Kanata Group
Meeting with the Mayor October 3, 2001
Keeping Kanata Alive
by Michelle Iseman, communications member, The Kanata Group
On October 3, 2001, the mayor of Ottawa, Bob Chiarelli was the principal guest at our monthly breakfast meeting. This event had been in planning several months, during which we surveyed the concerns that we might bring to the mayor's attention. Some of these were presented as
questions for discussion over breakfast during this most enjoyable event. Other, more detailed issues were given to him in a report. This is that report.
The Kanata Group, made up of professionals from all walks of experience, has one main concern that touches everyone within Kanata - that of keeping Kanata alive. Kanata has experienced explosive growth over the last few years and as such, many of the existing services are taxed to their limits. Presented at many town hall meetings, through Kanata's councillor Alex Munter and at many community meetings are the concerns of the 60,000+ residents of the ward of Kanata. The questions that are asked at the breakfast meeting of the Kanata Group with Mayor Bob Chiarelli might reflect some of the needs of the people.
The needs of this community are ones that are reflected in all of the new wards in the City of Ottawa. Infrastructure is first and foremost as our growth continues to exceed the upper most limits originally planned for our community. The infrastructure is broken down into three main points where Kanata lacks resources: roads, transportation, and facilities. In order to keep the city informed about our needs communication is factor that concerns our populace. New growth and keeping Kanata viable are important to the future of our community. Keeping the vision for the future as we grow to a community of 120,000 by 2011 is essential to the community of Kanata. Non-governmental services and provisions for our children, youth and seniors are factors that should not be overlooked. Local issues such as strip malls, long distance calls, our mailing address, or green spaces should be looked at as reflective of the larger picture - keeping Kanata alive and viable.
Roads and Transportation
The exponential growth in Kanata has meant that our resources, mainly the infrastructure and planning, are beyond acceptable limits. The guidelines set down years ago for the roads and transit ways has long since been surpassed.
- Terry Fox - the overpass, two lane limitations and extension are really many years out of date and need to be completed immediately
- Rapid developments north of the Queensway, along Palladium Drive and down in the community of Bridlewood, one can see the need for updated roads and better transit services
- Public transit is in great need of an overhaul as the Park and Ride at Eagleson is beyond capacity, transit services are lacking on Terry Fox and Palladium forcing workers to drive and putting more cars into an already overtaxed roadway
- Lack of a ring road, or other roads to take the strain off of Terry Fox and Eagleson means that is takes over half an hour to get from communities north of the Queensway to the southern end of Kanata
- Widen the Queensway, put in the Castlefrank overpass and give Kanata better roads that will facilitate moving people around our ward quicker especially on Senators home game nights at the Corel Centre
- Planning the streets and communities such that one can get from one end of the city to another should always be a priority
- Providing better roads, transit and bike paths essential considering the growth expected in Kanata over the next few years - like inter-Kanata transit and better connections to downtown buses
- Lack of crosswalks, sidewalk and crossing guards to safeguard our children
- Speeding along many side streets, putting our youngsters in danger on their way to school
- Need for lights on Campeau, Terry Fox, Richardson Side Road and Hazeldean
- Speeding on major through streets like Campeau, Knudson, Castlefrank, Terry Fox and Eagleson
- Should Goulbourn Forced Road be paved to alleviate traffic congestion on March Road in high tech area?
These major concerns should be addressed immediately to ensure the continued growth and viability of Kanata.
Facilities
With infrastructure comes the need to provide an outlet for all of the people who both live and work in Kanata.
- Lack of recreation facilities, whether they are rinks, pools, community facilities, soccer pitches and especially libraries.
- Concerns for any of the sports groups is the planning that goes into using our existing resources to their best advantage as other groups use our meagre facilities.
- We have Kanata Theatre and the Wave pool, but these facilities are small in comparison to the size of the population.
- Kanata should not be made into a bedroom community without the activities it needs to attract the young families who will live and work in this area.
- Lack of activities for Kanata as compared to other regions programmes through the activity guides
- Lack of community space for community associations and smaller community based groups such as guides, social clubs and self help groups - use of space comes at too high a price
- Improving our parks so that our children are not using outdated 20 year old equipment
- Ensure that trails are maintained, garbage cans are inserted along bike paths, proper lighting along paths to ward off vandalism or accidents, inspect paved paths regularly for broken asphalt
Put Kanata back on the map to ensure that people come first.
