Ottawa councillor revives motion to remove Tewin development from Official Plan

Artist renderings show plans a mixed-use neighbourhood at the proposed Tewin development in Ottawa's southeast end. (Urban Strategies/release)

Coun. Theresa Kavanagh is reviving a motion to remove the controversial Tewin development from the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan.

The 15,000-home development on 445 acres of land near Carlsbad Springs—south of Leitrim Road and north of Thunder Road near Highway 417—was included in the urban boundary expansion approved by the previous city council in 2021.

Kavanagh first proposed to have city council strike the development from the official plan in the spring but withdrew her motion to await the results of the municipal byelection in Osgoode Ward, where the development would be built, after Coun. George Darouze was elected to the Ontario legislature.

A notice of motion to revive the discussion around the project was put forward at the end of Wednesday’s Planning and Housing Committee meeting. It will be discussed at the Oct. 15 meeting.

The Tewin project 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.”

Kavanagh’s motion says the Algonquins of Ontario group is not a federally recognized First Nation, instead calling it “an unincorporated entity which was created to negotiate with the governments of Ontario and Canada in the Algonquin-Ontario negotiations,” based on a quote from an Ontario Superior Court case.

“The City faces the serious risk of litigation and liability from the First Nations of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council if it proceeds with the Tewin development, given that the City should be aware that it mistakenly consulted and accommodated the unincorporated association of the Algonquins of Ontario rather than the rights-holding First Nations of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council,” the motion says.

The project has been controversial in part because of the cost of supplying city services and building roads to the area, with Kavanagh’s motion saying water and wastewater services alone would cost approximately $591 million.

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