WARD 17 – Capital

1. City commitment to buy renewable energy. Several other Ontario municipalities are
powering their city halls and other buildings with certified low-impact renewable energy. The
City of Calgary is set to have all of its buildings and operations running on green power by 2012.

If elected, will you support the city of Ottawa buying significantly more renewable energy for
the city’s own operations (building heating and cooling, vehicle operations), with a target for
moving to powering all city buildings and vehicles with renewable energy over a reasonable
time frame? (yes/no/unsure with space to explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
I would explore the trade-offs between installing renewables
within the city (notably SDHW, PV, geothermal) and buying it
from other local suppliers, including co-ops, businesses and
Bullfrog Power).
Ron Le Blanc Yes.
Over the long run we need to save monies. We MUST start
thinking of our environment, and the social cost not thinking of
our surroundings. Our future depends on our environment and
how we take care of it.
Bob Brocklebank Yes.
While I would support the idea of switching the City's energy
consumption to renewable resources, the question is how
rapidly this can be done.
Mano Hadavand Yes.
I support conversion to renewable energy as long as it does not
bankrupt the City.
Domenic Santaguida Unsure.
More investigation needs to be done about contracts and costs.
Ever expanding city services on limited tax dollars have already

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put many of our core programs in peril. The idea of switching
over to renewable energy sources and having more eco-friendly
city services is certainly positive and deserves a place on the list,
however it needs to be ascertained whether a total switch-over
in the near future is viable given familiar budgetary constraints.

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2. Investing Hydro Ottawa profits in renewable energy production. Hydro Ottawa, which is
owned by the City of Ottawa, currently earns roughly $10-15 million dollars in profits every
year. These are remitted to the city. The generating stations owned by its subsidiary
company Energy Ottawa Inc. produce certified low-impact, renewable energy, but this only
covers 2% of Ottawa’s total energy consumption.

If elected, will you support the reinvestment of Hydro Ottawa’s profits to materially increase
the production of clean, renewable energy by Energy Ottawa Inc.? (yes/no/unsure with space
to explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Ron Le Blanc Unsure.
Don't quite understand the question.
Bob Brocklebank Yes.
I would support the idea of using retained earnings for
investment in renewable energy but not at the expense of
investment in conservation initiatives.
Mano Hadavand Unsure.
Before reinvesting Ottawa energy*s profits back into
renewable energy, we must find a replacement source of
income for the City.
Domenic Santaguida Unsure.
Once again, there are serious issues pertaining to city transit,
the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park and other city services.
An overall appraisal of how the money is being spent at
present needs to be undertaken. Thereafter, it can be
assessed how city resources might be better distributed and
what kind of time-line can be drafted for such issues.

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3. Investing Hydro Ottawa profits in energy savings for low-income residents. If elected, will
you support the reinvestment of part of Hydro Ottawa’s profits to fund programs to help low-
income Ottawans’ conserve energy? Are you proposing any specific initiatives to achieve this
goal? (yes/no/unsure and explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
This is a major plank on my platform. Reducing "energy
poverty" by actually reducing energy demand/costs through
energy audits, retrofits and subsidized bulk purchases of more
efficient equipment and appliances. This beats handing out
cheques to low-income residents, only to have that money
leak out through the same inefficient homes and appliances
that are currently there.

Ron Le Blanc Unsure.

Everyone needs to conserve not just the low income
residents.

Bob Brocklebank Yes.

I think that there are many low-income residents who cannot
afford the capital outlay to improve their consumption of
energy. Whether support for such improvements should be on
a grant or a loan basis should be carefully considered.

Mano Hadavand Unsure.

Before reinvesting Hydro Ottawa*s profits back into aid for
low income families, we must find a replacement source of
income for the City.

Domenic Santaguida Unsure.

It certainly sounds promising, but it is not part of my campaign
platform at present. I am campaigning on a more fundamental
reassessment of the existing usage of city resources rather
than such particular programs and their possibility with
respect to already tightly strained city resources.

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4. Urban sprawl and the Greenbelt.

Ottawa has world class park space, unique biodiversity and more farmland than most of
Canada’s major cities combined. However, urban sprawl is also an ongoing challenge which
results in less green space, loss of agricultural land, and more dependency on cars.

If elected, what would you do to ensure that the greenbelt is preserved as a national treasure
and expanded to protect wildlife corridors, wetlands, and biodiversity?

