City Council Passes Lansdowne 2.0

On Friday November 7, city council approved the $484 million Lansdowne 2.0 proposal. This is a disappointing decision, as it will create a significant financial burden on the city, while also exposing the city to increased risk, should the new deal not work out as predicted.

Vote Breakdown

Ward	Councillor	Vote
1	Matthew Luloff	Yes
2	Laura Dudas	Yes
3	David Hill	Yes
4	Cathy Curry	Yes
5	Clarke Kelly	Yes
6	Glen Gower	Yes
7	Theresa Kavanagh	No
8	Laine Johnson	No
9	Sean Devine	No
10	Jessica Bradley	No
11	Tim Tierney	Yes
12	Stéphanie Plante	Yes
13	Rawlson King	No
14	Ariel Troster	No
15	Jeff Leiper	No
16	Riley Brockington	No
17	Shawn Menard	No
18	Marty Carr	Yes
19	Catherine Kitts	Yes
20	Isabelle Skalski	Yes
21	David Brown	Yes
22	Steve Desroches	Yes
23	Allan Hubley	Yes
24	Wilson Lo	No
Mayor	Mark Sutcliffe	Yes

Improvements

Although this is a disappointing result, we were able to get some improvements to the plan, including:

• We secured a guarantee to keep the REDBLACKS and 67’s at Lansdowne Park until at least 2042 (previously, they were free to leave after 2032).
• We secured more time to work to save the beloved art installation Moving Surfaces from the trash heap.
• We directed staff to develop a financial oversight model that will give greater scrutiny to, and transparency of, the Lansdowne 2.0 financial performance. Hopefully, this will help prevent us from falling into the same trap as with Lansdowne 1.0.
• We secured funding to install a much-needed bus shelter on Bank Street to provide greater comfort to transit riders.
• We reached an agreement to improve the pedestrian experience throughout Lansdowne Park, exploring ways to eliminate or reduce cut-through traffic between Colonel By Drive and Bank Street.
• We directed staff to investigate a plan to improve transit to and from Lansdowne Park, including the expansion of free transit, increasing shuttle service connecting to city park-and-rides, and improving service on routes 6 and 7.
• We restored $4.65 million in funding for affordable housing that would otherwise have been syphoned off to pay for private parking for the luxury towers.
• We ensured that the Horticulture Building would remain in public use throughout the 18-month re-construction of the arena and north side stands.
• We worked with Councillor Plante to direct staff to create over an acre of park space in the ward and to add a contribution of $100,000 to the ward Cash-in-Lieu of Parkland account.
• We directed staff to include additional accessibility improvements to the grounds of Lansdowne Park.

This has been a long fight to save our public park and our city from the many problems with the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal. I know a lot of you care deeply about our city and our public amenities, and you put tremendous effort into fighting for our city. I want to thank you for all the work you did on this. No doubt, your efforts helped us achieve the improvements on the original plan that we did.

Final Lansdowne 2.0 Proposal 

The final Lansdowne 2.0 reports are now publicly available, and things are moving fast. Too fast. Residents deserve a chance to learn what Lansdowne 2.0 would mean for our city.

You can download the full proposal here.

The more Ottawa residents know about the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal, the less they like it 

Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard and Nik Nanos, Chief Data Scientist, Nanos Research, released brand-new research conducted by Nanos Research that gauged the opinions of Ottawa residents on Lansdowne 2.0. Overwhelmingly, the research indicates that the more Ottawa residents learn about the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal, the less they support it.  

When presented with an overview of the proposed changes to Lansdowne, most Ottawa residents oppose or somewhat oppose the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal. When informed of specific items of the development plan—including the smaller north side stands and arena, and the loss of public space—as well as the estimated cost, support for the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal dropped from 64% to 31%. Opposition increased from 28% to 60%. 

Asked about the future of Lansdowne, 71% of Ottawa residents prefer maintaining the existing buildings, while only 18% prefer replacing the buildings. 

You can read the full report here [PDF].

Ottawa’s Auditor General Weighs in on Lansdowne 2.0

The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) recently released her second sprint audit for Lansdowne 2.0. The risks are very concerning and, if realized, will lead to tens of millions more in costs.

From the report, Shawn has identified troubling aspects revealed about the deal that, if realized, will lead to tens of millions more in costs...tens of millions that city taxpayes will be on the hook for.

Councillor Shawn Menard's Response to Lansdowne 2.0

Lansdowne 2.0 is a highly unpopular plan that will tear out useful and valuable assets, and includes a financial strategy which will shift more risk onto the city, add significantly more long-term debt—while relying on highly uncertain cashflows to service that debt—and ignores reasonable alternatives that would cost far less. 

What are the latest numbers? How much will it cost? Read more in Shawn's response to the most recent Lansdowne reports.

Top 7 Concerns with Lansdowne 2.0 for the City of Ottawa—New Information