Jack Hanna
Help a local business
Here are some concrete things you can do right now to help a shop or restaurant make it through the pandemic and give them a boost.
First, write a Google review. “Google reviews are big,” said Christa Blaszczyk, the owner of boogie + birdie on Elgin Street.
Here’s how to do this: First, Google the business. A column for that business pops up on the right side of your screen. Scroll down to the Reviews section. Hit the button. Write a review. You will be asked to log in with your Google (gmail) account. Keep the review short–just a handful of words. Award five stars.
While online reviews help, the oldest form of advertising – folks talking to their neighbours – matters even more to a neighbourhood business. “Word of mouth is our number-one most effective advertising,” Blaszczyk said. “Be sure to speak about a favourite shop or restaurant to a neighbour.” Blaszczyk spoke at the CCA’s recent forum on supporting Centretown businesses through the pandemic.
Centretown farmers’ market
Centretown could use a farmers’ market. The CCA is working with the organizer of other farmers markets in the city to launch one. What is envisioned is a weekly market in Boushey’s Square off Elgin Street on Sunday mornings. To help, contact jack.2014@icloud.com
New Official Plan input
The CCA likes the central thrust of the draft new Official Plan (OP) for Ottawa: greater population density in existing neighbourhoods. However, in its submission to the city, the CCA had concerns.
New buildings and infills must “preserve and enhance” the existing neighbourhood character. For that to happen, the CCA says, residents must be involved in setting density targets for their neighbourhoods.
The CCA also called for the safeguarding of big, mature trees that comprise the urban canopy, and the preservation and creation of parks and greenspaces, so that denser cities are liveable.
Oppose nuclear-waste site
The CCA asked City Council to oppose a proposed nuclear-waste disposal site at Chalk River, upstream from Ottawa on the Ottawa River. The proposed site would hold low-level radioactive wastes from nuclear facilities in a giant, above-ground mound.
The CCA said the site is only one kilometre from the Ottawa River, on porous and fractured bedrock, and in an earthquake zone. There are also questions about whether the design accords with international best practices.
In late March, a City Council committee declined to oppose the proposed nuclear-waste facility. However, councillors raised concerns and called for the federal government to conduct a review of all nuclear-waste disposal projects in the Ottawa Valley.