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Stick to the current greenspace boundaries and seek
opportunities to "buy back" more of it from landowners, and
to restore some wetlands and the most fragile zones.

Ron Le Blanc Of course, this should be a given!

Bob Brocklebank I believe further development in the greenbelt should be

limited, but I recognize that there are needs for residents to
cross the greenbelt. There are also requirements to preserve
wildlife corridors in the urban area.

Mano Hadavand We must protect the green belt through strong lobbying of
Federal Government

Domenic Santaguida I would contest any attempts to develop or redefine greenbelt

boundaries. There is plenty of space for development
elsewhere and I respect the important place of the Greenbelt
in Ottawa's past and future.

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5. Would you support a freeze of the urban boundary during your time in office?
(yes/no/unsure and explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Ron Le Blanc Yes.
Intensification is needed, therefore spending less monies in
infrastructure.

Bob Brocklebank Yes.

I have been actively involved in the movement to "hold the
line" which is intended to resist the pressure to expand the
urban area of the city.

Mano Hadavand Unsure.

I need more information on this topic, before I make a
commitment.

Domenic Santaguida Yes.

There is plenty to be done within the urban space already
defined. Moving up the urban boundary would mean
expanding city services in ways that are too expensive for our
present budgetary constraints. We need to fix existing issues
in our transit system and city services before expanding their
area of operation.

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6. Loans to property owners for investments in green energy and energy efficiency. The City of
Ottawa has studied the possibility of helping finance material energy efficiency improvements
and renewable energy upgrades by allowing property owners to choose to pay for these
through a loan that is incorporated into their individual property tax bill and paid off over the
long-term. That way, if the home is sold, the next owner continues to benefit from the
investment and to pay it off through their individual property taxes. This measure would be
structured to be very low risk to the city and not to add to the burden on taxpayers generally.

If elected will you support Ottawa introducing this incentive during your term? (yes/no/unsure
with space to explain your answer)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
This is an excellent idea that is in practice in such places as
Berkeley, CA. It helps overcome the obstacle of people feeling
like it's not worth making such an investment because they may
not stay at that location long enough to realize the benefits.

Ron Le Blanc Unsure.

It all depends. Not at an increase to property taxes.

Bob Brocklebank Yes.

I think that this is a good initiative but it should start as a pilot
project. I would be nervous about implementing such a loan
project for the word go on a city-wide basis. I doubt that the
City has much experience with running such a program so
starting with a defined area of the city would be the best way to
launch such a program.

Mano Hadavand No.

I do not believe that this is the City’s responsibility.

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Domenic Santaguida Yes.
So long as the loan amounts are limited and bear some kind of
return. We should be talking about a 5-10 year time horizon; a
reasonable time space for an expectation of investment return.
All in all, it certainly sounds promising and universally beneficial.

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7. Incentives for building developers to build to higher environmental standards. If elected,
will you support the city offering incentives including reduced permit fees and development
charges and a fast-track approvals process for building projects that meet objective
environmental criteria? (Criteria include high energy efficiency rating, green building
certification, and sustainable features such as green roofs or on-site renewable energy
generation.) (yes/no/unsure with space to explain).

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Incentives are just one approach (but a costly one). I would
place greater emphasis on performance requirements for all
new buildings, and place the onus on the developer/builder to
meet and exceed them as part of the competitive process of
winning the contract. This of course presupposes competitive
development practices - but that is a whole other issue, isn't it!
:-)

Ron Le Blanc Yes.

Indeed!

Bob Brocklebank Unsure.

Although I think the city has a role in encouraging green building
initiatives, I would like to think that such a building would sell
itself to buyers or tenants because of the inherent benefits of
such a building. I do think we need to look carefully at barriers
which may be discouraging green building projects but am not
convinced that reduced permit fees or development charges
would be appropriate.

Mano Hadavand Unsure.

Domenic Santaguida
Unsure.
Insofar as those incentives are efficient, reasonable and do not
come at considerable expense to the city, absolutely. The trick is
to ensure that the benefit runs both ways - that it is done in a
way that businesses (building contractors) will benefit from
complying over the long term too. Almost invariably, with
respect to energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy

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generation, businesses do benefit and save over the long run -
sometimes they just need the extra push to make sure they see
it that way.

