Tewin Algonquin land development [Hwy 417/Boundary Rd] | Proposed

[SidetrackedSue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Some city slickers seem to think that if you move further out, you'll never be allowed to eat fine cheeses or listen to classical music again.

When we moved to Kars from Barrhaven in 1990 our (Barrhaven based) real estate agent warned us that there weren't any rocket scientists in Kars. The only people we knew out there was a couple where the husband worked with my husband and the wife for Telsat.

There is something to be said for moving to a place where there is a wide variety of ages, economic status, and education levels. Our street in Barrhaven was homogenous on all of those, our life in Kars introduced our family to all sorts of people.

Wide variety of ages mean less pressure on finding a babysitter (there's more than one family with a teen.) It is interesting to learn from people who have lived longer than you, watching what a mature couple relationship looks like, or at least seeing there's a life beyond when you are stuck at home with little kids. There's much less 'keeping up with the Joneses' when everyone has a different style of home. And there's a lot to learn when hiring neighbours for help with snow removal, home repairs, accounting services. Kars had few visible businesses but dozens of home-based ones.

But it is important to take time studying a community to make sure you think you can fit. You really have to know yourself and the community to make a good choice. Kars was perfect for us at that time of our lives. Over two decades later, we had changed and were ready to return to the city. Our friends were all moving away to smaller homes too, they just went further from the city rather than closer.

It is important to note that places change as well. Formerly 'hick' towns are changing as refugees from the city seek out less expensive housing. Kemptville has changed dramatically, and I'm sure Smiths Falls is changing as well. So don't just go on anecdotal stories from friends, try and spend some time in the community before buying, maybe take in a church supper, or at least shop at the local stores a little bit, eavesdropping on what the conversation is like.

[TransitZilla]

^ I'd nominate Almonte as an example of a town that pretty firmly bucks the country hillbilly stereotype. I've never lived there but I've had the opportunity to volunteer in some of their many cultural events in the past.

They have their own performance venue (Old Town Hall), a local arts newspaper and a pretty vibrant little "downtown" with lots of independent businesses that is picturesque enough to be a popular filming location.

Of course, they don't have a Walmart...

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Of course, they don't have a Walmart...

Let's keep it that way!

[phil235]

Very good advice from Sue. I would concur wholeheartedly.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

^ I'd nominate Almonte as an example of a town that pretty firmly bucks the country hillbilly stereotype. I've never lived there but I've had the opportunity to volunteer in some of their many cultural events in the past.

They have their own performance venue (Old Town Hall), a local arts newspaper and a pretty vibrant little "downtown" with lots of independent businesses that is picturesque enough to be a popular filming location.

Of course, they don't have a Walmart...

This is a big one. In many of the exurban towns outside Ottawa, the town's traditional downtowns are being sucked dry by new big box stores on the fringes. Kemptville, Rockland, Embrun, Carleton Place, etc.

Most of the towns inside Ottawa city limits, however, like Carp, Richmond, Metcalfe, don't have any big box stores being built and their downtowns are much healthier. It's a good example of how being part of the city has arguably protected these villages' rural characters. Easier for the big wealthy city to turn down commercial development than a cash-strapped township.

Almonte is the exception: despite being beyond city limits, it has managed to retained its character as it's grown. Russell is another example, although it's downtown is a lot more modest than Almonte's to start off with.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by CityTech

This is a big one. In many of the exurban towns outside Ottawa, the town's traditional downtowns are being sucked dry by new big box stores on the fringes. Kemptville, Rockland, Embrun, Carleton Place, etc.

Most of the towns inside Ottawa city limits, however, like Carp, Richmond, Metcalfe, don't have any big box stores being built and their downtowns are much healthier. It's a good example of how being part of the city has arguably protected these villages' rural characters. Easier for the big wealthy city to turn down commercial development than a cash-strapped township.

Almonte is the exception: despite being beyond city limits, it has managed to retained its character as it's grown. Russell is another example, although it's downtown is a lot more modest than Almonte's to start off with.

I think many of the villages you mention benefit from not being on the provincial highway network... they're just a little bit too "off the beaten path" for the box stores.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

^ I'd nominate Almonte as an example of a town that pretty firmly bucks the country hillbilly stereotype.

The majority of people living in rural towns within 50 km of a major city are are what you might call "rurbanites" these days, anyway.

A whole bunch of my friends are like that. They're no more rural than I am, or than a downtowner is.

They're also no more "ecological", but that's another debate.

[YOWzers]

Originally Posted by Acajack

"rurbanites"

Exurbanites actually.

[rocketphish]

Tewin project, on the tip of urban Ottawa, will be the best of community planning
Despite confusing statements from some, this is a solid reconciliation proposal that will transform the land into a vibrant, connected, 15-minute community founded on Algonquin values.

Wendy Jocko, Lynn Clouthier
Publishing date: Feb 04, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 4 minute read

Last week, the City of Ottawa took a significant step on its journey towards reconciliation when municipal committees voted to include land owned by the Algonquins of Ontario inside an expanded urban boundary. The project we plan to build is called “Tewin.”

Since that time, there have been several confusing and inaccurate comments made by our Algonquin neighbours from Quebec.

