Menard Calls For Sustainable Lansdowne

As important public and Ottawa City Hall meetings approach on Lansdowne and that controversy reappears, this is Capital Councillor Shawn Menard’s take on that project:

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Currently, we are treading water on Lansdowne by incurring and servicing debt, while not receiving any promised waterfall revenues ourselves in return. What if, instead of worrying about how to make Lansdowne sustainable from a for-profit perspective, we considered what could make it sustainable from a not-for-profit one?

That is a question that staff should examine in their risk analysis of the project. Promises now that the P3 waterfall will finally see revenues trickle down to the city (only after incurring another half billion dollars of public debt) are not reassuring. This was the promise the first time around, and we have yet to see a dollar. Although I am happy to see us increasing the rent that we charge for use of our land from $1 to $500,000, the debt servicing plan is nevertheless risky, and the projected waterfall distributions to pay down that debt are no guarantee.

As Lansdowne 2.0 currently stands we are ultimately faced with a proposal to do more of the same, without a proper alternative to do something better.

I will do my best to make collaborative improvements to this plan and report as I have been doing all along, but unless we see more meaningful changes, I cannot support it in its current form.

This newsletter excerpt is courtesy of the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours

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