Want to know how Ward 13 City Council candidates compare in terms of taking environmental and climate action? Then read on!
Candidates were asked to answer 10 questions to answer in their own words.
The devil is in the details. We HIGHLY recommend reading each candidate's full answers below, organized by question, to get a real understanding of how committed candidates are to a range of environmental issues.
Responded (2/2): Peter J. Karwacki, Rawlson King
"Measure reliabilty and travk with metrics to establish the patterns used to excite managers to action like metrics the industry actually uses to know if a system is reliable:
On-time performance — percentage of trips departing within a defined window of scheduled time, broken out by route and by LRT vs. bus
Missed/cancelled trip rate — trips scheduled vs. trips actually run, not just ""service levels restored""
Mean distance between failures (MDBF) — the standard rail-reliability metric for how far trains run between mechanical failures, tracked over time so a bearing-failure-style problem can't quietly recur for years without anyone naming it
Headway adherence — how evenly buses/trains are actually spaced versus bunching, which is what riders experience as ""the bus never comes and then three show up""
Root-cause closure time — from incident flagged to root cause published, with a hard clock instead of an open-ended ""under review"""
"For more than a decade before my election, transit in Ottawa was chronically underfunded. Residents paid the price in unreliable service, reduced frequencies, and cancelled routes. I have consistently advocated for transit as both a climate and equity imperative, and I strongly supported the Council's recent commitment to more appropriate funding levels.
Proper investment must deliver three things: better frequency so riders can count on the network throughout the day; reliability backed by transparent, publicly reported performance metrics; and resistance to fare increases that price out the riders we most need to retain. Ridership grows when service is trustworthy and affordable. That is both a fiscal and environmental argument for getting this right.
For Ward 13, I will advance the St. Laurent Boulevard Transit Priority Corridor, push for improved service on routes serving Wateridge Village and other underserved communities, and support the Route 12 connection to Line 1, as well as direct interconnection to Blair LRT station from Wateridge Village. The LRT, when functioning reliably, is one of Ottawa's most significant emissions-reducing investments. Getting it right matters."
"I am recommending a mefian bike lane on St.Laurent and action on TOD.
Critical mass ride sept 19"
"Sustainable transportation commitments require political will to defend when they face opposition. In October 2024, I joined council colleagues in opposing provincial legislation that would require Queen's Park approval before Ottawa could build bike lanes affecting vehicle traffic. That legislation threatened projects in Ottawa's Active Transportation Master Plan, including the O'Connor Street protected bike lanes used over 150,000 times annually. I was explicit: this was an overreach that undermines local decision-making on transportation safety and climate action.
In Ward 13, I have advanced the Beechwood Avenue Complete Street project, the North River Road improvements, the Donald and Vanier Parkway protected intersection, the Springfield Road cycling lane, and multiple accessible crossing projects. Every road reconstruction project I support must incorporate multi-modal improvements where warranted and appropriate. I will continue to oppose any provincial policy changes that roll back active transportation infrastructure and advocate for full implementation of the Transportation Master Plan."
"No, alter the wards in a new hub and spoke configuration. 12 down from 24. Save money make better decisions."
"I oppose unnecessary urban boundary expansion. Sprawl generates car-dependent development, destroys greenfield land, increases servicing costs, and undermines Ottawa's climate commitments. The housing crisis is real and urgent, but it is best addressed through intensification within the existing urban boundary, particularly near transit. Ward 13 is demonstrating that model: thousands of new homes are being approved in Overbrook and Wateridge Village, connected to existing transit and services, without requiring boundary expansion. That is the approach I will advocate for city-wide."
"Encourage resilience and steps to mitigate the city's inability to act. People have to protect themselves and their homes."
"Climate resilience is an equity issue. Extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke, and severe storms do not affect all residents equally. Lower-income residents, seniors, and people with disabilities are disproportionately at risk. My approach integrates climate resilience with equity policy.
I will advocate for urban tree canopy expansion as a frontline heat mitigation tool, accessible cooling centres for residents without transportation, stormwater improvements embedded in every infrastructure renewal project, and Neighbourhood Health and Wellness Hubs that serve residents who cannot easily access centralized services during emergencies. I supported the updated Idling Control By-law to reduce greenhouse gases and improve air quality, recognizing that air quality is a direct health equity issue in communities adjacent to high-traffic corridors. Public health must be integrated into planning, zoning, and infrastructure decisions, not treated as a separate silo."
"The canopy needs sufficient variety to thwart single species vulnerabilities."
"The urban tree canopy is Ward 13's most visible and cost-effective climate infrastructure. Heritage conservation district regulations in Rockcliffe Park incorporate canopy protection through the preservation of the community's park-like features, demonstrating that heritage policy and environmental policy can reinforce one another. More than 270 new trees have been planted across Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward since spring 2023 under the Urban Forest Management Plan. The 2026 city-wide budget includes 2,500 new trees under the Plant Your Place program and 500 proactive street tree replacements. I will continue to support and expand these programs.
Beyond planting, I will advocate for stronger enforcement of the Tree Protection By-law, support reduction of the diameter threshold for distinctive tree protection to capture more trees, promote boulevard gardening and naturalized planting that support pollinators, and continue supporting the Bird Friendly City certification approved in 2026 that I championed at Council. Every infrastructure renewal project must include a tree replacement and canopy restoration component where trees are removed during construction."