While these are disappointing, we must remain steadfast on our path to reconciliation. The Algonquins of Ontario are comprised of 10 Indigenous communities whose members, both status and non-status alike, are Indians vested with Aboriginal Rights pursuant to the laws of Canada. Every one of our members must satisfy a rigorous enrolment criteria to participate in the treaty negotiations that are underway with the governments of Canada and Ontario. Both governments – the federal and provincial – recognize the AOO as the legitimate body to negotiate a treaty – a treaty that is more than 200 years overdue.

And it wasn’t developed in haste.

The opportunity to purchase the Tewin lands resulted from the duty to consult that is required by the Ontario government on the sale of any proposed surplus lands within the unceded AOO Settlement Area. These lands are part of our traditional territory, where we have long had a historical presence, and this is a tangible example of the Algonquins and the government of Ontario continuing our efforts to work toward reconciliation.

The purchase of these lands was done separately from our ongoing treaty negotiations with the governments of Ontario and Canada, and fair market value was paid.

Quite simply, Tewin is a generational opportunity to create one of Canada’s most innovative and sustainable new communities, but it finally weaves the Algonquin people into the socioeconomic fabric of the nation’s capital.

Tewin represents the best of community planning. It is an unprecedented proposal seeking to transform land in southeast Ottawa into a vibrant, connected, 15-minute community founded on Algonquin values. It will make Ottawa the only city in North America with two One Planet Living-endorsed communities, cementing our stature as a global leader in sustainable design. One Planet Living provides a holistic framework that measures development performance against a set of clear social, environmental and economic sustainability principles.

And let us be clear: Tewin’s technical viability and planning merits are second to none. Ottawa-based soil experts, servicing engineers, transit engineers and cost consultants have confirmed the viability of the land on which the community will be built. In fact, geotechnical engineers from Golder concluded that the soil conditions of Tewin lands “are not unlike those encountered within portions of other developments, that have been built or are under construction, within the City of Ottawa that we are aware of such as Riverside South, Conservancy Lands, Kanata South and West, Spring Valley and Greenboro.”

To this end, the City of Ottawa’s general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development has also acknowledged that a recent scoring of the Tewin project had not considered the extensive information submitted by a variety of experts.

We welcome this information being released publicly, because in conceiving of this project, the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Group saw a transformational opportunity to bring the Five Big Moves – a hallmark of the City of Ottawa’s new Official Plan – into reality. Those Five Big moves include: growth management; mobility; community and urban design; climate, energy and public health; and economic development.

Tewin incorporates these Five Big Moves in a wide variety of ways, first by helping Ottawa accommodate future population growth while protecting valuable agricultural lands within the city. In addition, some 600 hectares of natural heritage lands at Tewin are proposed to be protected through a Natural Land Trust, functionally extending the Greenbelt.

The development will feature an embedded, high-quality transit service – funded at no additional cost to taxpayers – with links to the broader transit network and direct proximity to Highway 417. It will embrace green building technologies and smart cities design, with walkable and bikeable areas integrated throughout to foster an environment that is healthy, sustainable, and connected to the earth.

Tewin will make efficient use of available sewer capacity and infrastructure systems, with the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Group assuming design and construction costs related to all additional sewer, water and stormwater services required for the community.

And finally, Tewin will be a digitally connected, innovative community supporting job growth, industry and the contemporary working arrangements that will propel the economy of the future.

For the past many months, the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Group have shared the story of what Tewin can be: a story of unprecedented opportunity for Ottawa, one of merged cultures and history, unity and collaboration, innovation and excellence. Now, we are excited to take the next steps in that story, building a community which all people can call home and one which serves as a model for Canada and the world.

Wendy Jocko is Chief of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and Algonquin Negotiation Representative with the Algonquins of Ontario. Lynn Clouthier is Algonquin Negotiation Representative for Ottawa.

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/jocko-...a-will-be-the-best-of-community-planning

[rocketphish]

'Slap in the face': Algonquin leaders criticize city for not consulting on Tewin proposal
Algonquin First Nations that aren't part the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) organization don't believe that allowing the land inside the urban boundary is an act of reconciliation.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 04, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 4 minute read

Ottawa city council is learning that allowing property owned by the Algonquins of Ontario into the urban boundary isn’t a simple planning issue, nor is opening the rural lands to development universally considered an attempt at Indigenous reconciliation.

“This is not reconciliation,” Claudette Commanda, an Algonquin Anishinabe elder from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, said in an interview Thursday.

“Reconciliation is to happen with nations. Reconciliation does not happen with organizations.”

Algonquin First Nations that aren’t part the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) organization don’t believe that allowing the land inside the urban boundary is an act of reconciliation, contrary to what Mayor Jim Watson and other councillors have suggested.

AOO represents 10 communities, including the federally recognized Pikwakanagan First Nation, in land-claim negotiations with the federal and Ontario governments.

Outside the land claim process, AOO is partnering with local development company Taggart Investments on a proposal to build a new residential community called Tewin based on Algonquin values. The community west of Carlsbad Springs would have up to 45,000 residents, but the land first must be brought inside the city’s urban boundary.

