

An attempt to remove the controversial Tewin development in rural southeast Ottawa from the city’s official plan failed at the city’s planning and housing committee on Wednesday.

Coun. Theresa Kavanagh’s motion called for the city to reverse the 2021 decision that added the proposed housing development to the expanded urban boundary and directed staff to explore how land use could “contribute to meaningful reconciliation in consultation with the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council.”

After lengthy debate that heard from 19 public delegations and numerous questions to city staff, Kavangh’s motion failed by a vote of 5 yeas to 7 nays.

Voting in favour were councillors Riley Brockington, Laine Johnson, Theresa Kavanagh, Ariel Troster, and Jeff Leiper, the chair of the committee. Voting against were Cathy Curry, Laura Dudas, Clarke Kelly, Wilson Lo, Tim Tierney, vice-chair Glen Gower, and ex-officio member Coun. David Brown, chair of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. Councillor Catherine Kitts was absent.

A motion by Johnson, on behalf of Coun. Jessica Bradley, who is not on the committee, to defer the vote on Kavanagh’s motion until after the second quarter of 2026, once city staff have conducted more consultation with First Nations communities, failed by the same 5-7 vote.

Tewin is a proposed 15,000-home development on 445 acres of land near Carlsbad Springs—south of Leitrim Road and north of Thunder Road near Highway 417. It is a partnership between Taggart Group and the Algonquins of Ontario that proponents say would be “a once-in-a-generation community that sets a new standard for thoughtful, inclusive development.”

Opposition to the project comes from accusations of a lack of consultation with Indigenous communities, concerns about the quality, or lack thereof, of the soil on the land, and from estimated infrastructure costs of approximately $591 million for water and wastewater services to the Tewin community, and costs for other services, such as public transit.

City staff told the committee that of the $591 million price tag, the City of Ottawa would contribute $11 million, for benefits to existing water and wastewater ratepayers. The rest would be borne by developers—around $314 million for the Tewin project—and by future growth.

Staff also said the constitutional duty to consult with First Nations rests with the Crown, meaning the federal or provincial governments, but that the city is required to engage with Indigenous communities as required by the official planning statement under the Planning Act.

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Michelle Taggart, vice president of planning and development at Tamarack Homes and Tartan Homes, said in a statement after the vote, “The Tewin project has been built on years of careful planning, collaboration, and a commitment to reconciliation through our partnership with the Algonquins of Ontario. Removing Tewin from the Official Plan would jeopardize critical housing supply, waste substantial public and private investment, and undermine an important opportunity for Indigenous-led development. We remain fully committed to advancing Tewin in a way that delivers sustainable growth, meaningful reconciliation, and lasting benefits for the City of Ottawa and its residents.”

Lengthy discussions from public delegations

Nineteen speakers were on the list of delegations for Wednesday’s meeting, ranging from ordinary citizens to Indigenous Grand Chiefs, and to proponents of the plan.

Grand Chief Savanna McGregor of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council told councillors the development was added to the city’s official plan without meaningful consultation.

“It is very upsetting that we must discuss Tewin this deeply into the process without adequate consultation and respect for my Algonquin Anishinabeg nation. Now we are facing this potential predicament and challenges to the rightful owners of this land – us,” McGregor said.

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“You have a tough decision at your hands today. Ideally, abandoning the whole project would be good, but I leave that up to you because I can’t force people’s hands.”

Chief Vicky Chief of Timiskaming First Nation said the Algonquins of Ontario group does not consist of or represent the interests of legitimate, federally recognized Algonquin rights holders.

“It is not a First Nation nor an Aboriginal rights holder of Section 35 of the Constitution,” Chief said, echoing a statement in Kavanagh’s motion.

“It is not the time politically or morally for governments to be excluding Indigenous rights holders from decisions that affect their lands and their identity.”

Grand Chief Lisa Robinson of the Algonquin Nation Secretariat called on committee to correct what she said “would be a historic wrong” by removing the Tewin project from the official plan.

“In 2021, we did warn that approving Tewin without consultation would be a mistake, and four years later, that warning has proven true. But now, you have a chance to correct it,” Robinson said. “Let the City of Ottawa be known for not repeating colonial patterns but having the courage to do what’s right.”

Monica Brewer and her family have lived in Carlsbad Springs for about 50 years. “I love my birds. I love the quiet. It’s true country living.”