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8. Clean Water. Ottawa has many rivers and streams which are a key attraction. The City of
Ottawa has a water strategy that includes: enhancing water use efficiency (initially targeting
high-volume users); protecting and improving the health of the Ottawa River by addressing the
problem of combined sewer outflows; a rural clean water initiative that helps landowners
upgrade wells and septic systems and reduce nutrient run-off; and, a winter salt management
program, among others.

What do you believe the priorities of the next Ottawa city council should be to improve water
quality in Ottawa? (space to explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Absolutely. Let's aim to "soften" the current hard surfaces,
increase water infiltration and retention, improve natural
filtration, promote green roofs and rain barrels/cisterns. I could
go on and on, but I won't!

Ron Le Blanc Ottawa’s river is a heritage site and needs to be protected

more. Ottawa needs to stop breaking environmental regulation
provincially.

Bob Brocklebank The problem of sanitary sewer overflows into the Ottawa River
is being addressed, but my understanding is that there
continues to be issues about the release of pollutants from the
Pickard processing plant. I was told that Pickard is among the
top polluters in the province.

Mano Hadavand Of course. This is a common sense priorities.

Domenic Santaguida Sewage issues are a must. The Ottawa River should not continue
to suffer as it has because of insufficiencies in our sewer
infrastructure. We need to stop waste from spilling into the
Ottawa River every time here is a flood or storm.

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9. A halt to the steady growth of the city's road network. Adding to the city’s road network
accommodates and encourages ever-increasing car traffic, and undercuts efforts to promote a
viable, enhanced, public transit network.

If elected, will you support spending more on improvements to public transportation, cycling
and pedestrian infrastructure, and high occupancy lanes and less on new roads and road
widening? Would you support a five year moratorium on the building of new roads and the
widening existing ones? (yes/no/unsure and explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Again, that's a key piece of my platform. Way too much money
goes to new roads, road repairs and plowing. I support the
principle of a moratorium. Some minor flexibility may be
required, but could be compensated by actually unpaving some
lanes, parking lots and other surfaces.

Ron Le Blanc Yes.

Absolutely!
Bob Brocklebank Yes.
The road budget should be directed to maintaining the roads we
have rather than building new roads. As for road widening, I
believe that the more capacity you install, the more vehicles you
attract to use the road. Our emphasis needs to be placed on
alternatives to the private automobile - walking, cycling and
transit. Such a shift in emphasis is not easy with the land-use
patterns established in Ottawa.
Mano Hadavand No.
We must face the realities of the situation. Everything that
keeps the city in existence requires a modern transportation
network.
Domenic Santaguida Yes.
I advocate a mixed plan for our city's transportation problems.
This plan includes further development of bicycle paths - there
are a lot of Ottawans who would like to be biking from place to
place but aren't able to do so as much as they would like
presently - a restructuring of our popular but inefficiently
configured OC Transpo system - and a light rail track once it is

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discerned what the best implementation plan for that track is.
Carpooling incentives could also benefit our transportation
issues and reduce our emissions.

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10. Developing a fair user fee for roads. Various cities have pursued these types of initiatives.
Toronto, for instance, has adopted a vehicle tax. London, England has successfully implemented
a congestion charge in the city centre. Other options include a tax on parking lots or road tolls
with the money raised to be reinvested in public transit.

If elected, will you support city initiatives so that the maintenance of roads, air quality
initiatives, and other externalized costs created by car use are partly covered by the people who
use roads most intensively? What measures should be the priority? (yes/no/unsure with space
to explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
This is a politically hot potato, but it must be broached. Let's
explore ways of incorporating fair/real cost pricing for use of
roads, and seek the most effective and politically acceptable
way to make it happen. It's all part of the required shift toward
greater resilience (ie. reduced dependence on finite fuel
sources) for the city in the future.

Ron Le Blanc Yes.

Toll booths everywhere!

Bob Brocklebank Yes.

I support the idea of road tolls. Certainly we should consider
paying for a new interprovincial bridge through toll collection,
as we should if any horror project such as a new ring road or
Alta Vista expressway is realized. Taxing parking should be a
standard practice. Not only should the reduced tax rate for
parking be eliminated, additional powers to tax parking should
be sought through amendment of the City of Ottawa Act.

Mano Hadavand Unsure.

This should be covered through education, much in the same
way that *drinking and driving* has been tackled.

Domenic Santaguida Unsure.

There may be promise there, but at present - particularly with

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respect to bylaw enforcement - I think the city is already
benefiting more than it should from tickets, extra charges and
penalty fees. We can do better with our resources than ensuring
bylaw enforcement vehicles circle blocks all day. There are
environmental concerns there too.