An analysis by city planners gave the remote Tewin site a low rating in considering new lands for the urban boundary. Staff didn’t include the site on their list of proposed expansion lands, but opened the door to studying the site over five years.

Two motions approved by a joint planning and agriculture and rural affairs committee last week will require ratification by council next Wednesday.

One motion from Coun. Eli El-Chantiry stops staff-approved lands in the South March area of Kanata from being included in the urban boundary. A second motion from Coun. Tim Tierney takes the South March lands, combines them with land that was left to be included in the urban boundary, and assigns it to the Tewin project.

Together, the motions would open 445 hectares of development land to Tewin, despite the low grade from city staff.

Commanda acknowledged that Watson had tried to build positive relationships with Indigenous people and recognized the land as unceded territory of the Algonquin people, but she said it meant little if Algonquin people weren’t consulted on land matters in the name of reconciliation.

“That’s a slap in the face. That’s an insult,” Commanda said. “This is why I’m disheartened, and my spirit is very heavy. I’m not impressed at all, and I’m trying to contain my emotions as calmly as I can.”

It was just last month that Commanda offered the opening prayer, as she has done before at city hall events, ahead of the first council meeting of 2021 and Watson’s annual state of the city address.

Commanda suggested council’s approval of Tewin as part of the urban boundary expansion in the name of reconciliation could damage that relationship.

“Don’t talk to me about reconciliation. Don’t talk to me that you acknowledge that you are on the land of the Algonquin people, but you turn around and you simply ignore us,” Commanda said. “As far as I’m concerned, this is genocide of the inherent rights of the true owners of this land, the Algonquin nations, and it’s a continuance of colonialism.”

Commanda said she was surprised Watson didn’t reach out to her for advice on the matter.

In a statement sent by his office, Watson said it was not city council’s job to get involved with disagreements among Algonquin groups.

“The Tewin lands were purchased and belong to the Algonquins of Ontario. To them, this is a meaningful Reconciliation opportunity, and they now look to the City of Ottawa to unlock the economic development benefits that will stem from these lands. Without City Council’s support, they cannot unlock and share in the prosperity that can be generated from the development of the Tewin lands,” Watson said.

“The Algonquins of Ontario are the legitimate organization recognized by the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada in land-claim negotiations and settlements on Algonquin land in Ontario. As we saw earlier today, Algonquin leaders like Chief Wendy Jocko of Pikwakanagan support the Tewin proposal. It is not the role of Ottawa’s City Council to adjudicate internal disputes between Algonquin communities.”

Still, there’s pressure on Watson and councillors to open discussions with the entire Algonquin community about the future of the AOO project and the city’s notion that allowing the Tewin development would help Indigenous reconciliation.

Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Chief Dylan Whiteduck wrote an open letter to city council on Thursday titled, “Wrongdoings by the City of Ottawa & AOO development on Algonquin-Anishinabae Unceded Lands/Territory.”

“Reconciliation must have the proper ingredients in place before it is spoken as such,” Whiteduck said in the letter, demanding that Kitigan Zibi be consulted on major decisions regarding Algonquin lands.

City council members aren’t educated about the Algonquin claim to territory in the area “or they choose not to hear,” according to Verna Polson, grand chief of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council.

Algonquin communities that aren’t part of AOO criticize the organization for not being representative of the Algonquin people, with Pikwakanagan being an exception.

“We as true Algonquin Anishinabeg, we have problems getting at those tables,” Polson said. “We don’t even get invites, so we don’t get consultation or were never part of a consultation process when it comes to land issues that affects our members and our rights in our traditional territory. It’s very upsetting.”

Added Polson: “We’re going to start pushing back.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ity-for-not-consulting-on-tewin-proposal

[rocketphish]

Algonquin elder 'shocked and insulted' over Tewin land deal
'Don't call it reconciliation if it's strictly just a land purchase,' says Claudette Commanda

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Feb 05, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

A week ago she offered a blessing to the city at the start of Ottawa city council's first meeting of 2021.

Now, Algonquin elder Claudette Commanda says she was "shocked and insulted" to hear Mayor Jim Watson characterize a land deal with the Algonquins of Ontario and its partner Taggart as "reconciliation."

"Don't call it reconciliation if it's strictly just a land purchase," Commanda told CBC. "You're just wrapping this up with a pretty red paper and calling it reconciliation. And it is not."

Commanda, who has taught at the University of Ottawa and led a number of institutions dedicated to promoting First Nations rights, history and culture, is one of the region's most recognizable civic leaders. She had stood alongside the mayor as he announced the city's reconciliation plan years ago. At last week's meeting, council renamed a street after her grandfather William Commanda, and Watson proposed renaming the Prince of Wales Bridge after the late Kitigan Zibi chief.

That's why she says she was surprised and upset that the mayor would not think to reach out to her — or other Algonquins in the region — before characterizing a planning proposal as reconciliation.

And if council approves the increasingly controversial plan to include poor-scoring land owned by the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) into Ottawa's urban area in the name of reconciliation, Commanda says it will all-but-erase any good relations the city has built with the Algonquin Nation.