She says many of her neighbours are concerned about the potential size of the Tewin development.

“To all of a sudden hear in the news that a city not a few houses, but 45,000 people, are going to be put right on top of us. It basically removes the rural way of life, and it really changes almost everything about it,” she said.

Brewer also says she has questions about rural taxes, water, and issues like energy infrastructure.

“Of course, there’s the impact of possible flooding. There’s the impact on my trees and on and on all the animals that I have around. And the traffic is a huge concern. It will just get worse.”

Speakers from the Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and the Algonquins of Ontario took issue with claims questioning their legitimacy, telling committee it should not be the role of the government to determine who is or is not Algonquin.

“For generations, government decided who we were and who we were not. It’s not for others to decide who is Algonquin. Only the Algonquin people can do that. That’s why Tewin matters,” said Jim Meness, the executive director of Algonquins of Ontario, and a member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation “It is the first time in city’s history we are building a community on our own unceded territory. Failure of consultation claims erase the decades of work to get us here.”

Wendy Jocko, the former chief of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, also spoke in favour of the project.

• RELATED: Here’s a first look at the proposed Tewin development in Ottawa’s southeast end

“Ottawa faces a housing crisis… Tewin offers practical solutions,” she said. “Tewin represents economic empowerment for Algonquin people. An Indigenous-led initiative on traditional Algonquin territory. Municipal council shouldn’t determine which Indigenous voices are valid and which are not.”

Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, the lead planner for the Tewin development, spoke highly of the project, saying it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape how Ottawa grows, and calling it an opportunity to make a national statement by building “a fundamentally different suburban community.”

She warned that if the motion passed, proponents could bring the case to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

“I would like to remind the members of committee Tewin remains an essential growth area that is aligned with provincial housing priorities and is supported by a key Indigenous partner. It would be contrary to good planning in the greater public interest for council to contemplate the retraction of the Tewin lands from the city’s designated urban expansion areas,” she said.

“Should it be endorsed, our client would have no alternative but to execute their legal rights to reinstate the Tewin lands through the Ontario Land Tribunal.”

City staff told committee members the city would be unlikely to be successful at the Ontario Land Tribunal should it come to it.

Meness said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that it was a good day, but one still marked by disappointment.

“Consultation on Tewin has been broad, inclusive, and ongoing for years - with public meetings, environmental studies, and engagement with Indigenous communities across the region. To ignore that record is to dismiss every person who participated in good faith,” he wrote.

“And to suggest that one group, politician, or government can decide who is or isn’t Algonquin is simply wrong. No one has the authority to define our people but us. We are one Nation - divided only by colonial borders, not by spirit or legitimacy. Tewin represents reconciliation in action: a sustainable, inclusive community built through Indigenous leadership and partnership - one that brings people together instead of driving them apart.”

Ward councillor opposed to motion

Osgoode Coun. Isabelle Skalski, who was elected in a byelection in June and in whose ward the development would be built, said she was not in favour of the motion before committee Wednesday.

“If this motion passes, it will almost certainly be challenged and overturned by the Ontario Land Tribunal. Removing it now will result in legal expenses and Tewin will stay in Carlsbad Springs,” she said.

“If this development is here to stay, we owe residents today and 50 years from now to get it right. Should this project prove to be unviable, I will be the first in line to put forward a motion on that issue. I don’t believe that’s what we have here today.”

Skalski said the motion to direct staff to conduct more consultation muddied the waters and offered false hope to those opposed to the Tewin development.

Kavanagh, in closing remarks, said she felt it was important to hear from Indigenous voices.

“We’ve heard today that it is not acceptable from those we call our First Nations representatives. I felt it was important to hear from those who have concerns. These are not light decisions. These are things we have to live with,” she said.

Leiper, who voted in favour of Kavanagh’s motion, said he believed the expansion of services to the Tewin site would prove costly years down the road.

“The pipes that we have in this city are too long. Our taxes can only go up over time as new infrastructure that is built inefficiently needs to be operated, maintained, replaced, repaired. We should be building as efficiently as possible, and that means adjacency,” he said.

Since the motion failed, city council will not debate it, and Tewin will proceed. Staff say it is currently in the secondary plan process. The future development is still years away.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Leah Larocque