More urban representation among Ottawa committee chairs, downtown stays out of Transit Commission

Daunting task for New Ottawa Transit Chair Suburban Councillor Glen Gower takes over as Ottawa Transit Commission Chair. CTV's Leah Larocque reports.

The city of Ottawa’s nominating committee has named the new members for the city’s standing committees, which make critical planning decisions before they’re voted on by city council.

This term of council will have 10 standing committees and one subcommittee.

There is a stronger balance between urban, suburban, and rural councillors among the nominees for committee chairs this term, with five councillors whose wards are inside the greenbelt and four outside the greenbelt. Last term, there were only two councillors inside the greenbelt sitting as committee chairs, which put them on the powerful finance committee.

The Finance and Corporate Services Committee is made up of the chairs of each standing committee, Transit Commission and up to two members-at-large. That means it will include George Darouze, Cathy Curry, Rawlson King, Laura Dudas, Riley Brockington, Shawn Menard, Jeff Leiper, Glen Gower, and Tim Tierney. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe will chair. The vice-chair will be Catherine Kitts, one of the two members-at-large, the other being Matthew Luloff, if the nominations are approved.

Every standing committee chair nominated for this term is an incumbent councillor.

Sutcliffe says all the representation on all the committees strikes a good balance.

“I think we heard during the election that the people of Ottawa wanted us to work together more effectively going forward in this term of council and so I think this demonstrates that there has been an effort on the part of all councillors to collaborate and work together and that we are showing representation across the city and from the political spectrum on all the boards and committees on which councillors will serve,” he says.

Sutcliffe says a big part in deciding which councillors sit on which committee is where councillors expressed interest. “A lot of this process is driven by where the councillors want to serve as well, so that is based on who put their hand up for that committee and that is a big part of the equation as well.”

Full city council will vote on committee appointments Wednesday.

Of particular issue this term is Transit Commission. The light rail transit system, especially in the wake of the damning public inquiry report into Stage 1, was a key plank of Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s election campaign and he says it remains a top priority.

Coun. Allan Hubley, who chaired the Transit Commission last term, is no longer on the commission at all. Stittsville Ward Coun. Glen Gower will be the new chair.

Suburban councillors make up a significant amount of the new transit commission. Representation includes both councillors from Barrhaven, and one from Kanata in addition to Gower as chair. None of the councillors who represent wards in the heart of downtown put forward their names for Transit Commission, according to city staff.

Gower says the committee has a big responsibility to make transit more reliable and to try to win back public trust.

“A big part of this role is engaging with the public, talking with the public, talking to transit riders. I did take the bus and the train in here today, so it is always a good opportunity to see how things are working. A lot of it is going to be what we have been talking about--rebuilding trust with residents. It is a big responsibility for this committee and this council.”

While LRT dominates a lot of the transit issues, a bus service that continues to see a decline in ridership and major revenue shortfalls is also a considerable problem for the city. The city is still expecting a shortfall of more than $20 million by year’s end after getting funds from senior levels of government. That shortfall would be covered by reserves.

The idea of rerouting commuter buses to suburban areas was raised in the last term of council, as hybrid work continues among the federal public service, Ottawa’s largest employer and one of the major blocs of transit users prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new subcommittee this term is focused entirely on light rail.

Steve Desroches, who was newly elected this term but has served as a city councillor before, chairs the light rail subcommittee. Riverside South is one of the areas where Stage 2 of LRT will travel. Other members include Cathy Curry in Kanata North, Tim Tierney in Beacon Hill-Cyrville, Jeff Leiper in Kitchissippi, and Glen Gower in Stittsville. Stage 2 will not reach Stittsville, but Gower is also the chair of the Transit Commission.

Coun. Theresa Kavanagh asked if it could be expanded to six members, with her as the sixth, to create a balance of men and women on the committee and because of the effect of LRT on Bay Ward in Stage 2. That request was approved by city council on Wednesday.

STANDING COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES

Here is who was nominated for each committee:

Agriculture and Rural Affairs:

Chair: George Darouze

Vice-Chair: Clarke Kelly

Members: David Brown, Catherine Kitts, Matthew Luloff

Audit Committee:

Chair: Cathy Curry

Vice-Chair: David Brown

Members: David Hill, Wilson Lo, Theresa Kavanagh, Catherine Kitts, Allan Hubley, Marty Carr

Built Heritage Committee:

Chair: Rawlson King

Vice-Chair: Stéphanie Plante

Members: Clarke Kelly, Ariel Troster, Jeff Leiper

Community Services Committee:

Chair: Laura Dudas

Vice-Chair: Jessica Bradley

Members : Ariel Troster, Marty Carr, Steve Desroches, Wilson Lo, Theresa Kavanagh, Stéphanie Plante*

*Council approved a motion by Coun. Allan Hubley on Dec. 14 to add Stéphanie Plante to the committee in place of Hubley.

