Ward 6 - Stittsville - Ecology Ottawa

Want to know how Ward 6 City Council candidates compare in terms of taking climate action? Then read on!

1. The YES/NO grid below shows whether candidates agree to commit to a specific environmental action.

2. The devil is in the details. Not all "yes" or "no" answers are equal. We HIGHLY recommend reading the long answers found beneath the grid, to get a real understanding of how committed Candidates are to a range of environmental issues.

Ward 6 - Stittsville
	Questions	Answers
		Glen Gower	Mathew Duchesne	Kevin Hua	Tanya Hein
1	Will you commit to fully funding and implementing the City of Ottawa’s Energy Evolution Plan?	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
2	Will you commit to no more extensions of the urban boundary, and support building more 15-minute neighborhoods throughout the City of Ottawa, not just in the urban core?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
3	Will you commit to phasing out natural gas infrastructure and prioritize conservation and efficiency over new, renewed or expanded gas infrastructure?	Yes	No	Yes	N/A
4	Will you commit to investing in energy efficient housing for lower income communities, and ensuring that the costs of retrofits are not passed down to tenants?	No	Yes	Yes	N/A
5	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?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
6	Will you commit to building a public transit system that is rapid, reliable, affordable and accessible for all users, with proper transit routes within rural, suburban and lower income communities?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
7	Will you commit to an active transit network with interconnected and protected bike lanes and multi-use paths City-wide (not just in the downtown core)?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
8	Will you support our target for a 40% tree canopy cover per neighborhood and protection of mature trees through the new Tree Protection By-Law?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
9	Will you ensure that the City of Ottawa prioritizes the conservation of existing greenspace, as well as biodiversity on both city and privately owned lands by actioning the following: amending the property standards by-law, as well as increasing targets for and allocating more funds towards naturalization?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
10	In addition to improving recycling, will you support ambitiously collecting organic green bin waste for composting in multi-residential buildings as well as curbside, to ensure that Ottawa can avoid replacing the Trail Road landfill site with either a new landfill or an incinerator for residual waste for the foreseeable future?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
11	Will you support the introduction of a user pay system for curbside residual waste collection, where residents pay for the bags or containers that they put out for collection, according to the actual level of service that they use?	No	No	Yes	N/A
12	If elected, would you intentionally include, and work in partnership with, the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and other Indigenous people in the creation and implementation of environmental policies?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
13	Will you commit to developing strategies that bring Ottawans at all diversity intersections together on environmental issues?	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
	# Yes	11	10	13	0
	# No	2	3	0	0

Q1 - Will you commit to fully funding and implementing the City of Ottawa’s Energy Evolution Plan?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

No. I have to study this further and ensure it won’t cause a tax increase given the large price tag and all the capital expenses the city is experiencing at this time.

Kevin Hua

Yes. The Energy Evolution plan is a vital blueprint to achieving and building a net-zero sustainable city to pass on to future generations in our fight against the climate crisis. We must, therefore, fully fund and follow through with the strategy to meet these goals. This includes investing the $9 million in federal gas tax money intended for climate action but that was, instead, deferred by City Council in the midst of the climate crisis.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q2 - Will you commit to no more extensions of the urban boundary, and support building more 15-minute neighborhoods throughout the City of Ottawa, not just in the urban core?

Glen Gower

Yes. Council's decision on urban boundary expansion from last fall gives us enough land for anticipated housing supply in the coming years; no further expansion is required. Our policies, design, and investment should be focused on ensuring that all future and existing neighbourhoods evolve to become 15-minute walkable communities.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes. At some point the city will keep expanding past its urban boundary and it’s not as clear as a yes no. I 100% support the mixed used neighbourhood and 15 min walk but we have to mandate new communities to be built with this model.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Ensuring services and amenities are nearby in convenient 15-minute neighbourhoods that are built with safe and accessible active transportation infrastructure will help to reverse car-dependency in Ottawa and Stittsville by promoting and empowering residents to walk, bike, or take public transit through their daily routines in making errands, and accessing services. It is especially important to ensuring there are no service deserts in our community that leave residents stranded from important services and amenities and making the life of residents more convenient and accessible.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q3 - Will you commit to phasing out natural gas infrastructure and prioritize conservation and efficiency over new, renewed or expanded gas infrastructure?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

No. All our homes have natural gas furnaces and set up - the cost of mandating a change to all home owners would be too great for many to absorb.

