It was a tense Finance and Corporate Services Committee meeting last week as councillors debated a motion for a public referendum on Lansdowne 2.0 in what one councillor called a “transparent” and “underhanded” attempt to bar public consultation.
The motion tabled by Capital Coun. Shawn Menard would have put a Lansdowne referendum on the agenda for the next meeting on June 30 and allowed for public delegation on the matter. But the motion was ultimately withdrawn after debate between councillors, discussion with city staff and an opposing motion from Councillor Catherine Curry.
Curry quickly countered Menard’s notice of motion with a motion of her own that would require the matter to be discussed in the current meeting. She argued that due to the ongoing bidding and procurement process for the Lansdowne project, the City could not risk delaying the timeline by waiting until June 30.
However, Menard argued that Curry’s motion was a “transparent attempt to not have delegations come before this committee and speak to this matter.”
He confirmed with city staff that the Lansdowne 2.0 project has yet to be approved by council, a decision that will come in the fall. At that point, staff will have final financial figures tied to the events centre, North stands and air rights to inform councillors. Staff also said that a “pause” in the process could impact those numbers.
But Menard stated that his motion would not cause a pause, but instead “bring an option for information for council to consider allowing residents of Ottawa to have a say on the project.”
Councillors debated how a perceived “instability” from City Hall could impact contractors’ and bidders’ decisions in the market.
“There’s a lot of risks built in that doesn’t change the risk with this,” countered Menard. “This is obviously a transparent attempt not to have delegations come and speak to it.
“Quite frankly, I’m surprised that other councillors would do that sort of thing, and I hope that people vote against that motion…because it avoids scrutiny,” he continued. “We’ve had thousands of people sign a petition on this exact issue, and people want to be heard on this.”
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe verified with staff that public consultation had occurred at the beginning of the process — staff confirmed that the City has held two open-house sessions in-person and two Zoom meetings, attended the City’s Urban Design Review Panel four times, held targeted meetings for the Glebe and surrounding community associations and BIA, and held “robust” public delegations at these events.
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Lieper said he “doesn’t anticipate” supporting the Lansdowne 2.0 project, but doesn’t support a referendum, either.
The motion was passed with nine in favour and three opposed (Menard, Leiper and Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King), at which point Menard withdrew his notice of motion, meaning that the committee did not need to debate the issue in the end.
The meeting adjourned promptly, but there has been community backlash.
Neil Saravanamuttoo, a local community organizer and executive director of CitySHAPES, reached out to the community via his Substack, the613, to garner support for a “People’s Committee” to be held on June 23.
“[Sutcliffe] is doing everything he can to prevent the public from having their say on whether Ottawa should hold a referendum before deciding to proceed with Lansdowne 2.0.,” wrote Saravanamuttoo. “Sutcliffe must be worried that, if asked a clear question, the public is unlikely to want to spend $493 million to redo the Lansdowne sports facility.”
“And so Mark pulled out all the procedural tricks to prevent the public from delegating at a City Committee on whether we should have a referendum on Lansdowne,” he continued.
Saravanamuttoo told Ottawa Compass he’s received support on the idea of a “People’s Committee”, but is still figuring out next steps.
The Lansdowne project is at the tender for construction stage and estimated to cost $437.7 million of taxpayer money, with $331.3 million being new city debt. Final financial figures will be presented in the staff report to council in the fall, at which point councillors will decide whether to officially greenlight the project.