Emergency Preparedness and Protective Services Committee:

Chair: Riley Brockington

Vice-Chair: David Hill

Members: Allan Hubley, Laine Johnson, Stéphanie Plante, Clarke Kelly, Laura Dudas, Matthew Luloff, Sean Devine, Steve Desroches, Jessica Bradley

Environment and Climate Change Committee:

Chair: Shawn Menard

Vice-Chair: Marty Carr

Members: Riley Brockington, Cathy Curry, Rawlson King, Tim Tierney, Matthew Luloff, David Hill, Theresa Kavanagh, David Brown, Sean Devine

Planning and Housing Committee:

Chair: Jeff Leiper

Vice-Chair: Glen Gower

Members: Theresa Kavanagh, Tim Tierney, Catherine Kitts, Clarke Kelly, Cathy Curry, Ariel Troster, Wilson Lo, Laura Dudas, Laine Johnson, Riley Brockington

Transit Commission:

Chair: Glen Gower

Vice-Chair: Cathy Curry

Members: Riley Brockington, Marty Carr, Wilson Lo, Tim Tierney, David Hill, Jeff Leiper, Shawn Menard**

**Council approved on a motion by Coun. Marty Carr on Dec. 14 to add Coun. Shawn Menard to the Transit Commission.

Transportation:

Chair: Tim Tierney

Vice-Chair: Catherine Kitts

Members: Steve Desroches, Sean Devine, George Darouze, Glen Gower, Jessica Bradley, Matthew Luloff, Ariel Troster, Laine Johnson, Laura Dudas, Wilson Lo

Finance and Corporate Services Committee:

Chair: Mayor Mark Sutcliffe

Vice-Chair: Catherine Kitts

Members: George Darouze, Cathy Curry, Rawlson King, Laura Dudas, Riley Brockington, Shawn Menard, Jeff Leiper, Glen Gower, Tim Tierney

Members-at-Large: Matthew Luloff, Catherine Kitts

Light Rail subcommittee:

Chair: Steve Desroches

Vice-Chair: Cathy Curry

Members: Tim Tierney, Glen Gower, Jeff Leiper, Theresa Kavanagh***

*** Council approved a motion by Coun. Tim Tierney to add Kavanagh to the LRT Subcommittee.

The Finance and Corporate Services committee was known as the Finance and Economic Development Committee—a.k.a. “FEDCO”—in the previous term of council..

The Built Heritage Committee was a subcommittee last term. Council has also split the Community and Protective Services Committee into two standing committees, the Community Services Committee and the Emergency Preparedness and Protective Services Committee.

The Transit Commission will not have citizen commissioners this term.

The one subcommittee in this term of council will be the Light Rail Subcommittee. The two quasi-judicial bodies will be the Committee of Revision, made of up one member each from the Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Planning and Housing, and Transportation committees--in this case Clarke Kelly, David Brown and Steve Desroches--and the Court of Revision, which will include three or five members of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Councillor Rawlson King has been named as the City of Ottawa’s Liason for Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Relations Initiatives. Councillor Ariel Troster has been named the City of Ottawa’s Council Liaison for Women, Gender Equity and 2SLGBTQ+ Affairs. Councillor Matthew Luloff has been named as the City of Ottawa’s Council Liaison for Veteran and Military Issues. Councillor Jessica Bradley will be the City of Ottawa’s Council Liaison for the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation Civic Cultural Protocol and Implementation Plan.

BOARDS

Councillors have also been named to various boards.

Here is which councillors will sit on each board:

Ottawa Police Services Board:

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Marty Carr, Cathy Curry

Ottawa Public Library Board:

Chair: Matthew Luloff

Council Members: Jessica Bradley, Rawlson King, Catherine Kitts

Ottawa Board of Health:

Chair: Catherine Kitts

Council Members: Rawlson King, Glen Gower, Theresa Kavanagh, Laura Dudas, Marty Carr

Hydro Ottawa Holding Inc.:

Laura Dudas for the mayor, and Cathy Curry

Ottawa Community Housing Corporation:

Chair: Theresa Kavanagh

Council Members (in addition to Mayor ex officio): Marty Carr, Stéphanie Plante, Glen Gower

City of Ottawa Superannuation Fund:

David Brown, Marty Carr, George Darouze

Ottawa Community Lands Development Corporation, in addition to the Mayor:

Clarke Kelly, Laine Johnson, Jeff Leiper

Crime Prevention Ottawa:

David Hill for the Mayor, Allan Hubley

Ottawa Film Office:

Sean Devine (for the Mayor)

Shaw Centre Board of Directors: 

Stéphanie Plante*

*Council passed a motion Dec. 14 to remove Coun. Jessica Bradley from the Shaw Centre Board of Directors, which leaves an additional seat available for a Council-appointed Public Member.

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority:

Shawn Menard, Wilson Lo**, Theresa Kavanagh

**Council passed a motion Dec. 14 to add Wilson Lo to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority in place of George Darouze.

Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority:

Clarke Kelly, Glen Gower, Cathy Curry

South Nation Conservation Authority:

George Darouze, Catherine Kitts