"If city council doesn't do the right thing, then they are part of this," she said. "So take that reconciliation plan … tear it up and throw it away because you went back one hundred and fifty years."

Commanda joins a growing chorus of voices who oppose a plan backed by Watson and many city councillors to approve — as part of reconciliation — a plan by AOO and their partner Taggart to create a 45,000-resident sustainable community called Tewin in the southeast part of the city.

The city's planning staff scored the land poorly and recommended that the proposal for the community be further analyzed over the next few years before allowing the property into the urban area.

But a surprise motion that referenced the city's "truth and reconciliation action plan" called for the 445 hectares to be included in the urban area and was approved by nine councillors at the committee level last week.

Council is set to discuss the issue at its meeting next Wednesday.

In the last few days, a growing number of Algonquin leaders from across the region have said that they don't consider the land deal as true reconciliation and are demanding that they be consulted on the plan.

"We write to express our strong objections and concerns with the manner in which the City of Ottawa is approaching what it calls 'reconciliation' with Indigenous groups," wrote Chief Dylan Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg in an open letter to council on Thursday.

"Reconciliation must have the proper ingredients before it is spoken as such."

Verna Polson, the grand chief of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, was also "dismayed" to learn about the mayor's support of the AOO-Taggart plan.

"If the City of Ottawa truly want to support the real First Nations and take concrete steps towards reconciliation, we strongly advise the City of Ottawa to oppose or postpone the decision on the proposal," Polson wrote in an emailed letter to the mayor.

The Algonquins of Ontario are a group that was formed in 2004 and is provincially and federally recognized to negotiate land claims with the government. The Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn are the only federally recognized Algonquin First Nation in AOO, which has led other Algonquin First Nations to argue that many members of the Ontario organization have tenuous claims to Indigenous ancestry.

Some councillors are also calling for the Tewin plan to be put on hold.

Coun. Scott Moffatt said there's a desire for reconciliation at all levels of government, including municipal. They are all "trying to sort out exactly how to do that, and they probably don't always get it right.

"This is a case where maybe we didn't get it right."

Moffatt, who voted against allowing the Tewin lands into the urban area, told CBC that the AOO-Taggart proposal for a sustainable community that is walkable, transit-oriented and offers a range of housing is attractive and perhaps possible, but needs more study, as the city planners recommend.

"I don't think waiting five years to get it right is a bad thing."

Some councillors are also not sure how reconciliation fits in with making planning decisions. Coun. Jeff Leiper, who also voted against adding the Tewin lands, said that he was concerned that the new community would contribute to urban sprawl, and how the concept of reconciliation fits into the equation.

Coun. Mathieu Fleury said that if council is going to make the argument that adding the Tewin lands into the urban boundary is part of reconciliation, "we need advice from experts who can advise us on our own approved reconciliation plan."

With files from Antoine Trepanier

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tewin-urban-boundary-reconciliation-1.5901189

[rocketphish]

A closer look at big rural property at centre of reconciliation controversy
Algonquins of Ontario paid $16.9M for properties long held by Ontario government

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Feb 05, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 4 hours ago



When a pair of city committees suddenly voted last week that fields and forest on the city's outskirts should become Ottawa's next major suburb, those hundreds of hectares were thrust into the limelight in a way not seen since the 1970s.

First Nations leaders in Quebec this week say they are furious they were not consulted about the land, which they say falls in their territory. They are also upset that under the proposed deal, a group they oppose, the Algonquins of Ontario, stands to be allowed to urbanize 445 hectares in an expansion of Ottawa's urban areas.

But the huge tract also made headlines nearly 50 years ago in a different debate over how the region would grow, before hundreds of thousands of people lived beyond the Greenbelt. In the 1970s, the former Ontario Housing Corporation along with the National Capital Commission had pieced together land parcels and dreamed of building a "model city" near Carlsbad Springs. Instead, a place designated on a map as "South Rideau" became Barrhaven.

The Carlsbad Springs lands sat publicly owned but undeveloped for years.

In January 2020, land registry records show the Algonquins of Ontario Realty Corporation purchased three dozen properties from the Ontario government outright for $16.9 million.

The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO), an organization that is negotiating a large land claim, in recent months met with city councillors to pitch its own, modern vision.

They see a walkable, compact community called "Tewin" that could one day number 45,000 residents. It would follow environmentally friendly "One Planet Living" principles, much like the Zibi development on the Ottawa River.

It's a vision they share with partner Taggart Group, whom AOO reached out to in late 2017 after deciding the company would make the best partner, explained Janet Stavinga, executive director of AOO's consultation office.

The lands themselves AOO bought separate from its treaty negotiations, Stavinga said, and AOO did so after the Ontario government offered it the first right to purchase them out of a duty to consult with the group.

As for how it paid $16.9 million for the land, "the AOO entered into an agreement with our financial partner, the Taggart Group," Stavinga explained.

Yet the three dozen parcels bought by the Algonquins of Ontario, and dozens of other privately held properties that make up the balance of the Tewin proposal, are not currently located within the city's urban boundary, where development is allowed.

The City of Ottawa is in the process of expanding its urban areas, but after staff spent months scoring dozens of properties, the 3,600 hectares in the Tewin area came nowhere near making their cut.