Kevin Hua

Yes. It is not in our interest and incompatible to build more natural gas infrastructure and capacity with our fight against climate change and energy transition away from fossil fuels all to create a green and sustainable city.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q4 - Will you commit to investing in energy efficient housing for lower income communities, and ensuring that the costs of retrofits are not passed down to tenants?

Glen Gower

No. Need more info on this.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes. I would but let’s take a look at the price tag of doing so. Again I’m against our taxes going up.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Building retrofits are an important green initiative to pursue and support residents in reducing emissions and energy efficiency in our city as well as reducing hydro costs for residents.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

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?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes. I have to study this further and ensure it won’t cause a tax increase given the large price tag and all the capital expenses the city is experiencing at this time.

Kevin Hua

Yes. We've already seen the devastating impact and effects and the increasing frequency of extreme climate events caused by climate change on our city like the tornadoes of 2018, the floods of 2019, and the recent derecho that all left devastation in their wake. It is vital to the safety of residents and critical infrastructure that our approach to the climate crisis includes climate adaption to our changing and more volatile climate. For examples, giving consideration putting more of our overhead power lines underground which, while it would be an expensive endeavour, is likely to be worthwhile in protecting our critical energy infrastructure that residents rely on.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q6 - Will you commit to building a public transit system that is rapid, reliable, affordable and accessible for all users, with proper transit routes within rural, suburban and lower income communities?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Stittsville is particularly underserved by our transit system leaving many residents who rely or would like to take transit frustrated and either stranded or forced to drive a car. We need more local bus routes to increase coverage and access to the transit network, direct routes that service Stittsville so as to cut down on travel times, adding in transit service within the community and to other communities to our focus and not just the 9-5 commuter model, and a bringing in a bus station to serve as a transit hub for the 40,000 people that live in Stittsville and as the foundation of our local transit network.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q7 - Will you commit to an active transit network with interconnected and protected bike lanes and multi-use paths City-wide (not just in the downtown core)?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes.

Kevin Hua

Yes. There are many connectivity gaps in Stittsville that inhibit safe and accessible active transportation from abruptly ending and missing sidewalks, broken and unconnected paths, and the lack of crosswalks and protected cycling lanes. Getting this critical infrastructure in place is important to giving residents a safe and accessible alternative option to travel through our community and to empower them to make that choice.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q8 - Will you support our target for a 40% tree canopy cover per neighborhood and protection of mature trees through the new Tree Protection By-Law?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Stittsville has one of the lowest tree canopy coverage rates at 28% largely due to blanket clear cutting for new developments by developers rather than preserving some mature trees for the new neighbourhood. It's not surprise as a result that our community is greatly impacted by heatwaves and so I very much would like to increase the tree canopy converge rate to protect residents from the hear and in our climate action efforts.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q9 - Will you prioritize the conservation of existing greenspace, as well as biodiversity on both city and privately owned lands by amending the property standards by-law, as well as increasing targets for and allocating more funds towards naturalization?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes. I believe private land owners should have the freedom to do what they want with their land but we must preserve public green spaces like the green belt.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Preserving not only our current greenspace but more greenspace for families and residents to enjoy and to pass on to future generations is a priority for me in our efforts against the climate crisis and in conservation. An issue when designing and building our communities is that we neglect considerations for wildlife and instead unilaterally encroach upon and destroy their habitats and ecosystems with development and sprawl creating conflict between us and wildlife over the land rather than approaching in a manner that allows mutual and sustainable coexistence.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q10 - In addition to improving recycling, will you support ambitiously collecting green bin waste in multi-residential buildings and curbside, ensuring Ottawa avoids replacing our landfill site with either a new landfill or an incinerator anytime soon?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Doing anything we can to reduce garbage that goes to the landfill by improving the diversion rate to recycling and composting is integral to climate action efforts as well as to maximizing the lifespan and capacity of Trail Road landfill.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q11 - Will you support the introduction of a user pay system for curbside residual waste collection, where residents pay for the bags or containers that they put out for collection, according to the actual level of service that they use?

