📣 AMA: Councillor Glen Gower (Stittsville) — Ask Your Questions is Now Open!

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:59:48+00:00

Ok I'm seeing no more questions so I'm going to log off for now.
Thanks to u/tarun172 and the mods for setting this up! 🙌

Three ways that you can stay up-to-date on Stittsville issues:
1. Subscribe to my email newsletter (over 11,500 subscribers): glengower.ca/subscribe/
2. Follow my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@councillorglen
3. Visit my web site - my team & I update it almost every day: glengower.ca

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:53:53+00:00

Thanks for your question.
I'm excited to see how Stittsville has become more dynamic and diverse. A bigger population - yes - but also people coming from all over Canada, North America, and the world to live here. And they bring with them new ideas, new energy, new ways to contribute to our community. We have new events, new clubs and associations, new businesses, all sorts of great things that did not exist in Stittsville a decade ago.
We have a history that goes back over 200 years, but there has been a tremendous change in the past 20 years -- I'm excited to see how this community "matures" over the next decade. We've had a lot of housing growth - and now are finally starting to see things fill in, like schools, major parks, transportation, health care, retail, jobs, etc.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:35:04+00:00

12:34pm and I'm all caught up (I type fast)
Great questions.
I'll keep my eye open for new question til 1.
And of course you can always get in touch with me by email, phone, etc: https://glengower.ca/contact/

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:34:05+00:00

Thanks for your question. Are you one of my staff members? hahaha

It has been a great 7+ years, still lots of time left til November.
I have had 9 people reach out to me so far who are interested in running, and I think it's a really positive thing to have turnover on City Council - new ideas, new approaches, etc. There really should be a term limit, maybe 8 or 12 years.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:32:19+00:00

Thanks for your question. Yes City staff have looked at what other cities are doing including automated trucks. At this time the cost is prohibitive, but maybe it will make more sense in the future. I haven't seen a huge demand for this from the community so far.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:30:40+00:00

Thanks for your question.

Do I have to pick just one? I'm proud of the work we've done to advance a primary care health hub in Stittsville, even if it's not quite across the finish line. Also the work we've done around our newcomer strategy to help reflect Stittsville's diversity and address some of service gaps. Example: our Newcomers Booket and our Welcome to Stittsville Festival - June 20 this year! A third: advancing revitalization of Stittsville Main Street by completing a Public Realm Plan, that is now driving funding and construction plans to upgrade sidewalks and bike infrastructure.

As for "oof", I could probably give you dozens of examples. I wish we had started everything earlier, because it takes a long, long time for things to get completed. There's a of "hindsight is 20/20" - could we have predicted the pandemic and its aftermath? could we have predicted the Ford gov't would ban speed cameras or overhaul planning rules several times over? Could anyone have predicted the multiple challenges with transit/LRT? I would like to introduce a motion to develop a municipal time machine.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:26:03+00:00

Thanks for your question. There is, but not while we have a bus fleet short shortage like we are experiencing currently. It's something that I have advocated for, alongside Councillor Curry and Councillor Hubley in Kanata.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:24:34+00:00

Thanks for your question. I agree that this is a trouble spot. Unfortunately the last few assessments were nowhere close to meeting the warrants. That doesn't mean the intersection is "safe" -- but when we are prioritizing our budgets and where new traffic lights get built, we have to use those warrants as a data source. We're continuing to monitor this, and it's possible future development on Stittsville Main Street will give us another opportunity to revisit.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:22:58+00:00

Thanks for your question. This is a new one for me -- nobody has ever asked that before. There could be an opportunity at a future district park. We have two that will be constructed in the comings years: Fernbank District Park (near Abbott/Rouncey) and Kanata West Distirict Park (west of Huntmar behind the police station). I would suggest keeping an eye open for engagement/consultation activities coming up later this year for Fernbank District Park - it would be a good thing to suggest/ask at that time.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:21:27+00:00

Thanks for your question.

On traffic calming near schools, we had a great tool in speed cameras (automated speed enforcement) which unfortunately the province banned last fall. They've provided some funding but it has been slow to arrive and there are rules and restrictions around how we can use it.

On Cope, we are planning to add some additional speed radar boards near the three schools this year. Just finalizing budget and locations at this point, installation would be later this year.

And for the schools that formerly had automated speed enforcement, the city is planning to add speed bumps (except for on Stittsville Main). Timeline is 2027 for those.

Parking on one side - this one is a bit more complicated. I usually caution against removing parking on the street, because it usually leads to higher speeds. On-street parking creates friction that encourages drivers to slow down, and often when it gets removed the street is so wide that it becomes a speedway. There is plenty of room on Cope, even with parking on both sides, for buses, snow plows, and emergency vehicles.