Some Tewin parcels scored as low as -8 points because of deductions. The highest score in the area was just seven points, confirmed the city's director of economic development and long-range planning, Don Herweyer.

In contrast, City staff did recommend dozens of other properties be granted a coveted spot inside the urban boundary. Those properties tended to hit scores of between 40 and 70, because big points went to rural properties already close to Ottawa's existing suburbs, watermains and sewer pipes, and transit.

Staff also worried about sensitive marine clay soils found on the Tewin lands, concerns that date back to those 1970s headlines.

All future housing on the Tewin lands would need to rely on sump pumps for drainage and buildings higher than four storeys would need expensive supports for foundations, staff noted in their big report last month. Rural roads would need to be converted to carry traffic, and kilometres of transit lanes built.

The Algonquins of Ontario disagree with this assessment, however, and argued the city relied on out-of-date information.

They had submitted to the city their own reports by a team of engineers from companies including Paterson Group, Golder and DSEL, which Stavinga said addressed the technical matters, even if it was unclear to her whether staff reviewed those reports.

The soils are similar to many other communities in Ottawa and are "fully capable" of supporting new development, she added.

As for design and construction costs related to all sewer, water and stormwater services at Tewin, those would be covered by the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart, Stavinga said.

The mayor and many city councillors heard those arguments and last week decided that despite the land's poor scores, the Algonquins of Ontario should be allowed to build their development as a sign of reconciliation. The surprise move has caused other developers and First Nations chiefs to speak out in protest.

Should the Algonquins of Ontario indeed get full council approval on Feb. 10, and have their land brought inside the urban-rural divide, "Algonquin principles and teachings will guide all aspects" of the project and it will lead to jobs and scholarships for Algonquin people, Stavinga said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tewin-parcel-details-planners-aoo-1.5901324

[J.OT13]

From the opinion article by Wendy Jocko and Lynn Clouthier:

"Tewin’s technical viability and planning merits are second to none."

That's a bit much. It's easily disproven. Claims like that are an assured way to lose credibility.

On the technical side, Kanata North's bedrock provides the best foundation for any community. Planning wise, any of the other parcels identified by City staff are far closer to existing infrastructure, including sewers, watermains and transit.

The concept of Tewin maybe be superior as the other communities are likely to be single family and townhouses, maybe a few apartment buildings, while Tewin's concept envisions a denser community that encourages transit and active transportation within its borders. Guarantees are needed for that concept, however, to prevent bait-and-switch.

[caveat.doctor]

Not surprised, and actually glad to see this growing controversy about who represents the Algonquin nations. On the one hand it makes sense for the City to limit its interactions with the one nation within municipal bounds (Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn, whose chief is on AOO).

On the other hand "reconciliation" really is supposed to be a whole of society movement so picking and choosing which nations we work with, when there are others who have claim to the overall land - especially on the basis of a single vote at a committee meeting, with no public notice that this was on the table, and with no supporting expert advice on reconciliation, or representation of all the first nation stakeholders - was a pretty uninformed move.

I'm not surprised that there isn't unanimous support amongst the Algonquin nations, in the same way how some nations have been supportive of pipeline and other development while others aren't. Like the pipelines, the ones on whose lands the development is actually happening should probably have the largest influence.

But it was pretty dodgy and uninformed for the Councillor to have introduced the motion to include Tewin, and exclude the objectively better options, in the name of "reconciliation" without bringing this issue up in the debate; for those who supported it to have not thought of it before supporting; and for the Mayor and others to have doubled down that this is "reconciliation" without broader consultation.

Anyway, learning for everyone, a good thing. Hopefully this gives an "out" for those councillors who see the real, objective problems with the Tewin land, but were politically worried about appearing to be "against reconciliation". Council already agreed on the climate emergency so that's also a good reason to withdraw support for Tewin.

At the very least, if this goes forward, the terms of the approval should include that developers will cover the full costs of anything the City is incurring "early" because these lands jumped the queue, e.g.:
- transit (they have indicated they will do this)
- construction of water/sewer lines, and maintenance, until these lands would have actually have been at the top of the list for expansion
- construction of the road network, and maintenance, until these lands would have actually have been at the top of the list for expansion
- (and of course all the vision for denser planning and 15 minute communities, etc - these have implications on the City's costs going forward)

If they agree to these cost deferrals, it would be reasonable to defer a portion of their property taxes - obviously some would still have to go to the City for regular services, but perhaps the infrastructure-related stuff would be reduced knowing that the developer is bearing the costs.

[OTownandDown]

This isn't the first time I've heard these types of arguments. I am not an expert on the topic, but it seems the Algonquins and the Algonquins need to first have their own reconciliation before we can First-Nations-Wash government decisions (and..attention-grabbing news reporting?)

I kind of understand how AOO spun out of 90's Ontario policy, but how can one group become so far removed from another politically?

Anyways, I suppose this is a good lesson for city councils on both sides of the river to learn.

