Legacy has always been not about what is left behind but rather, what you can offer for the future. For me, leaving behind a legacy rests on the shoulders of all of you. My legacy is yours. I am proud of our investments, policy shift and improvements. The list is long, and I would bore you with the minutia on which I pride myself with big and small wins for us.
On a City wide level, I am very proud of policy shifts that impact our day-to-day lives. These shifts made it possible to create better support for Ottawa Community Housing to grow and strive. We now have a complete street policy which builds safe spaces for all modes of transportation. We have a sports and recreation masterplan which aims to accommodate the needs of a growing active City. We approved a new Official Plan focused on achieving 15 minute neighbourhoods and protecting neighbourhood character. There are dozens more minor yet meaningful: extra weeks for wading pools, purchasing electric ice-resurfacers, and repairing the sidewalk in concrete which create meaningful changes going forward. One of Ottawa’s oldest areas, we saw record investments in road renewals from Sussex Drive, Rideau Street, and Montreal Road. We saw the repurposing of the Arts Court and the creation of the Ottawa Art Gallery. With all of the new homes created, we have benefited from an influx of funds to renew our parks: Jules Morin, Optimiste, Bordeleau, Union Basketball, Riverain, and more to come with Optimiste pool renewal and the upcoming Bingham Park modernization.
We have been the first to invest in missing links for pedestrians, better transit and connect cycling links: speed reductions to 30km/h, Adawe bridge, three LRT stations, Routes 15, 19, and 20 bus services, the east-west bikeway. Significant investments from the University of Ottawa, the Rideau Centre, and the Shaw Centre reshaping our community in various ways. Let’s not forget the many local investors who have opened shops on our main streets, allowing to grow our local economy. We have worked diligently to support the growing pressures with new City led outreach teams and brought back dedicated community policing teams.
We have supported festivals to rebound and pilot new areas, including the ByWard Market, to showcase arts, culture and sports talents, including the 2017 celebrations.We prepared the ByWard Market for its future with the creation of Ottawa Markets to support all its programming and the Council approved ByWard Market public spaces plan, which now needs to be funded to celebrate the 200th of the district in 2026. We are far from naming stop signs implementation and effective by law response. Those are expected. I believe our focus brought practical and much needed modernization of City infrastructure in our area and more to come with the policy touch we have positioned. People form cities, and infrastructure defines how people travel, engage and play within the City.