By John Chenier
The Echo spoke with Mona Fortier following her electoral victory in the recent federal election. We were interested in what she had heard from constituents during the campaign and what her priorities would be as our MP in the days ahead. In particular, we sought her views on three issues important to residents of Lowertown:
- What were her plans with regards to the problems of homelessness?
- Where did she stand on the matter of solving the problems of trucks and traffic on King Edward Avenue?
- How would she carry our concerns on the increasing violence in our community to the government?
First off, we covered the issues she heard during the campaign, most of which were national in scope but obviously had resonance in Lowertown:
- concern for the environment;
- the increasing cost of living, especially for housing;
- turbulence and insecurity in the job market in a constantly-changing world; and
- promotion and protection of diversity as immigration policy struggles to cope with international upheavals.
Much as we might like her to be, Ms. Fortier is not a parochial MP. In some ways, she cannot afford to be in a riding that, as she says, is a reflection of Canada in every way. (Ottawa-Vanier runs from east to west from Lowertown to Beacon Hill and north to south from Rockcliffe to Sandy Hill.) When it comes to diversity, it covers all the bases.
Take the problem of King Edward Avenue, for example. She is very aware that almost any of the proposed solutions involving a bridge to the east could merely shift the traffic from one part of her riding to another. From her perspective, that doesn’t solve the problem, it only moves it. But that doesn’t mean she is insensitive to the issue. In her view, traffic is a regional, not a local problem, and it requires a regional approach.
The Liberals won all but one of the 13 ridings in the National Capital Region (NCR). The 12 members from the area form the NCR caucus, and traffic is a major concern. Whether moving north, south, east or west, in Gatineau or Ottawa, traffic congestion is a major problem, especially at peak hours. If I have understood Ms. Fortier correctly, her view is that there are multiple, complex problems to address. Building more roads and bridges now may alleviate the problem, but it won’t solve it.
How necessary or desirable are the environmental effects from more cars on the roads and the impact on communities bisected by new roads needed to reroute traffic? Ms. Fortier says we need more information on problems and remedies. More important, we need improved cooperation and coordination to bring about an effective, integrated inter-regional mass transportation system.
Not that the option of a new bridge is off the table, but the case has to be made that it is the best use of resources. She added that the Alexandra Bridge will reach the end of its lifespan in a few years. This will have an impact on traffic flow on both sides of the river. Meanwhile, she and her colleagues in the NCR caucus will continue to work together and with other levels of government on a transportation plan for the NCR.
At the community level, she will be active on the housing-for-the-homeless issue. She and her staff will be collaborating with groups such as the Ottawa Mission, the John Howard Society, Shepherds of Good Hope and the Salvation Army to make maximum use of federal funding for Housing-First initiatives. She will also be supporting programs that encourage the small businesses needed to revitalize commercial areas on our traditional main streets such as Montreal Road and Rideau Street.
On the issue of violence, she will press her colleagues in government to bring forward legislation that will empower cities to ban handguns. However, she noted that people are at the root of violence, and that it is critical for the federal government to support programs that channel youth away from “the dark side.”
On that score, she has her work cut out for her in Lowertown, where vital funding to support afterschool activities and programming for our young residents has been either reduced or eliminated completely.