[rocketphish]

We're 'real Algonquins' too, says group behind Tewin suburb plan
AOO defending itself against criticism from Quebec chiefs ahead of vote

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Feb 05, 2021 5:00 PM ET | Last Updated: 20 minutes ago

The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) say a plan to create an environmentally friendly suburb in south Ottawa will give their people a chance to be part of the city's society and economy — and is indeed, despite what critics have said, a step toward reconciliation.

Last week, city councillors on a joint committee voted nine to three allowing 445 of the approximately 1,620 hectares the AOO recently bought from the Ontario government to be used for the Tewin development.

The plan to build a community of 45,000 residents with partner Taggart Group on land that's currently outside the urban boundary would show "the Algonquins are not just people of the past contained to reserves," said Wendy Jocko, Chief of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation.

Her community is the one federally recognized First Nation within the AOO, a group negotiating a giant land claim.

"What I believe is reconciliation requires a fundamental change to colonial structures and relationships," Jocko told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

The plan would allow AOO to develop the land before city staff spent five more years studying the area to determine future costs and other construction factors.

Quebec chiefs who are not part of the AOO and who reject the organization's legitimacy, however, are furious they were not consulted. They have written letters to Mayor Jim Watson and council demanding input before a vote Feb. 10.

One Algonquin elder, Claudette Commanda, said she was insulted, describing the development plan not as a sign of reconciliation but simply a land deal.

"Take that reconciliation plan … tear it up and throw it away because you went back 150 years," Commanda said.

Jocko, however, said she appreciates both the city's and Watson's "commitment to active, meaningful reconciliation."

Her community has partnered with its Quebec counterparts in the past and supported their efforts, she said, on efforts such as protesting the future of the former American embassy on Wellington Street.

The Tewin development, however, "is our own private project," she said.

Although Tewin would be located far from existing services, it would include a 600-hectare natural area, and the AOO hopes it'd be environmentally beneficial as residents wouldn't have to commute downtown.

People would have jobs in the community, Jocko said, and homes would be affordable.

Jocko hoped someday Algonquin communities from both Ontario and Quebec might work jointly on their own development, and that, despite the tensions, "the hand of friendship is always out."

"These recent public statements by the Quebec Algonquin chiefs are contrary to the spirit and the momentum of the nation building that I personally believed we were engaged in," Jocko said.

It's not accurate for Quebec chiefs to claim that many who belong to the AOO are not "real Algonquins," said Lynn Clouthier, the group's negotiation representative for the Ottawa area.

Unlike Quebec communities, Algonquins in Ontario were never given land or a reserve from which to base themselves, Clouthier said.

Even so, she said, they didn't forget who they were.

The AOO has "rigourous criteria" for enrolment, said Clouthier, with members having to prove their family lines and show they've been living in the community with other Algonquins in traditional ways as much as they can.

"If a 'real Algonquin' is a status Indian, then the colonial body is the entity which is defining what an Indian is," Clouthier said. "And I think it's up to us to decide who we are."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/algonquins-of-ontario-response-tewin-reconciliation-1.5902819

[silvergate]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

This isn't the first time I've heard these types of arguments. I am not an expert on the topic, but it seems the Algonquins and the Algonquins need to first have their own reconciliation before we can First-Nations-Wash government decisions (and..attention-grabbing news reporting?)

I kind of understand how AOO spun out of 90's Ontario policy, but how can one group become so far removed from another politically?

Anyways, I suppose this is a good lesson for city councils on both sides of the river to learn.

Think we all just need to accept that there are multiple bands with multiple opinions, kind of like any group of people. No one group can claim to speak for all the others, so it's good that Ottawa is starting somewhere, but obviously reconciliation is going to take a lot more than opening up some land.

[rocketphish]

To reconcile and offend — Tewin and the tricky politics of reconciliation
It was possibly predictable that other communities in the wide Algonquin umbrella would not love the plan.

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 08, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read

Ottawa councillors wanted a model community — instead they’ve created a swamp.

When one of the city’s most respected native leaders is calling the effort “a slap in the face,” all the careful calculations at the planning table are suddenly looking like more White Man’s Folly.

And the momentum is surely lost when people are asking not just, “Who are the Algonquins of Ontario,” but, “Who are the Algonquin, period? What makes someone an Algonquin in 2021 and how does a housing development, however smartly designed, reconcile anything?”

At a basic level, the proposed community of Tewin is — in terms of city building — in the middle of nowhere, which is what you call the 445 hectares west of Carlsbad Springs. (We learn nothing, apparently, from our long and rich history of “putting things in the wrong place.” Hello, Greenbelt.)

Secondly, the siting seems to violate the fundamental planning principles the City of Ottawa has been imposing — and not always happily — on the rest of us in our latter-day romance with intensification.

In other words, it is somehow from the same playbook that a neighbourhood must accept an apartment building where a single house was, but a community of 45,000 can plunk itself anywhere it finds wide open spaces?

According to the City of Ottawa analysis, and my eyes nearly popped out, the community would need 20 kilometres of “transmission” pipe to hook up with the city’s existing system and 8.3 kilometres of sanitary sewage links. Almost 30 kilometres of giant pipes?

