Q5 - Will you commit to prioritizing climate adaptation planning for the city, including measures to protect people, infrastructure and city services, and to ensure that the city's most vulnerable populations are supported during extreme climate events?

John Redins

Yes.

Hussein Mahmoud

Yes. We all remember the storm in May 2022 - people were out of power for days, and whole communities were impacted. We need to be preparing our communities with stronger infrastructure for long-term sustainability as natural disasters risk increasing in number. This includes increasing our resilience and mitigation efforts for when natural catastrophes do happen - up to date resources both in preparation of and in response to natural disasters are essential in the coming years. This requires investment, education, and community preparedness.

Taylor Houstoun

Yes. Of course. Public safety is incredibly important. I recently received the survey from Fire Services in Ottawa and said similarly to them. One of the city's core functions is protecting residents in a collective way and as severe weather event continue, we must be prepared.

This includes, but is not limited to, considering building standards that account for more severe earthquakes, tornados, and flooding in floodplains.

The only problem, as you noted, is that for residents these changes are naturally slow because they require costly retrofits that may make living even more unaffordable. Realistically, the city does not have the money to subsidize such retrofits for every individual citizen. However, we can work cooperatively with the provincial and federal governments to put subsidy and incentive programs in place.

Furthermore, for larger buildings the city may have more direct funding options for upgrades. And most importantly, we can make policy that mandates these protections in future buildings, while also brokering discounted choice options from manufacturers to help provide modern materials at what is effectively a subsidized cost through bulk and preferred purchase.

Ron Keays

Yes. Our city needs robust emergency planning for the extreme weather events. Local crisis centers for those impacted by power outages and damage from storms is needed, as well as cooling centers for individuals suffering from heat events.

Aria Alavi

Did not participate.

Jessica Bradley

Did not participate.

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