"The voters must be educated and involved. Continue the HWaste programs, add frequency. Host an e waste webpage and clesring house.
Some waste must be burned. "
"In Ward 13, I have supported expansion of the City's three-stream park waste diversion program across the ward, with installations now in place at Overbrook Park, New Edinburgh Park, Manor Park, and Eugène Martineau Park, bringing garbage, recycling, and organics diversion to more residents and reducing landfill waste across the ward.
City-wide, I will advocate for extension of organics collection to all multi-unit residential buildings, consistent enforcement of existing waste diversion by-laws, investment in business composting infrastructure, and support for community repair, reuse, and sharing programs that reduce consumption at the source. I also support a circular economy framework for city procurement that prioritizes durable, repairable, and recyclable materials in municipal purchasing decisions. And of course, more resident education concerning disposal limits."
"The key is the LRT, reliability must be improved."
"As a member of the Environment and Climate Change Committee and a board member of the Ottawa Climate Action Fund, I have direct experience working on Energy Evolution implementation. Progress is real: the Better Homes Ottawa Loan Program, the Better Buildings deep retrofit program, Ottawa's first zero-emission buses, and the High Performance Development Standard are all steps in the right direction. But progress is insufficient relative to the pace required.
Going forward I will push for mandatory climate impact assessments on all major capital projects, integration of Energy Evolution targets into the annual budget process so that commitments are funded rather than aspirational, accelerated fleet electrification, expanded building retrofit programs for social housing and community facilities, and annual public reporting on measurable progress against net zero milestones."
"Most of the city lip service and virtue signaling needs more measureable action.
Simply enforce the policies currently in place."
"I supported Ottawa's official endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2022, making Ottawa the 12th Canadian municipality to join the global initiative. That endorsement committed the city to moving away from fossil fuel extraction and urging federal and provincial governments to support the global initiative. That commitment must now translate into concrete action.
At the city level, this means accelerating electrification of the municipal fleet, eliminating fossil fuel heating in city-owned buildings through the capital renewal cycle, setting explicit fossil fuel phase-out timelines for city operations, and ensuring procurement and investment decisions are consistent with treaty commitments. It also means continued advocacy to senior governments to take the national and provincial policy action that municipalities cannot deliver alone. I will advocate for annual public reporting on progress against these commitments."
"Real commitment on paper, and structural mechanisms forcing the city to prove it's being delivered.
A public biodiversity dashboard, tracked against the 15 pledge commitments individually — not a rolled-up ""we're making progress"" summary, but line items: hectares of natural/green space protected or restored, tree canopy coverage by ward, wetland and shoreline condition, pesticide-use reduction, so residents (and council) can actually see where the city is behind."
"Meeting the 30x30 commitment requires integrating biodiversity targets into planning, development, and infrastructure decisions, not treating them as a separate conservation program. In Ward 13, I have championed the Bird Friendly City certification initiative and boulevard gardening programs that support pollinators, Bathgate Park reforestation, and urban tree canopy expansion.
City-wide, I will advocate for biodiversity impact assessments as a standard component of development applications, strengthened protections for urban forests, wetlands, and riparian corridors, expansion of naturalized planting in parks and public rights-of-way, and use of city-owned land for biodiversity restoration where development is not planned. The 30x30 target is achievable only if it is embedded in Official Plan policy, development approval conditions, and capital investment decisions, backed by measurable annual milestones and public reporting."
"Making the consultations that already exist actually bind to outcomes, and building a couple of structural channels that don't currently exist:.
Creating space for public debate in this ward, win or lose. I write about specific city decisions in enough detail that residents can actually follow the argument and push back on it — including pushing back on me. That's the standard I'd hold the city to on environmental decisions too: show your work publicly enough that people can actually participate in it, not just be informed of it after the fact.
Modify 311, don't build another app."
"Meaningful community participation is the foundation of durable environmental policy. In Ward 13, the boulevard gardening program, the Bird Friendly City initiative, the Centennial Garden restoration, the future Bathgate Park reforestation and the three-stream park waste diversion expansion all involved community input and partnership. The Plant Your Place seedling program engages residents directly in urban canopy stewardship.
City-wide, I will advocate for early, genuine, and accessible public engagement on all major environmental decisions, with deliberate outreach to equity-deserving communities who are disproportionately affected by environmental decisions but often excluded from consultation. I will also support transparent public reporting on environmental outcomes so that residents can hold Council accountable for the commitments made."
"I'd rather be the councillor who tells you honestly that a pledge has no enforcement mechanism yet than be the one who tells you it's handled when it isn't."
"Environmental policy and social equity are inseparable in the communities I represent. Lower-income households are less able to adapt to extreme heat or flooding. Racialized communities have historically borne a disproportionate share of environmental burdens while receiving disproportionately small environmental investment. These realities ground everything I do on climate and environment, and they will continue to do so in the next term.
My record reflects that commitment: service on the Environment and Climate Change Committee and the Ottawa Climate Action Fund board; opposition to provincial legislation threatening Ottawa's cycling network; support for the updated Idling Control By-law, the Bird Friendly City certification, and the High Performance Development Standard; over 270 trees planted in Ward 13; expanded park waste diversion across the ward; and a consistent push for stormwater resilience in every infrastructure renewal project. Environmental ambition must be matched by funded, delivered commitments, not deferred aspirations. That is the standard I will hold myself and this Council to."