Task force to mull empowering Ottawa communities

A group of experts will look at ways Ottawa residents can have more say on issues in their own parts of the city, possibly by adding another layer of government, Mayor Larry O'Brien said on the weekend.

Speaking at a summit of rural residents, O'Brien said a task force on governance will begin work in May and finish in June, providing recommendations that will come before city councillors this fall, along with a report on the topic from city staff.

Council could make a decision by January, he said.

A spokesperson for the mayor said Monday that no further details about the task force will be released until May.

Rural Ottawa residents have argued that since their communities were amalgamated with urban communities to form the City of Ottawa in 2001, city council has failed to recognize the different needs of rural and urban dwellers.

In the past, rural residents have pushed for de-amalgamation, but at the rural summit on the weekend, many were considering other solutions.

Rideau-Goulburn Coun. Glen Brooks told the summit he wants the city to try a borough system, a local governance model used in Montreal, New York City and London.

Under such a system, Ottawa would be divided into regions, each headed by a ward council that would make decisions on local issues.

"Communities ought to govern communities on local issues," Brooks said. "In other words, empower the people who live in those communities to make decisions, and live with those decisions."

The mayor said council needs more information about boroughs and other local governance structures before making a decision, hence the task force and request for a staff report.