His Worship Jim Watson Mayor of the City of Ottawa 110 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1 Dear Mr. Mayor, Thank you for writing regarding the Green Party s position on issues of interest to the City of Ottawa. It is my pleasure to share the attached responses with you. I look forward to working with the City of Ottawa in the next Parliament. Your sincerely, Elizabeth May, O.C. Leader of the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada Responses 1. The Government of Canada has committed to funding one third of Ottawa's Stage 2 Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, up to $1 billion. The project would add 30 kilometres of rail and 19 new stations to Ottawa's O Train system between 2018 and 2023. If your party forms government, would you maintain this funding commitment and respect Council's decision on the route and stations? Transit ridership is growing in Canada. Federal investments in transit infrastructure simply are not keeping up. We have a funding gap of almost $18 billion. The growing demand for transit is an opportunity to build the livable communities that we want. Investments in transit pay off economically. They will help us meet the challenge of an aging population. And, investing in transit is absolutely essential to reducing our carbon emissions. The Green Party has a long term vision to create good local jobs, and build vibrant, safe, and livable Canadian towns and cities. None of this will be possible without investing in transit infrastructure. The Green Party will significantly increase funding for infrastructure to help combat the infrastructure deficit. We will work to close the gap by committing an additional $6.4 billion per year one percentage point of the GST to municipal infrastructure, including transit expansion, streets, parks, water systems, schools, and community centres. We will also establish a federal Infrastructure Bank (see question 10). We will develop a National Transit Strategy with all levels of government and work with municipalities to focus zoning to encourage more family friendly housing development close to transit stops, tying land use and density to transportation capacity. We can build communities for the future, with the right vision and investment. A transition to efficient light rail transit will take cars off our roads, breaking the cycle of an increasing number of cars on increasingly crowded roads to make our cities more livable. We will maintain this funding commitment and respect Council's decision on the route and stations. We will leave local decisions to local residents.
2. The City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Macdonald Cartier International Airport have partnered to assess the feasibility of an airport rail link, which is estimated to cost $155 million. This potential link could be added to the Stage 2 LRT project. If your party forms government, would you commit to partially funding this extension? 3. Canada remains the only G7 country without a national housing strategy. Such a strategy could help protect existing affordability, ensure the housing stock is in a good state of repair, increase affordable housing options, and provide much needed supports. If your party forms government, would you collaborate with municipal stakeholders to develop and fund a long term national housing strategy? Canada is the only country in the OECD without a National Housing Strategy. Basic housing needs are not being met for a significant number of Canadians, and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Affordable housing, even rental housing, is out of reach for too many. To facilitate federal leadership in housing, a Council of Canadian Governments representing the federal government, provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous governments will meet to draft a comprehensive strategy. For the first time, representatives of all levels of government will have a formal mechanism to collaborate on issues that cross jurisdictions. Our housing plan will include concrete steps for a seniors housing plan, a First Nations plan, a plan for social housing, for affordable market housing, and to end homelessness through a Housing First program. 4. The City of Ottawa is increasing its investments in housing and homelessness programs by $8 million over the next four years. Nation wide federal operating agreements for social housing worth $1.7 billion will soon begin to expire. By 2023, less than a decade from now, federal subsidies will have ended for more than 50 per cent of federally assisted social housing. If your party forms government, would you reinstate federal operating agreements and funding for social housing? The federal government has to get back in the business of social housing. The Green Party supports greater and sustained federal funding for social and co operative housing. We have to do better to deliver a system that allows Canadians of all situations to access decent housing at a manageable cost.
The Green Party is committed to stable and adequate annual funding for the construction of new rental housing. Our target is the construction of 20,000 new and 8,000 rehabilitated affordable housing units each year for the next decade. We will reinstate federal operating agreements for social housing, 5. Ottawa and Gatineau residents are directly affected by decisions made by the Board of Directors of the National Capital Commission. However, the Board of Directors is made up of a majority of members who live outside the National Capital Region and does not include local elected representatives. If your party forms government, would you enact the necessary legislative and regulatory changes to allot two seats on the NCC Board of Directors for elected representatives from the City of Ottawa and the City of Gatineau City Councils? The National Capital Commission is an important player in the protection and development of the National Capital Region. But the independence of the NCC has suffered under the Harper government, which prefers to view economic development as an opportunity for partisan gain rather than long term investment. The relationship between the NCC and local municipal governments has been increasingly strained, making it difficult to work together efficiently on behalf of Canadians and the people who live and work in Ottawa and Gatineau in such important areas as the modernization of public transit. We need change at the NCC. We must modernize the governance of the NCC. We should review the mandate and composition of the NCC to make it a more constructive partner in the long term development of the National Capital Region. And to better connect to the communities it serves and the people who live here, we will consider permitting the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau to name a representative to the NCC board of directors, nominated by the respective City Councils. Building in more local democratic accountability into the NCC could be a good first step toward assuring a more collaborative and cooperative framework for future development, and for building the national capital we deserve a showcase for the nation.
