Submission to the Transportation Committee - Ottawa City Council

I am pleased to put forward some ideas for the future of Wellington Street for your consideration.

Arguably, Wellington Street is the single most important street in the country. It is the seat of our national Parliament to which every region of Canada sends its representatives. There is no other location which all Canadians have a connection to.

A capital city is that place that we all send representatives to and it is the place that is the symbol and image we send to the world about the most important icon of our democracy.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance this important street and national capital with an inviting vision. I urge you to think about Ottawa as a destination, as a place that all Canadians can look to with pride and that world looks to as reflective of who we are as a country.

It seems to me the decision about Wellington Street – to make it open to people and pedestrians, or to open it to cars, buses and trucks – has at least five criteria you have to consider:

1. Transportation and traffic
2. Pride in our nation’s capital
3. Building a tourist destination
4. Safety and security of political leaders
5. Space for Canadians to gather for or against any issues.

My view on Number 1 is that traffic patterns are that traffic patterns are in flux with the LRT and some 50% attendance by public servants in downtown offices. Short of increasing the number of lanes and speed limits in the downtown area, some level of congestion will be a fact of life. But this is not my area of expertise and I will focus on the other criteria I have listed,

Making Wellington into a people-friendly space is not complicated. A facelift can literally begin tomorrow in the format I am outlining.

Here’s one plan to get on with it. It’s just one plan, but I hope this clarifies that making a plan for this space can be quite simple. The positive objectives can be clear and there can be a simple short and long term plan.

First the objective. Why do we need to do something different?

Well. Wellington was closed after the protesting convoy was finally and forcibly removed after having disgraced the honour of our capital and been an enormous public nuisance and danger to the residents in the downtown core and Byward Market. Sadly, it still looks like a recently cleared battlefield.

• But really, we need to do something for a number of reasons, mostly positive:
• The space in front of our nation’s Parliament Buildings should be open, inviting and be people-friendly. It should be free of speeding and polluting cars, buses and trucks.
• The space should be used to bring pride to Canadians and tell our country’s story.
• It needs to be safe for visitors and political leaders alike, be it from traffic or danger from bad actors.
• Let’s bring life to the street, and make it a destination location for local residents and visitors alike. A space that will make beautiful pictures, an absolute necessity in today’s world of social media.
• In an era where democracy and politics are coming under increasing attack, we should make our political institutions as inviting and pleasing as possible.
• My suggestion is to call the space a name of significance such as Constitution Plaza / Plaza de la Constitution. Give it a clear identity and then build around that. Within this area we should have the Constitution of Canada and the Charter of Rights displayed on small bill boards for example, as well as on flat screens – perhaps will availability in several languages.

Second, what are the short term options for now – February 1 to July 1.

There are probably hundreds of ideas and here are a few:

• Have some large snow sculptures during Winterlude
• Have street hockey on Saturday and Sunday mornings during Winterlude (and perhaps carrying on). There are thousands of Canadian women and men, adults and kids who would love to play hockey in front of our national buildings. What a thrill, especially for visitors from across Canada.
• The block between O’Connor and Bank can be considered more of a marketplace area for small businesses which sell arts and crafts and food. It would include a few picnic tables near Bank Street and have a rotating list of food trucks.
• Learning from the recent winter market and Lansdowne, we can bring say, ten to twenty of those well-built wooden shacks to Wellington for February and March and have some of those vendors already identified, sell their wares for some weeks or months ahead? Coffee, snacks and of course Beavertails!

This spring and summer:

• Host an “Art Jam” on say, the first Saturday of each month from May to October, to which everyone is invited to bring their boards and easels to do paintings of the Parliament Buildings, or anything else. And the event could include competition component on weekends such as speed painting, sculptures, murals and graffiti.
• Build in the space for Ottawa festivals including Winterlude, the Tulip Festival and Fall Rhapsody in October so there will be some events that feed of the Parliament buildings in some way.
• Blend some of the Sparks Street events into this space, most notable the annual Buskers Festival.
• Have some ten to twenty art tents along the market place, with an revolving list of artists each weekend.
• Create one or two small stages for use by local and visiting artists, be they musicians, dancers or magicians.
• Have a number of events in late June marking Indigenous People’s Day, Multiculturalism Day and of course Canada Day

Third, what are the longer term options. July 2023 to June 2024.

• Removing the asphalt from the road and replacing it with interlock brick, preferably showcasing permeable brick that we should be using widely in personal driveways and parking lots across the country (to better manage water flow from rain or storms). This can be done section by section so that a good portion of the street is always open.
• Bringing in an array of trees and other vegetation
• Have an ice pad on Wellington Street for visitors to skate on and occasionally to play hockey, using the same approach as with the Ottawa City Hall ice pad. And forget having board, just a pad like is currently used at Lansdowne Park.

While there are many interesting structures that can be brought into this space, care should be taken to ensure that there is wide open space for large numbers of Canadians to assemble to demonstrate their views about issues in Canada or elsewhere, for or against.

Care should also be taken to ensure that the security of our political leaders is ensured with the optimum of safety measures can be taken as determined by security services.

Constitution Place can be managed by Parliament and the Government of Canada in cooperation with the City of Ottawa, where the latter has an ongoing series of special events and owns a lot of the needed infrastructure such as benches and kiosks. Many local arts groups would be happy to cooperate.

Making it happen: The City of Ottawa along with Parliament, the folks who manage the Parliamentary precinct, would manage this space, with the latter being in charge and the former helping with the infrastructure. Remember, if this is done well, it will be a desired destination. This will be exciting and will get international coverage.