NCC Touts Planning Contest With Worst Plans

Published 12/21/2023 · Updated 06/10/2024

God bless the National Capital Commission. Our tax money is buying an enormous amount of humour.

At least we’re getting something for our currency.

So not only do we get abysmal actions from them (closing the Ottawa River parkway for the official opening of the Ottawa River Parkway with a name no one can remember. Get it? Officially opening an open road by closing it. You can’t make this up).

Less humourous the demolition of the entire LeBreton neighbourhood in the 1960s and replacing it with … wait for it … nothing. How much do you want to bet that LeBreton would be a funky neighbourhood now like other old places such as Westboro and the Glebe. Actually Westboro in its future iteration would probably be better left fallow than a mountain of condos it’s becoming. Westboro Flats.

LeBreton Flats has been the second biggest failed undertaking in local history.

The biggest is, drum roll, light rail.

So when the NCC is touting a contest to redesign LeBreton (with or without an arena?) what does it use to promote its little competition?

Why LeBreton Flats, off in the distance, and light rail. Post-secondary students who are being encouraged to redesign LeBreton using the biggest failures in Ottawa local history. The ad is below:

lebreton.ncc .plans .inside.photo