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11. Promoting Local and Organic Food Production. Do you favour increased support to Ottawa
farms and sustainable local agriculture initiatives to increase local, low-impact production of
organic food? What action should the city of Ottawa take? (yes/no/unsure and explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Favourable terms for providing space for farmers markets, more
land made available for urban allotment gardens, local food
procurement practices for city events and vendors within city
buildings...

Ron Le Blanc Yes.

Permanent LOCAL (100 km) farmers market

Bob Brocklebank Yes.

I favour the continuation of city support for farmers' markets
and policies to encourage the proportion of local produce sold
in the city markets. However the real issue is the centralized
purchasing and distribution by major food retailers.

Mano Hadavand No.

This is not a civic responsibility.

Domenic Santaguida Yes.

Our city ought to be looking after its farms. Perhaps some
subsidies are in order.

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12. Recycling. 70% of Ottawa’s waste is produced by the industrial, commercial, and
institutional sectors, yet recycling rates in these sectors are lower than 20%.

If elected, what would you do to ensure institutions (including schools, hospitals) and businesses
do their fair share to reduce the amount of waste they produce and increase the amount of
waste that gets recycled? (explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko A combination of education, new standards and (in
collaboration with other levels of government), gradually rising
mandatory targets. Extended producer responsibility (aka
product-takeback) must become a key approach, but we'll have
to rebound from the bungled introduction of the "Eco-Tax" in
Ontario.

Ron Le Blanc Not enough space here to answer.

Bob Brocklebank This is a question in which the City claims that ICI waste is the
province's responsibility and that nothing can be

Mano Hadavand Education and appropriate bylaws

Domenic Santaguida Some sort of incentive plan or a 5-year improvement strategy.

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13. Environmental Commissioner. This position should report directly to Council, monitor and
report publically (at least annually) on the city’s progress in meeting its environmental
objectives, and have appropriate funding and investigate specific matters as requested.

If elected, would you support the appointment of a truly independent Environmental

Commissioner during your term? (yes/no/unsure and explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko Yes.
Ron Le Blanc No.
How is gonna pay for that position?
Bob Brocklebank Yes.
I am concerned about measurement of our environment and
am not convinced that we really know where we are making
progress. It is time to start thinking of the environment in terms
of "good news stories" as much as a "guilt trip". Having an
official responsible for broad monitoring of the city environment
would allow us to effect such a change.
Mano Hadavand Unsure.
Increasing management overhead seldom works.
Domenic Santaguida Unsure
I would need more information before endorsing such a
commissioner because the city council is already all too
frequently crippled by indecision, back-tracking and general
failure to proceed as planned on approved policies and
initiatives. I like the idea, however I think it needs to be
discussed whether it is in the budget and I think there are more
fundamental problems that need to be sorted out first.

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14. Other environmental issues that are a priority for you. Please describe other
environmental initiatives (in your ward and city-wide) that you will make a priority, if elected?
a) In your ward? (space to explain)
b) City-wide? (space to explain)

Candidate Response
David Chernushenko a) In your ward? - cycling safety improvements and better
infrastructure; a real, workable transit plan to service
Lansdowne Park
b) City-wide? - explore waste-to-energy options, combined heat
and power and district heating and energy plans; 1000 Solar
Rooftops campaign, which I helped to launch.

Ron Le Blanc a) In your ward? – Gatineau

b) City-wide? – Gatineau

Bob Brocklebank a) In your ward? - I think the issue of noise is an environmental

issue which we overlook too often. For Capital Ward the city's
policies regarding waste receptacles in public places (along Bank
Street for example) needs to be re-examined.
b) City-wide? - Although I do not have much expertise, I wonder
about the issue of agricultural chemical runoff since we have
such a significant rural area in Ottawa.

Mano Hadavand a) In your ward? - More community involvement in all

environmental issues
b) City-wide? - More community involvement in all
environmental issues.

Domenic Santaguida a) In your ward? - Sustainable, green-space preserving

redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.
b) City-wide? - Reconfiguration of our public transit system -
more buses in the right places and less in the wrong ones -
incentives to reduce car traffic, particularly in already congested
downtown areas - and forward momentum on a light rail
program once it is better ascertained what form the program
should take.

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Candidates who refused to respond:
Eugene Haslam
Isabel Metcalfe

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