As for transit — and we already have lousy transit to Ottawa’s rural hubs — one small detail leaped out: 11 kilometres of new dedicated lanes to get OC Transpo buses quickly along highways (mainly the 417) to hubs in the current network.

Is this not the same council that has preached the evils of suburban sprawl? Are we not creating another car-bound community, just one even further out, along highways that may eventually need expanding? Climate crisis, what climate crisis?

Mayor Jim Watson likes things neat and tidy at the council table. Overnight, he’s getting his hair mussed up.

Things began smoothly that day in February when a couple of his allies proposed motions that ping-ponged the “extra” land the city was legally required to add to the urban boundary. When it was said and done, the chess match had taken parts of South March, packaged it with other pieces and, voilà, way over yonder, there was the needed space for Tewin.

Great idea, pronounced the mayor, about time the city was serious about reconciliation with our original peoples.

It was possibly predictable that other communities in the wide Algonquin umbrella would not love the plan, especially those communities not in Ontario and, it is worth noting, those that don’t recognize provincial boundaries as having much meaning in the first place.

But it was the reaction of Claudette Commanda that must have the mayor squirming.

The respected leader, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said to call the approval of Tewin an act of reconciliation between nations was an insult.

“This is why I’m disheartened, and my spirit is very heavy,” she told Postmedia’s Jon Willing. “I’m not impressed at all, and I’m trying to contain my emotions as calmly as I can.”

Commanda is a well-known figure at city hall and it was only days ago that she blessed the proceedings of elected officials before the first council meeting of 2021. Ouchies.

If only to add to the awkwardness, the city is proposing to rename a street and the old Prince of Wales bridge after Claudette’s grandfather, Chief William Commanda. Plaques on the right, slaps on the left — it was that kind of week for His Worship.

So now what?

One supposes the mayor has two options. Argue from the high ground, ignore the clamour from outside the city’s borders and bulldoze the plan through by rallying councillors who — let’s be honest — will never have to deal with the far-away consequences of a satellite community.

Or call a pause in proceedings in order to build a better consensus among natives and non-natives. But that, too, is fraught with problems, in particular a long, fruitless search for unanimity.

Tewin means home, we are told. It looks as though we’re nowhere near there yet.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email [email protected]
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...e-same-time-the-tricky-politics-of-tewin

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

To reconcile and offend — Tewin and the tricky politics of reconciliation
It was possibly predictable that other communities in the wide Algonquin umbrella would not love the plan.

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 08, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read

Ottawa councillors wanted a model community — instead they’ve created a swamp.

When one of the city’s most respected native leaders is calling the effort “a slap in the face,” all the careful calculations at the planning table are suddenly looking like more White Man’s Folly.

And the momentum is surely lost when people are asking not just, “Who are the Algonquins of Ontario,” but, “Who are the Algonquin, period? What makes someone an Algonquin in 2021 and how does a housing development, however smartly designed, reconcile anything?”

At a basic level, the proposed community of Tewin is — in terms of city building — in the middle of nowhere, which is what you call the 445 hectares west of Carlsbad Springs. (We learn nothing, apparently, from our long and rich history of “putting things in the wrong place.” Hello, Greenbelt.)

Secondly, the siting seems to violate the fundamental planning principles the City of Ottawa has been imposing — and not always happily — on the rest of us in our latter-day romance with intensification.

In other words, it is somehow from the same playbook that a neighbourhood must accept an apartment building where a single house was, but a community of 45,000 can plunk itself anywhere it finds wide open spaces?

According to the City of Ottawa analysis, and my eyes nearly popped out, the community would need 20 kilometres of “transmission” pipe to hook up with the city’s existing system and 8.3 kilometres of sanitary sewage links. Almost 30 kilometres of giant pipes?

As for transit — and we already have lousy transit to Ottawa’s rural hubs — one small detail leaped out: 11 kilometres of new dedicated lanes to get OC Transpo buses quickly along highways (mainly the 417) to hubs in the current network.

Is this not the same council that has preached the evils of suburban sprawl? Are we not creating another car-bound community, just one even further out, along highways that may eventually need expanding? Climate crisis, what climate crisis?

Mayor Jim Watson likes things neat and tidy at the council table. Overnight, he’s getting his hair mussed up.

Things began smoothly that day in February when a couple of his allies proposed motions that ping-ponged the “extra” land the city was legally required to add to the urban boundary. When it was said and done, the chess match had taken parts of South March, packaged it with other pieces and, voilà, way over yonder, there was the needed space for Tewin.

Great idea, pronounced the mayor, about time the city was serious about reconciliation with our original peoples.

It was possibly predictable that other communities in the wide Algonquin umbrella would not love the plan, especially those communities not in Ontario and, it is worth noting, those that don’t recognize provincial boundaries as having much meaning in the first place.

But it was the reaction of Claudette Commanda that must have the mayor squirming.

The respected leader, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said to call the approval of Tewin an act of reconciliation between nations was an insult.

“This is why I’m disheartened, and my spirit is very heavy,” she told Postmedia’s Jon Willing. “I’m not impressed at all, and I’m trying to contain my emotions as calmly as I can.”

Commanda is a well-known figure at city hall and it was only days ago that she blessed the proceedings of elected officials before the first council meeting of 2021. Ouchies.

