The New City Council and How It Shapes Up For the Environment

[caption id="attachment_4674" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo Credit - Jean Levac Ottawa Citizen[/caption]

As 2014 rolled toward its end we learned how our newly elected city council would work together.

Here Ecology Ottawa reviews the makeup of the city’s standing committees and what their members have told us about important local environmental issues.

The business of the City is carried on by city staff under the direction of elected Councillors. Much of the decision-making takes place at the committee level where groups of Councillors address the issues of the day according to each committee’s area of responsibility. Final decisions are approved (or not) by full city council based on results of committees.

Most important to many of Ecology Ottawa’s campaigns is the Environment Committee though important decisions are also made on other Committees. The incoming Chair of Environment Committee is David Chernushenko who’s resume includes a stint as deputy Green Party leader. Notable during the 2014 election campaign was Councillor Chernushenko’s proposal to move Ottawa to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

You can see how each City Councillor answered Ecology Ottawa’s pre-election survey by following their link

Environment Committee

Finance and Economic Development Committee

One of the most powerful committees is the Finance and Economic Development Committee because it holds the purse strings. It is chaired by the Mayor and made up of the chairs of the other committees. Again, you can see how each City Councillor answered Ecology Ottawa’s pre-election survey by following their link

Transportation Committee

Transportation and Transit are particularly important to the environment and here are their makeups:

Transit Commission

Planning Committee

Similarly Planning Committee oversees city density issues which are closely tied to environmental (and financial) sustainability.

There are a number of other committees as follows:

But the ones whose members are listed above do the job for us of allowing all 23 Councillors as well as the Mayor to be listed and thus provide links to info on how they replied to Ecology Ottawa’s pre-election environmental issues survey.

If you care to look up a councillor’s response as listed by ward, click here.

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