Deachman: A little song, a little dance, and some shocking Lansdowne 2.0 developments

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Published Nov 02, 2023 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 3 minute read

A Lansdowne 2.0 protest was held before the Joint Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committee meeting at City Hall in Ottawa Thursday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

And I thought the LRT was the only thing in this town to go off the rails.

Turns out I was wrong as I sat down in city council chambers to endure the first group of delegates to offer their two cents on the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal.

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At the 4.5 hour mark, I got to listen to a delightful presentation from members of the Ottawa Raging Grannies, who sang “Lansdowne 2.0 will rip the city off” to the tune of Glory Hallelujah. Local resident June Creelman delivered a David Letterman-style Top-10 list of reasons the 2.0 plan doesn’t work. But my favourite exchange in terms of sheer audacity was John Dance’s apples-to-oranges comparison of the need to go ahead with the development to whether he needs to renovate his 1946-built kitchen. Councillor Matthew Luloff sniped back (against protocol) “but you don’t hold international events in your kitchen.”

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Such was the scene as city councillors wrestle over what to do with a crumbling downtown entertainment complex—and the $400M question each one of them will have to answer.

The marathon day in council started with applause.

When Richard A. Wagner, the first delegation to speak about the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal in council chamber on Thursday, said he was in favour of remediating the North Side stands and Civic Centre rather than demolishing and rebuilding them, the extremely full public gallery burst into applause.

The outburst led Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, chair of the meeting, to warn the public against such displays, suggesting that those who continued to do so would be asked to leave.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe during the Joint Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committee meeting at City Hall in Ottawa Thursday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

And thank god. There were 88 delegates scheduled to speak, and only 26 had the opportunity to do so as of 4:45 p.m. It was expected that the meeting would have to continue on Friday, and perhaps even stretch into Monday.

Each speaker had five minutes to give their presentations, but there was no apparent time limit on councillors to ask questions, which in theory is well and good. But councillors too often seemed to use their time not to ask questions that they wanted answers to, but to give speakers more time for opinions they agreed with. When Ottawa Tourism head Michael Crockatt spoke, for example, the first proponent of the project following a half dozen who were against, his five minutes stretched to well over half an hour.

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Some of the day’s most interesting developments occurred early on.

The most stunning came when Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney moved to return the third tower of housing, which was axed following public consultations, to the project, and suggesting that it should be 40 storeys. It’s a motion that would face lots of opposition — it did already, which is why the tower disappeared — but it makes sense when viewed against the need for more housing in Ottawa, and especially if it addresses housing that is actually affordable.

Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King also dropped a significant motion when he proposed that 40 per cent of the anticipated $39 million from the sale or lease of air rights, or roughly $16 million, go to the city’s Affordable Housing Fund. As written, the city’s current proposal would see it accept just 10 per cent, far less than the 25 per cent that its own policies for property and air rights disposal or sale dictate. The city’s proposal argues that it would get the money sooner and use it elsewhere where it can get more bang for its 3.9 million bucks, but that alone is an argument that could torpedo the whole deal in many councillors’ minds.

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Other motions brought forward included reducing bus fares along Bank Street and charging developers cash in lieu of parkland. Capital Count. Sean Menard, who brought forward so many motions that at one point he appeared to be drowning in them, moved that none of the partners connected with OSEG be allowed to bid on the air rights, a proposal aimed at Minto.

It’s difficult to imagine whether any of the presentations — whether those questioning the need to replace there arena or the diminished green space or the cost, or those from hotel or tourism authorities lauding the benefits of the plan — will actually change any committee members’ minds.

We’ll find out on Friday. Or Monday. If we’re lucky.

Roger Greenberg, managing partner and executive chair of OSEG, and Mark Goudie, president and chief executive officer, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, during the Joint Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committee meeting at City Hall in Ottawa Thursday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia