Ottawa·NewCapital ward Coun. Shawn Menard pleaded with colleagues to allow more time to consider a massive trove of documents before they make a final decision on the more than $400-million redevelopment project early next month.Some upset they have fewer than 3 weeks with final reportOttawa councillors turn down attempt to delay Lansdowne 2.0 voteCoun. Wilson Lo attempted to delay the Nov. 7 vote on Lansdowne 2.0, but his motion failed to gain the necessary support at Wednesday’s council meeting.Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard dropped a full binder on his council chamber desk with a heavy thud late Wednesday morning.Menard, an opponent of the $419 million Lansdowne 2.0 project, said there simply isn’t enough time to give the reports within careful consideration before a final vote on Nov. 7.“It’s a massive amount of documents that we’ve got here,” he told the council meeting.“It’s just overwhelming how many things have been submitted. We need to take the time to get it right.”Menard urged councillors to support a motion from Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo to extend the timeline for that final meeting. Lo had previously asked staff for at least 30 days from the time of releasing a final report to the council meeting that will approve it.Under the current timeline, councilors will have just 18 days from the date the report was released on Oct. 20.“This is one of this term of council’s most financially consequential decisions, so I think we need that extra time — for us and the public — to make the most informed decision,” Lo said.His motion didn’t even come up for a vote after a minority of councillors blocked council from even considering it on Wednesday.Motions generally require advance notice to get on city council’s agenda, but a supermajority of three-quarters can suspend the rules and get an item up for debate right away.Twelve councillors voted to suspend the rules, while 11 voted against, putting it short of the 18 votes required.Wednesday was the last full council meeting before that Nov. 7 final vote.Sutcliffe criticizes ‘political stunts’Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the motion was simply an attempt to put off a decision.“What’s going on is a little bit of political gamesmanship and political stunts,” he said during a news conference following the meeting. “I respect Coun. Menard but he’s opposed to this project, and so when you’re opposed to something but it seems like it’s moving ahead, your only recourse is to delay, delay, delay, delay.” Lo said he was upset that his motion couldn’t even come up for debate.”If you’re not in favour of delaying the council meeting, then so be it, but I do wish that we did at least consider the motion,” he said.New renderings of the northside stands at Lansdowne 2.0. (City of Ottawa)Sutcliffe said there’s little chance moving the timeline will change anyone’s decision on the project, which he has called a “terrific deal” for taxpayers. He argues the plan will raise enough revenue to cut the net cost to the city down to $130.7 million.That $419 million figure does not account for about $65 million for retail and parking. The city’s auditor general will give her take on the plans and cost in early November.A meeting of council’s finance and corporate services committee on Oct. 29 will be the last chance for residents to weigh in on the report, which is 139 pages long and comes with numerous attachments, some of which include detailed financial information.The same meeting will consider an annual report for the current Lansdowne Park partnership, as well as an economic impact assessment for the Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment and a new partnership agreement with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.Sutcliffe encouraged residents to come and share their point of view, but he said it’s ultimately up to city councillors whose job it is to read the reports.“Let’s be clear, we made a decision two years ago to move forward with this plan that passed by a wide margin at city council on Nov. 10, 2023,” he said.“That plan now looks even better than it did two years ago, so the essential facts haven’t changed.”The votesOn the question of whether to suspend rules to allow the motion to be added to the meeting agenda:Couns. Gower, Luloff, Skalski, Dudas, Kelly, Hubley, Brown, Curry, Tierney, Hill and Mayor Sutcliffe: No.Couns. Menard, Leiper, Troster, Kavanagh, Bradley, King, Brockington, Lo, Johnson, Plante, Devine and Carr: Yes.Couns Desroches and Kitts were absent.ABOUT THE AUTHORArthur White-Crummey is a reporter at CBC Ottawa. He has previously worked as a reporter in Saskatchewan covering the courts, city hall and the provincial legislature. You can reach him at arthur.white-crummey@cbc.ca.
Bid to delay Lansdowne 2.0 decision fails
