Ottawa committee approves land transfer for Inuit shelter

City council will make final call whether to transfer land to Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition

Ottawa’s city finance and corporate services committee voted on Tuesday to declare a plot of land at 250 Forestglade Cres., surplus land. The Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition wants to use the property to build an Inuit women’s and children’s shelter there. (Image from Google Maps)

By Madalyn Howitt

An Inuit women’s shelter is one step closer to being built in Ottawa after the city’s finance and corporate services committee voted Tuesday to declare a vacant property at 250 Forestglade Cres. as surplus land.

Now Ottawa city council could decide as soon as next week whether to transfer the land to the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition, an alliance of 10 urban Indigenous organizations that provide front-line programs and services to Indigenous people living in the city.

The coalition has said it intends to use the land to build a dedicated Inuit women’s and children’s shelter.

In its recommendation to the committee, city staff said the coalition has been working with the municipality’s housing services since 2022 to develop a plan for the shelter.

The Forestglade Crescent site was chosen because it is in a quiet residential neighbourhood, which is “beneficial for the women and their children as it allows for privacy and safety,” the recommendation noted.

The shelter would be part of the city’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan committed to creation of an Indigenous-specific housing strategy, city staff wrote.

The coalition’s plan to build a shelter, however, has elicited mixed reactions from residents, with some recently voicing their opposition at a community meeting hosted by Coun. Jessica Bradley.

The City of Ottawa livestreamed Tuesday’s committee meeting via YouTube.

One person was present to voice his concerns ahead of the vote for how the land would be used for transitional housing.

“There’s already low-cost housing by this parcel of land, and this area is generally unsafe,” the man said, citing some shootings and alleged drug deals he said have happened in the area around the vacant lot.

“I think we’re just a little bit concerned that what ends up coming there is something that may detract from our neighbourhood, as opposed to benefit the neighbourhood.”

He said residents feel caught off-guard by the plan for a shelter, calling it “rushed,” and wanted to know if alternative uses for the land were considered by city staff.

“We’re trying to raise our families there in a nice neighbourhood, and we’re worried this is going to detract from that,” the man said.

The committee did not offer any specific response to his concerns before approving the motion. The land transfer is scheduled to be discussed next at the city council meeting on May 15.

 

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(2) Comments:

  1. Posted by Righteous Wrongthinker on

    It’s a terrible site. So isolated. Look it up on Google maps, it’s hard to find a more remote corner of Ottawa that is further away from everything. Would you want to be stuck out there with your kids and no car, and infrequent buses doing a loopy residential route before getting anywhere? Location matters, and this isn’t a good one, other than the activists get to feel proud that they stuck it to the suburban “nimby”s.

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    • Posted by Eskimos Fan on

      Ignorance really is bliss.🤣

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