If only to add to the awkwardness, the city is proposing to rename a street and the old Prince of Wales bridge after Claudette’s grandfather, Chief William Commanda. Plaques on the right, slaps on the left — it was that kind of week for His Worship.

So now what?

One supposes the mayor has two options. Argue from the high ground, ignore the clamour from outside the city’s borders and bulldoze the plan through by rallying councillors who — let’s be honest — will never have to deal with the far-away consequences of a satellite community.

Or call a pause in proceedings in order to build a better consensus among natives and non-natives. But that, too, is fraught with problems, in particular a long, fruitless search for unanimity.

Tewin means home, we are told. It looks as though we’re nowhere near there yet.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email [email protected]
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...e-same-time-the-tricky-politics-of-tewin

A great summary. I'm sure there are all sorts of emails/texts etc going back and forth between Councillors and the Mayor to try and put lipstick on this pig.

[rocketphish]

Reconciliation aside, Algonquins of Ontario believe 'Tewin' deserves credit as a planning vision

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 09, 2021 • 8 minutes ago • 4 minute read

The Algonquins of Ontario’s vision for an isolated community of up to 45,000 people in rural south Ottawa is above all a planning decision. It might be the only thing people on each side of the controversy agree on.

As a scheduled vote on the future of the project gets closer, council will likely hear more about why the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) and its development partner, Taggart Investments, believe their new Tewin suburb checks the city’s boxes for inclusion in an expanded urban boundary.

The vote on Wednesday will approve the lands that will come inside the urban boundary in an updated official plan for the City of Ottawa.

The AOO has successfully pitched the project to councillors on two planing-focused committees as something that could go a long way toward Indigenous reconciliation. Algonquin communities not part of AOO are incensed by the notion that allowing the land for development would be an act of reconciling with Algonquins.

The reconciliation question has overshadowed the central question: is the Tewin land suitable for urban expansion as a satellite community?

The city has laid out why the Tewin site was scored “Category 3,” and consequently, far down the line for inclusion in the urban boundary. Residential development near the city limits, separated from established suburbs, would be the kind of urban sprawl usually frowned upon.

However, a recommendation from the planning committee and agriculture and rural affairs committee would have the effect of catapulting Tewin to a Category 1 site and considering it development eligible as part of an updated official plan.

The planning consultants for AOO and Taggart aren’t convinced that the city gave the Tewin site a fair analysis in deciding where to expand the urban boundary and they don’t think the scoring system works well for establishing new, big communities. In fact, they think the Tewin project would almost perfectly stack up against the city’s “five big moves” established as goals in the next official plan.

“There is nothing like what is being proposed here,” according to Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, a partner with Urban Strategies who’s on the Tewin project team.

AOO/Taggart’s planning rationale for the “low-carbon” project leans heavily on the community being a highly eco-friendly suburb, one that lives up to the “One Planet Living” philosophy, potentially rivalling the Zibi development in central Ottawa-Gatineau as the region’s most sustainable community.

For council, an argument emerges that if you’re going to expand the urban boundary, as council already agreed to do in May 2020, why not do it in a way that aligns with the city’s climate change objectives, one of which calls for the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

It’s not the first time that the land has been considered for a new community.

The land was eyed for an Ottawa suburb about 50 years ago based on a provincial vision for a satellite city, but the idea faded when planners became spooked about the difficult clay ground conditions and the reality that the community would be far from services.

AOO scooped up the land in recent years as provincial Crown agency Infrastructure Ontario was looking to unload the property. It was a market-price sale, outside of an ongoing government land-claim process, and AOO brought Taggart on as its development partner.

The AOO/Taggart project team has addressed the concern about ground conditions by having the development potential confirmed by engineers.

On the question of wastewater services, the project team points to an east-end sewage tunnel that was installed decades ago, saying the infrastructure is highly underused and was always intended to support a large development like Tewin.

The long-term cost of operations for Ottawa’s property taxpayers is still murky, even with AOO/Taggart committing to pay for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure being extended to the site, along with using revenue from an area-specific development charge for OC Transpo bus service to Tewin.

Meanwhile, five rural community associations — Greely, Manotick Village, Metcalfe, Osgoode Village and Richmond Village — wrote to council on Monday asking for further review by city staff on Tewin because they’re concerned about traffic impacts.

AOO and Taggart are eager to get started on designing the community. They believe the first phase of Tewin could happen within five years if all the short-term approvals fall into place.

While it’s a land-planning decision first, the reconciliation question still hangs heavy over council as politicians see more irritation from non-AOO Algonquin communities.

On Monday, the Algonquin Nation Secretariat, which represents the Timiskaming, Wolf Lake and Barriere Lake Algonquin communities, voiced opposition to the city’s intention to approve Tewin in the name of reconciliation, echoing the strong objection by the Quebec-based communities of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council.

Lynn Clouthier, the AOO negotiation representative for Ottawa, said it’s “very, very disappointing” to see other Algonquin communities criticize the Tewin project.

“It’s just a distraction,” Clouthier said. “It’s taking attention away from how important this project is.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...win-deserves-credit-as-a-planning-vision