A Barrhaven that works

Better mass transit

Barrhaven must be better connected

Residents care about the complete journey: travel time, reliability, frequency, transfers, evening and weekend service. A route that technically exists but produces an impractical commute is not good enough. People who rely on transit should not feel isolated because they chose to live in Barrhaven.

• Plan around actual travel time from our neighbourhoods to major destinations, not route maps.
• Press for better and more reliable connections between Ward 3 and Ottawa's rapid-transit network.
• Advocate for practical frequency, meaning service when residents need it, not when it is convenient to schedule.
• Examine direct connections where ridership and demand justify them, and fix transfer coordination that turns a reasonable commute into an unreasonable one.
• Consider transit in development decisions, so new neighbourhoods are not designed first with transportation considered years later.
• Improve access to downtown Ottawa, Tunney's Pasture, Gatineau, colleges, universities and hospitals.

Keep property taxes under control

Manage the money City Hall already collects

My goal is to fight to keep property tax increases as close to zero as realistically possible. That won't happen by simply cutting services people rely on. It starts with doing a much better job managing the money City Hall already collects.

• Go after waste rather than reaching first for the services residents depend on.
• Stop accepting massive project overruns as normal.
• Make sure work is done properly the first time.
• Demand real accountability when budgets or timelines get blown.
• Show residents that the money already collected is being spent responsibly before asking families, seniors and homeowners for more.

Weekly summer garbage pickup

A basic City service treated like one

From May 1 to October 1, I support returning to weekly garbage collection. During the hottest months of the year, leaving household garbage sitting for two weeks can mean overflowing bins, terrible smells, maggots and more problems with rodents and other pests. Residents should not have to store rotting garbage around their homes during an Ottawa summer.

• Return to weekly garbage collection from May 1 to October 1.
• Find the funding within the existing budget by cutting waste, controlling project overruns and making better spending choices.
• Treat collection as the basic City service it is, rather than an easy place to find savings.

Responsible development

Build communities, not just houses

Barrhaven will continue to grow. The question is not whether growth happens, but how we manage it. I am not opposed to development. I am opposed to development that moves ahead without adequately considering the infrastructure and services required to support it.

• Apply an infrastructure readiness approach: can the roads and intersections handle it, how will residents connect to the rest of Ottawa, and when will the required infrastructure actually be built?
• Link growth more closely with infrastructure, so requirements are considered earlier and more clearly in the development process.
• Consider cumulative development. Ten projects in the same area produce a very different result than one.
• Protect quality of life with green space, recreation, safe streets, transportation options and community gathering spaces.

Road construction management

Coordinate projects before creating gridlock

Construction is necessary. Roads need repairs and infrastructure needs replacement. But necessary construction does not excuse unnecessary traffic chaos. Ward 3 has a limited number of practical corridors, and the problem is usually not one project. It is several overlapping without regard for the whole network.

• Create a Ward 3 construction coordination process covering City road work, utilities, development, transit and other government projects together.
• Review traffic impacts before overlapping closures, accounting for rush hour, school traffic, transit, emergency access, pedestrians and cyclists.
• Improve communication: which roads are affected, why, when work begins, estimated completion and alternative routes.
• Create a single Ward 3 construction information resource instead of scattering it across City webpages.

Building community

Arts, sports, culture, events and neighbourhood pride

There is more to municipal government than solving problems. I want Barrhaven West to be a place where people wake up on a Saturday morning and have things they can do right here, where children participate, neighbours meet, local artists perform and residents have fun.

• Develop a stronger community events calendar: concerts, tournaments, cultural celebrations, seasonal festivals, markets and family activities.
• Encourage community partnerships so events are supported by businesses, sponsors, associations and volunteers rather than paid for entirely by the City.
• Reduce barriers to community-led events by helping organizations navigate City processes.
• Showcase local talent: musicians, artists, performers, athletes and youth organizations.
• Give young people leadership opportunities to help create events, not just attend them.

Investing in our youth

Sports, recreation, arts, mentorship and opportunity

Municipal politics pays attention to adults because adults vote. That does not make young people's interests less important. Not every child is going to play football. Some will find themselves on a stage, playing music, or discovering art. Our job is to create as many doors as possible.

• Establish a Ward 3 Youth Advisory Council so young people can tell their councillor directly what matters to them.
• Create a Ward 3 Youth Opportunities Directory, one place for families to find sports, arts, camps, clubs, recreation and mentoring.
• Build a Youth, Sports, Recreation and Arts Roundtable to identify gaps with the organizations already doing the work.
• Reduce barriers to participation around registration, equipment, transportation and camps for families facing financial pressure.
• Make better use of community facilities such as gymnasiums, fields, auditoriums and arts spaces, through cooperation between the City, schools and organizations.
• Support the volunteer coaches and organizers who build these programs, and keep investing in seniors' recreation and programs that connect generations.

Food security

No child should have to learn, grow or play hungry

Food insecurity exists in our community, including among families with children in our local schools. A child who arrives at school hungry begins the day at a disadvantage. It should be treated as a year-round community priority, not a seasonal one.

• Create a Ward 3 Food Security Partnership bringing schools, the Barrhaven Food Cupboard, businesses and sports organizations to the same table.
• Work with schools and boards to find where breakfast, lunch and snack programs are needed and where existing programs need support.
• Build partnerships with local businesses, service clubs, food retailers and volunteers for donations, fundraising and sponsorship.
• Use the councillor's office as a connector between organizations that need help and residents who want to give it.
• Promote year-round food drives tied to schools, tournaments and local celebrations, not just Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Community safety

Prevent crime, use police resources better, and rebuild trust

Community safety is about more than writing tickets or adding more enforcement. We need to use the resources we already have more intelligently, focus enforcement where the real problems are, and invest in preventing crime before it starts.

• Support speed cameras, where legally permitted, at locations with a demonstrated problem with excessive speeding, street racing or dangerous driving, rather than everywhere simply because they generate revenue. The purpose should be safety, not fundraising.
• Push for enforcement policies focused on drivers travelling significantly above the posted limit and on locations with a documented safety problem. Use technology to stop dangerous driving, not to nickel-and-dime ordinary residents.
• Examine how Ottawa Police resources are actually being used. Officers can spend hours at hospitals supervising individuals brought in during mental-health or substance-use crises, and during that time they are unavailable for patrols, investigations, traffic enforcement and community policing.
• Press the City, Ottawa Police, hospitals, paramedics and mental-health professionals to develop better transfer and supervision protocols, so trained health-care professionals can take responsibility as soon as it is safe and appropriate. An officer who returns to the community hours earlier is more police presence on our streets without necessarily hiring another officer.
• Support neighbourhood spaces and programs where teenagers can spend Friday and Saturday evenings playing basketball, making music, working on art, participating in recreation or simply having somewhere positive to be.
• Create opportunities for young people and police officers to meet each other outside of enforcement situations, with officers coaching a game, helping with a community program or teaching a skill, through volunteering, community-policing assignments or paid-duty programs where appropriate. A young person who knows an officer as a coach sees that officer differently the next time they meet on the street.