Glen Gower

No. To be determined. Use-pay is one option that has worked well in other municipalities, but may not be the only effective option available.

Mathew Duchesne

No. I don’t believe in taxing residents anymore than they already are. I’m against anymore forms of taxation that is not absolutely necessary for the functioning of government and services provided to residents.

Kevin Hua

Yes. This seems like a good way to discourage and reduce the negative externality of residual waste that goes to the landfill but only if it is paired with providing residents with convenient and easy options, methods, and alternatives to reduce and divert their waste like improving and expanding recycling and composting collection like in the previous above question (Question 10).

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q12 - If elected, would you intentionally include, and work in partnership with, the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and other Indigenous people in the creation and implementation of environmental policies?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes. I’d have to study this further. I would support partnerships but I want to ensure existing residents off all backgrounds and origins are respected equally. There is no residents that take priority over others in this city, we should all be treated equally.

Kevin Hua

Yes. The inclusion, elevation, and empowerment of Indigenous voices and input in the city's decision and policy making process are important to striving for reconciliation but to also include the traditional knowledge of Indigenous people in protecting and preserving the land and ensuring our strategies and approaches respect, protect, and are conscious to Indigenous rights, culture, and identity.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q13 - Will you commit to developing strategies that bring Ottawans at all diversity intersections together on environmental issues?

Glen Gower

Yes.

Mathew Duchesne

Yes.

Kevin Hua

Yes. Ensuring that diverse voices of all kinds of backgrounds in our city are intersectionally included in our environmental and climate action strategies through public consultation and outreach to advocacy groups, grassroots organizations, and the individual community members is necessary to achieve an equitable approach to building a sustainable and green city.

Tanya Hein

Did not participate.

Q14 - Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your ideas, goals or commitments to improving the City's performance on climate change and environmental issues?

Ward 6 - Stittsville

Q1 - Will you commit to fully funding and implementing the City of Ottawa’s Energy Evolution Plan?

Q2 - Will you commit to no more extensions of the urban boundary, and support building more 15-minute neighborhoods throughout the City of Ottawa, not just in the urban core?

Q3 - Will you commit to phasing out natural gas infrastructure and prioritize conservation and efficiency over new, renewed or expanded gas infrastructure?

Q4 - Will you commit to investing in energy efficient housing for lower income communities, and ensuring that the costs of retrofits are not passed down to tenants?

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?

Q6 - Will you commit to building a public transit system that is rapid, reliable, affordable and accessible for all users, with proper transit routes within rural, suburban and lower income communities?

Q7 - Will you commit to an active transit network with interconnected and protected bike lanes and multi-use paths City-wide (not just in the downtown core)?

Q8 - Will you support our target for a 40% tree canopy cover per neighborhood and protection of mature trees through the new Tree Protection By-Law?

Q9 - Will you prioritize the conservation of existing greenspace, as well as biodiversity on both city and privately owned lands by amending the property standards by-law, as well as increasing targets for and allocating more funds towards naturalization?

Q10 - In addition to improving recycling, will you support ambitiously collecting green bin waste in multi-residential buildings and curbside, ensuring Ottawa avoids replacing our landfill site with either a new landfill or an incinerator anytime soon?

Q11 - Will you support the introduction of a user pay system for curbside residual waste collection, where residents pay for the bags or containers that they put out for collection, according to the actual level of service that they use?

Q12 - If elected, would you intentionally include, and work in partnership with, the Algonquin Anishinaabe people and other Indigenous people in the creation and implementation of environmental policies?

Q13 - Will you commit to developing strategies that bring Ottawans at all diversity intersections together on environmental issues?

Q14 - Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your ideas, goals or commitments to improving the City's performance on climate change and environmental issues?

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