February 8, 2025
Our Mayor Mark Sutcliffe arrived at the Townhall and announced the City Solicitor’s decision to pursue an appeal of the recent Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) decision to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). It started the evening off with a bang!
Our Mayor Mark Sutcliffe arrived as promised, but with a great surprise in tow. He announced the City Solicitor’s decision to pursue an appeal of the recent Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) decision to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). It started the evening off with a bang! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Mayor and all of our elected officials who shared their insights and perspectives. Your contributions and support are invaluable and so greatly appreciated. A special thank you as well to our 400 or so supporters who showed up and participated; your presence and ongoing support mean the world to us.
Townhall Recording Available
As promised, a recording of the event (just over 2 hours long) is posted on our website along with a timestamp to let you drill down on various speakers or the Questions and Answers.
Where are we heading now?
The City will use the coming six weeks to craft its application for Leave to Appeal which is due at the SCC by March 21. After our legal team considers the city position(s), they will provide their recommendations for next legal steps forward by the Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition (KGPC). Our intention will continue to be a complimentary addition to the legal course the City takes in regards to the 40% Agreement. We will share it all with you as it comes available.
As was signalled at the Townhall, the KGPC has funds in reserve today that can carry us through these first steps of case analysis towards an SCC appearance. We thank you for that! If the City is successful in its application for leave (we should know by autumn) and we decide that there is a value-added reason for the KGPC to participate in that appeal on behalf of our community, we will need and seek your financial support before committing.
At the Townhall we also talked about non-legal options going forward including a public awareness campaign and enriching our expert arguments in relevant areas such as property value impact and analysis.
All to say, we will need more funds should the run to the Supreme Court prove unsuccessful and we move on to a Plan B and Plan C. We may want to get started on some of those options in the meantime. And so…
We so appreciate all of you who donated this week on the heels of the Townhall. It is so much easier to put our volunteer energy into our campaign of opposition when we have funding secured behind us. While 2024 was a quiet year for us as we waited for the Ontario Court of Appeal decision, we want to start looking forward and firing up once again. Thank you in advance for donating now.
Important Dates
| February 18 | Kanata-Carleton Provincial Election Debate |
| February 19 | KGPC ELECTION e-News |
| Mid March | KGPC Update on City SCC Application |
| Summer-Autumn 2025 | Kanata-Carleton Federal Election |
| Autumn 2025 | SCC Decision on City Leave Application |
| Spring -Summer 2026 | SCC Hearing (if allowed) |
| Autumn 2026 | City of Ottawa Municipal Elections |
| 2027 | SCC Decision (if heard) |
Yikes… we’re going to be busy!
We’re busy this weekend too sending our questions out to our Kanata-Carleton provincial candidates. Watch for their answers in our ELECTION e-News February 19. Just in time for the Advance Polls opening February 20. And don’t forget to watch the Kanata-Carleton All Candidates Debate on February 18 at 7:00 pm, which will be available on YouTube.
We’re better together!
Barbara
Chair, Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition
E – chair@ourkanatagreenspace.ca
C – 613.725.4345