The City Council’s decision a year ago to create an entirely new suburb in the city’s rural southeast was controversial for many reasons, including that the land was not on any existing transit and would be expensive for the city to service with roads, pipes and other infrastructure. City staff had rated the Tewin lands poorly and recommended that the land on the west end be included in the city boundary. But some councilors swapped the two pieces of land in one move. Bob Chiarelli, shown here, just after filing his candidacy to run for mayor in the 2022 municipal election, wants the province to remove the Tewin lands from the Official Plan. (Kate Porter/CBC) Chiarelli – who was minister of municipal affairs and housing among other political titles a decade ago – said including the lands made no sense, especially as any housing there would not be built for many years. “Understanding that residential development is a priority for your government, expanding Ottawa’s city limits to include the underserved so-called ‘Tewin Lands’ instead of the much better-served West Carleton/Kanata North property as recommended by city staff , will be an unreasonable delay in development,” Chiareli wrote to Secretary Steve Clark. Chiarelli pointed out that the province had questions about the inclusion of the lands at the time.
The province has yet to approve the official plan
The city has spent years working on a new official plan that provides guidelines for how the city will grow, and it was almost unanimously approved last October, but the province has yet to approve it. Asked if it’s wise for a minister to overturn a council decision like the official plan, Chiarelli said it happens all the time. “Often they approve one part of a plan and they don’t approve another part of the plan,” Chiarelli told the CBC. “I know how the dynamics work. It’s not unusual for the Department of Housing or Municipal Affairs to say we approve this, but we don’t approve that, you have to go back because that doesn’t comply.” In an email, mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney said they support Chiarelli’s request, which isn’t surprising since the downtown councilor fought to include the lands last year. But Mark Sutcliffe said he supported the official plan as it stands, adding that all new areas, including Tewin, should be developed as full communities. He also said that unlike his opponents. “He’s not interested in playing politics or reversing council decisions.”
