Community engagement key for Manor Park to be heard
Manor Park Community Association President Natalie Belovic's messsage
By the time you receive this paper, Ontario will have voted, the Liberal party will have chosen a new leader and we will be on the verge of another, new federal election.
Please be engaged, encourage our youth to be engaged and at the very least, to go and vote. I have three young adults in their mid-20s and they don’t feel very heard by any party, but they must (and will) go vote to at least try and sway the direction toward what they consider responds best to their values. We have just witnessed what happens when a populace is apathetic.
It is unlikely that things will have changed much at Queen’s Park, but my hope is that a newly formed House will bring with it more checks and balances to the provincial decision making and that the opposition will have a louder voice.
We’ve seen quite a bit of overreach by the current government meddling into municipal politics (think abolishing bike lanes) and hopefully, we will see less of that going forward.
Zoning bylaw
The City of Ottawa is still working on the new zoning bylaw and the second draft will be coming out sometime this spring for further discussion.
Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King is organizing a Ward 13 meeting to discuss the new proposed rules and how they will impact you. Stay tuned for more details.
On our end, we are looking to find someone Manor Park specific to discuss the changes coming. We are hoping that we can combine such a presentation with our AGM scheduled for April 15, in person, at 1805 Gaspe.
There was huge community engagement recently regarding the infrastructure renewal project slated for parts of the neighbourhood starting this spring. We have also had many, many voices advocating as a result, to speed up the improvement of the “Five Corners” intersection at Eastbourne Ave. and Braemar Rd.
In addition, these advocates have pointed out to city staff the really urgent need for better sidewalks and safety measures around the park and the school as well as the Eastbourne Ave. block from Breamar Rd. to St Laurent Blvd. The school families as well as the community families have all been messaging the city to resolve the dangerous situation in these areas.
‘Crossings’ Committee
I am also happy to report that the ‘Crossings’ Committee is well in hand and that many new faces have come to work on this very big and complicated file as a result of the recent announcement for a Kettle Island Bridge.
We must not make it solely a Manor Park issue and anytime you engage with someone on this matter, keep in mind that it impacts not only us but Wateridge, Carson Grove, Viscount Alexander Park, Cummings, Forbes and Cyrville neighbourhoods.
We continue to seek engagement from all of these areas. If you have friends and family living there, please connect with them and ask whether they might be interested in representing their corner of the world while we make sure this disaster of a project never comes to be.
Outreach
Many of you will have heard about the terrible incident at 500 St. Laurent in February.
Our Outreach Committee, in conjunction with the RRCRC and the Councillors’ offices (both ward 12 and 13) provide regular support to these residents and others in vulnerable living situations. We were present post incident, listening and advocating to the city and beyond to find more long-term solutions to these kinds of problems. If you have an interest in doing community work like this, working alongside in the communal gardens, helping to host building BBQs, please get in touch through me and I will forward your message to those in the lead.
We are looking for a treasurer to keep track of our simple accounts and would really welcome someone to step up to this role. The bookkeeping component might entail one to two hours per month at most and board meetings are monthly, on the third Tuesday of the month and typically last two hours. Please send me a message at president@manorparkcommunity.ca to discuss this further.
We always welcome your attendance at monthly meetings. I admit, we have not been very good at publicizing our meetings. We are going to step up our efforts to make sure you know and hopefully be able to attend from time to time.
Next MPCA monthly meeting Tuesday March 18
Our next monthly meeting will be on Zoom, March 18, at 7 p.m.
We will send a notice out to the Listserve with the link but if you are not on the listserve and would like to receive reminders by direct email, please email president@manorparkcommunity.ca to get added to the list.
With thanks to all the board members and committee members who continue to work to make Manor Park the amazing neighbourhood that it is. I am so grateful.