Communication
The grass roots organisations within Kanata are really concerned about the need for better communications with the city. Connection to the city is what government for the people is all about.
- Lobbying group working on behalf of all of the residents
- Can Alex really be expected to shoulder the burden of keeping Kanata's concerns at the forefront, when the ward is in reality too large for one councillor?
- Community associations have umbrella group called the Kanata Council of Community Associations (KCCA) and within this group, they discuss the needs and issues of the individual associations - does this org have any say at city hall
- Councillor functions without adequate staff to help with the everyday workings of our ward - councillors should have enough staff to represent the populous of ward
- Local council with representatives from all of the groups facilitate better communication with the city about our needs - Groups like non-governmental organisations, sports groups, business organisations, heritage and culture groups should all have a say in what matters most to them
- More community involvement in our government and volunteerism
- Ability to reach city hall and not just an operator in Cumberland who doesn't relate to Kanata - an example was the planning dept. of City of Kanata was accessible to the public - keep that communication line open
- Making sure that we can reach Ottawa Hydro when we have problems and not be put on hold for 20 minutes.
Grass roots organisations are the best way to reach the public. City hall needs to recognise this unique resource and use it to its fullest extent.
Future Growth
With new business growth in the whole City of Ottawa decreasing due to the down turn in the high tech sector, we need to encourage more entrepreneurial enterprises.
- City needs to bring to the forefront the tools that are available and marry up potential investors with the ideas in order to put the people caught in the recent high tech sectors lay-off back to work.
- Encourage new growth by keeping the vision of the former Mayor Merle Nicholds alive - Main Street in Town Centre
- Encourage entrepreneurs to come from all over North America to the High Tech capital of Canada
- Make sure that future development charges are used in Kanata and not pumped into another ward
- Ensure that future growth reflects the need for schools for all of the families coming into Kanata - use development charges to build schools and offset the limited school board budgets
- Keep up with the population by making sure we have adequate hospitals, services for children, youth and seniors, and keep our youth out of trouble
- Keep big box and strips malls to a minimum and ensure that they fit the communities in which they are situated and serve.
By putting money back into the community, we remain an attractive place to live and work. The city needs to push for more long-term solutions.
Policing, Safety and Security
The need for more police, ambulance and fire services has become readily apparent with the amalgamation of the Ottawa-Carleton. Kanata had precious few of these resources before and needs more with the increase in growth.
- Vandalism is on the rise - need for more foot patrols especially at night and target high-risk areas
- Lighting on pathways and in parks
- Need for more community policing - lack of neighbourhood watch and block parent programmes
- Speeding on major arterial roads and in residential areas needs to be addressed
- Ensure that Kanata meets provincial standards for response times in fire and ambulance services by providing enough staff
- Get rid of graffiti by putting youth together with police to help their own
- Bring in a school crossing guard programme immediately as we have very few crosswalks or crossing lanes and almost no sidewalks in Kanata.
At the very heart of the issue is the need to have more services in Kanata to keep us safe and secure.
Local Issues
One of the things that makes the community of Kanata different from the other wards in the city is the amount of green space and the concern that the population have some place to go other than work or home. We need to have services in our community to serve our growing community.
- Make sure that all non-governmental organisations such as the libraries, Community Resource Centre and Kanata Food Cupboard have funding and space for their many needs - all of these serve Kanata and beyond and need to grow with community
- Keep Kanata signs and mailing addresses
- Put local calling into place so that Kanata can call Orleans without a long distance charge
- Bring more city wide businesses to Kanata like another Beer store but without depending on a strip mall to locate within
- Fix the headaches of the traffic and pedestrian problems at the Centrum and put the underpass in from the Queensway ASAP
- Keep the forest on Goulbourn Forced Road as much as possible to ensure green spaces are kept
- Make sure that local groups like the Kanata Group are heard and that their ideas carry some weight
- Keep Kanata alive and viable, not just an exit off of the Queensway.
Some of these issues only apply to Kanata and are unique to our lifestyle. While other issues are reflective of other communities across the region and should be looked at accordingly.
By looking at Kanata as a whole in relation to the rest of the city, unique perspectives are brought to the forefront. The Kanata Group hopes to ensure that we maintain our quality of life, our heritage and our identity in Kanata as the fastest growing community in Canada. We have a vision that needs to be kept alive and built upon in the 21st century.
The Kanata Group