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Rockcliffe
park newsletter
Juillet 2006 Property Assessments and the
Ombudsman’s Report
Everyone in New Edinburgh will be aware of the very critical
report “Getting It Right”, issued by Ontario’s Ombudsman, Mr.
André Marin, on the Provincial government’s Municipal Property
Assessment Corporation (MPAC). The ombudsman said that MPAC “is
suffering from a credibility crisis” - that taxpayers were “not
happy”, and “with reason”. The good news was that the Ombudsman
considered that “many of the problems that have caused this
discontent can be fixed”. One can hope that the Provincial
government will take action.
The really bad news is that whatever the Province does with
respect to fixing the way MPAC functions will not really fix the
biggest problem with property taxes in Ottawa. Ontario is the
only province in the country to have loaded so many services
(such as general welfare assistance, public housing, public
health, ambulance services) on the property tax. A graphical
representation using 2001 data from Statistics Canada,
illustrating the extent of the problem, is attached. This
affects disproportionately Ontario’s largest cities. Moreover,
the tax itself is one that is recognized to be ‘regressive’,
that is; it does not reflect ability on the part of the taxpayer
to contribute. It is part of my job as your representative to
try to keep the taxes that you pay as low as possible while
maintaining the quality of life that residents of Ottawa expect
and want to protect. I understand that. It is a task that has
become increasingly difficult as this Province has solved its
fiscal difficulties in an inappropriate manner and continues to
avoid that fundamental problem.
I encourage you to contact our provincial representatives
regarding both of these matters.
Crime Prevention Forum
On April 8th, I was happy, as Board Chair, to preside as Crime
Prevention Ottawa (CPO) held it’s first event – a Community
Crime Prevention Forum, at St. Paul’s University. The purpose of
this forum was to receive input, from community partner
organizations, as CPO develops a comprehensive City-wide
strategic action plan to address crime and victimization issues
in Ottawa. Over 150 participants heard from Mayor Bob Chiarelli,
who underlined the importance of adopting a prevention approach
in Ottawa; from Christiane Sadeler, Executive Director of the
Waterloo Community Safety and Crime Prevention Council who
shared the lessons learned over the last decade in that
municipality; and, from Police Chief Vince Bevan, who reported
on the results of a recent survey of citizen concerns in Ottawa
on the issues of crime and community safety.
For more information about Crime Prevention Ottawa, you are
invited to visit the website at
http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/crime_prevention/index_en.html.
CFB Rockcliffe – Consultations Start-up
The Canada Lands Corporation (CLC) will launch its community
consultation activities on June 27th. Residents are invited to
the Aviation Museum to begin what must surely be a very
important dialogue.
I will establish a special ‘corner’ of the Rideau-Rockcliffe web
site as an information centre for CFB Rockcliffe issues. Look
for the excellent article by Jeffrey Thiessen, “Rockcliffe Base:
Principles for Sound Development” from the front page of the May
2006 issue of the Manor Park Chronicle. Check too for regular
updates on upcoming meetings.
A new Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw for the
City
Work on this project has been underway since the amalgamated
City adopted its new Official Plan (OP) in 2003. There was a
requirement to bring zoning into conformity with the new OP. As
well, the current zoning regime is a collage of the zoning
parameters of the previous 11 local municipalities. The overview
briefing that I have received indicates that the new zoning
Bylaw will do little more than ‘harmonize’ in common language
what had previously been described in zoning jargon. Of course,
“the devil is in the details” and it remains to be seen if my
initial impression is borne out. The draft Bylaw will be made
public this month (May). City staff has scheduled information
meetings (presentations followed by Q&A) in June. Those closest
to the New Edinburgh are:
• June 7 – City Hall
• June 12 – Jim Durrell Com’y Centre
• June 13 – St Laurent Complex
It is my intent to hold a consultation session specific to
Rideau-Rockcliffe in the fall. In any case, this Bylaw will not
come before the current Council for a vote. Formal public
hearings (at standing committees) and Council decision are
expected in February or March 2007.
More information is available on the City’s web site or by
calling my office.
Parking Hours Changed on Stanley
Visitors to the Governor’s Walk Retirement Residence on Stanley
had requested that the on-street parking regulations be changed
to allow for a more reasonable visit with a family member. The
1-hour signed parking had been put in place to discourage
all-day parking by workers at DFAIT (Dept. of Foreign Affairs &
Int’l Trade) from the complex on Green Island and from the
Pearson building. It was felt that relaxing the parking
limitations to 2-hours, along Stanley between Keefer and Queen
Victoria, would not give rise to previous problems as this
stretch of road is likely too far from DFAIT to be attractive to
those employees. I thought that it was important to contribute
to the quality of life of our senior citizens by accommodating
this reasonable request.
Jacques Legendre
Councillor, Rideau-Rockcliffe
You can communicate with me at (please include a telephone
number):
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1
Tel: 580-2483, Fax: 580-2523
E-mail:
jacques.legendre@ottawa.ca
Web Site:
www.rideau-rockcliffe.com
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