Bungalow Jeff Strikes Again

Jeff “Bungalow” Leiper strikes again.

The Kitchissippi councillor and planning committee chairman is pushing at council for a bylaw that would enable the city to put refugee centres anywhere it wants “by right.” That, translated into English, means by autocratic edict that would circumvent any democratic protests against it. Thus his disgusting taunt: “Change is coming to the bungalow belt.” Change should come for Jeff Leiper.

And that’s because, in Canada’s most-educated major city, the city knows best and we are in a refugee “crisis” at present. Where exactly is the refugee crisis in Canada right now? Well, a few refugees crossed the U.S. border recently into Manitoba though it’s doubtful they will show in the nation’s capital.

That said, our city government certainly knows a crisis when it sees one. It created Ottawa’s transportation crisis, central-library-cost overrun crisis, the budget crisis and the Lansdowne fiscal-sinkhole crisis.

Meanwhile, the United States is shipping illegal immigrants back to their country of origin. Doubtful many of these people are Canadian unless U.S. President Donald Trump revokes green cards and citizenships which might drive comedians Martin Short and Jim Carrey back onto Canadian television. Perhaps we could erect a Welcome Centre near the downtown CBC building for the comedians.

Leiper doesn’t suffer from his own initiatives. Your agent knows roughly where Leiper lives but The Bulldog doesn’t publish addresses and phone numbers on this esteemed website so as to limit the amount of harassment these people get. But whether Leiper lives in an old house, walk-up, sprung structure or bungalow, we’re guessing that it is unlikely that a refugee centre, a four-unit apartment or a 40-storey condo will be built next door. Thus he misses the indescribable joy of having one of these beside his residence which would decimate your house value and upcoming retirement.

Ottawa has no end of crises … environment crisis, homeless crisis, a self-created transportation crisis, it goes on … and council does very little to solve them beyond speaking platitudes. It does things such as building gas generators to charge e-buses in a faux attempt to cut pollution. Or tried to save the environment using electric trains that don’t work.

Now Leiper wants to force homeless centres on neighbourhoods when the great influx of refugees is nowhere near happening and might never happen. There’s nothing like causing harmony by forcing something on a neighbourhood that the residents don’t want. Dictating with neighbourhoods only creates anger and puts in question the initiative.

When the great mayor Marion Dewar saw that Vietnamese Boat People were in dire straits, she called on people to welcome these refugees into their homes. Generous Ottawans did that. We could have done that again if the city hadn’t botched sprung structures. Now Leiper wants to force shelters on communities. Does this guy not learn anything?

Ottawa needs a mercy rule to save ourselves from the likes of Leiper. Council and staff don’t get the public onside with sprung structures so that the refugee question doesn’t become an issue. Now Ottawans forget the kindness and think property value and inconvenience. The whole sprung structure issue was so badly handled that it could become a case study for how not to do things. Now Leiper not only didn’t learn from the mistakes of sprung structures, he wants to do the same thing over and over again, magnifying the problem.

This from a councillor whose term on the noversight councils parallels some of the worst municipal disasters in civic history.

Can’t we have a mercy rule on faulty councillors?

In little league baseball, a limit is often put on the number of runs a team can lead by so as to not embarrass the losers. You lead by 10 or so and the game is called. The mercy rule.

Can’t we have a mercy rule on councillors out of their depth? Can’t we stop them before they embarrass themselves? Maybe the city clerk could call the game when it gets out-of-hand.

Can’t we put a mercy rule on Jeff Leiper. A little knowledge goes a short way.

Just because Leiper believes that all his just causes are virtuous doesn’t mean he has the right to shove his faulty positions down residents’ throats. Take the “by right” rule and shove it. It’s autocratic and dictatorial.

Stop making bad mistakes, Jeff Leiper. With a mercy rule, the councillor would be long gone.

Ken Gray

For You:

Some Neighbourhoods Dodge Intensification: LEIPER

City Seeks Committee, Board Members

State Of The City Goes Private: THE VOTER

Is The Sprung Structure Site Contaminated?

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