6. The proposed location of the Memorial to Victims of Communism has been negatively received by the public and many individuals in the architectural and judicial communities. In May 2015, Ottawa City Council formally requested that the Government of Canada relocate the proposed monument. If your party forms government, would you work with the City of Ottawa and relevant stakeholders to identify a more appropriate location for the monument? The proposed location of the monument is inappropriate. It must be relocated. 7. Child care is a shared responsibility amongst the three levels of government, where each level plays a critical role. If your party forms government, would you commit to long term child care funding to allow for more affordable options for families? We will work with the provinces, territories and Indigenous communities to establish accessible, convenient, enriched and affordable child care spaces for any Canadian family that seeks it. We will support women to re enter the workforce whenever they choose after having children. The Green Party believes that workplace childcare has many advantages enhanced parenting time and access to children through the work day, extension of breast feeding opportunities, improved employee productivity, and improving the convenience of public transport when parents and kids share their morning destination. Tax breaks to employers for the creation of child care spaces is one tool among many we will use to ensure that families have the spaces they need. Several provinces have gone it alone in designing innovative programs that work for their populations. Quebec has $7 a day daycare (now on a sliding scale up to $20 a day depending on income). Ontario is moving towards full day kindergarten for 4 and 5 year olds. We will ramp up to $1 billion a year to support existing and new programs that would be cost shared with the provinces. In addition, we support phasing out the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) and allocating the funds to federal support for a substantial increase in the number of regulated affordable child care spaces (the net cost of the UCCB will be approximately $6.7 billion by 2017 2018). Among other things, the Green Party goal is to negotiate with the provinces and territories to ensure that Canada collectively provides regulated child care spaces for 70 % of children age 6 or younger with working parents, instead of the mere 22.5% provided now.
8. The City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario have partnered to create the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards, with the first phase of the project expected to open in 2016. If your party forms government, would you collaborate with the City of Ottawa and its partners to fund and enhance entrepreneurship and innovation programming at the Innovation Centre? It is critical that we close the innovation gap in Canada. The Green Party will collaborate with the City of Ottawa and its partners to support the Innovation Centre and projects like it that help close the gap. 9. Since 2011, the City of Ottawa has been working aggressively to position the National Capital Region as the tourist destination of choice for the 150 th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. To avoid scheduling conflicts and to maximize local economic benefit, it will be important for the City of Ottawa to have clear information about federal programming and funding as soon as possible. If your party forms government, would you provide full details on Government of Canada 2017 programming and funding contributions no later than March 2016? As the capital city, the federal government needs to view the City of Ottawa as a partner. 10. According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to create local jobs and to help our economy remain competitive. If your party forms government, would you collaborate with the FCM, the City of Ottawa and other stakeholders to create a permanent, predictable, long term federal infrastructure program? Due to neglect, our massive municipal infrastructure deficit is now estimated at $123 billion. The federal government must find innovative financing solutions to our infrastructure problems, to ensure Canada reaps the enormous economic and employment benefits that will come with building and maintaining world class infrastructure. While maintaining the gas tax revenue earmarked for municipalities, the Green Party is committed to dedicating one percentage point of GST to municipal infrastructure. Through the Council of Canadian Governments, municipalities will be full partners in allocating the funding in this infrastructure program. This Council of Canadian Governments, chaired by the Prime Minister, would include provincial Premiers, territorial leaders, representatives of the municipal order of government, and
representatives of Indigenous leadership. It would not be a formal part of the legislative process, nor would it have any governmental powers or constitutional status; instead, it would supplement First Ministers Conferences. The Council s role would be to initiate, develop, and monitor the implementation of policy reforms that are of national significance and require action by all Canadian governments. The focus on collaboration would bring more direction and coherence to governance. We would also establish a federal Infrastructure Bank as an independent Crown Corporation to provide low interest loans to municipalities for community brownfield remediation, water and waste treatment facilities, sports, cultural and recreational facilities, public transit, cycling and pedestrian promotion, and community housing. As long as the Infrastructure Bank recouped its borrowing and administrative costs, there would be no incremental impact on the federal government s budgetary balance. Infrastructure requires long term planning, and all governments must collaborate to come up with workable approaches to the massive investment required. 11. The federal public service and companies who do business with the Government of Canada make up the largest part of Ottawa's local economy. When the City of Ottawa does not have reliable information about planned changes in employee numbers and locations, it makes it challenging to effectively plan municipal services, such as public transit and economic development. If your party forms government, would you commit to providing regular updates to the City of Ottawa on planned public service changes? According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the Harper Conservatives have cut 26,000 jobs since 2010. It is expected to eliminate another 8,900 by 2017. This unpredictability makes any planning for the City of Ottawa very challenging. We will end the Harper era attack on the public service and commit to providing regular updates to the City of Ottawa on planned public service changes