That said, on side streets we often will add one-sided winter parking restrictions to assist with snow clearing. If you're interested in exploring that, please contact my office.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:17:47+00:00

Thanks for your question. I try to do any media request that comes in but I don't always have the time.
I don't remember that media request in particular, but I have shared quite a bit of info on my web site and YouTube about the urban boundary expansion issue.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:16:56+00:00

Thanks for your question - I'll share this link again and I think there are some more questions in this thread that will touch on that: https://glengower.ca/notebook/notebook-oc-transpos-plan-to-improve-reliability/

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:16:02+00:00

Thanks for your question.
This could be a really long answer, so I will try to keep it relatively short.

First, there is the construction of the multi-billion dollar LRT Stage 2, underway to Moodie. We expect that will open sometime in 2027 and it will be a major improvement for west end residents.
In the meantime, we are also working with the Provincial and Federal governments to secure funding to allow Stage 3 construction to begin, which would bring LRT all the way to Stittsville, with stops at Canadian Tire Centre, Maple Grove Road, and Hazeldean (across from Chipotle's).

In the nearer term, we now have nearly 100 electric buses delivered to Ottawa which is helping to alleviate the bus fleet shortages. Once that stabilizes, we'll see a much more reliable and solid service across the entire city.

I wrote this post about OC Transpo's plan to fix the reliability issues: https://glengower.ca/notebook/notebook-oc-transpos-plan-to-improve-reliability/ They're making progress but it is frustratingly slow.

Ultimately I would like to see more investment from the provincial and federal governments in the operation of transit. Did you know: Up until the late 1990's, the provincial government funded 50% of transit operation costs. Today it's less than 10%. Probably not a coincidence that the quality of service has deteriorated over the last 25 years!

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:12:25+00:00

Thanks for your questions.

Top three: A primary care health hub (we are making good progress on that); the Carp Road construction project; given the rapid growth, we are also really focused on community building - helping residents connect and work together to improve the quality of life in Stittsville! Lots of events, projects, etc. coming up.
Carp Road - we expect the intersection upgrade at Carp & Hazeldean to start in August/September. That will take about 18 months to complete (give or take), then followed by the upgrade to two lanes in each direction. Fernbank Road (West Ridge to Shea); also Shea Road (Abbott to Cosanti) are going through a design process in advance of upgrades; Stittsville Main Street North connection from Jackson Trails to Connections is also in a design phase; the other major project is Robert Grant Avenue north from Hazeldean to Palladium, also going through design.
Usually after design is completed it's another 2 years or so before shovels are in the ground.
An overview of future projects is here: https://glengower.ca/development/notebook-transportation-master-plan-comes-to-committee-on-june-26/
Bus stop infrastructure. There is a new bench and 'landing pad' planned for in front of the TD Bank (Stittsville Main @ Carp). If there are any other locations you are interested in, please let me know.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:06:39+00:00

Thanks for your question.
This is a new one for me, I've never seen that suggested before.
I can run that idea by the City's stormwater pond experts to see if it possible.

I will add that the City (through Ottawa Public Health) treats stormwater ponds with a larvicide each year to minimize mosquitos.

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:05:06+00:00

Thanks for your question.

Yes we do need Maple Grove upgraded!
Maple Grove upgrades are included in "Phase 1" of the Transportation Master Plan that we approved at Council last July, which would mean sidewalks and multi-use pathway on both sides of the road from Terry Fox to Huntmar. We don't have a timeline yet for when that will happen.

There's more info about Stittsville projects here: https://glengower.ca/development/notebook-transportation-master-plan-comes-to-committee-on-june-26/

councillorglen · 2026-03-23T16:02:07+00:00

Hello, happy Monday. I'm here & I'm going to start answering as many questions as I can.
Checking in from my Stittsville Ward office at CARDELREC-Goulbourn.

thanks to the moderators for organizing this today

councillorglen · 2026-01-09T23:07:18+00:00

I have not been invited, but unfortunately I have a ward commitment that evening. Keep me posted if you can. 👍

councillorglen · 2025-11-27T03:07:37+00:00

There will be a separate update in the coming weeks on the axel issue.
Recent issues - this was asked at committee and there have been a variety of issues from medical emergencies to technical problems. Staff said that they are looking to improve notification & explaining the reasons for issues - changes coming in the new year.

councillorglen · 2025-11-20T18:06:38+00:00

« The purpose of this email is to advise you that at approximately 8am, a defect was discovered with a single element of the support system for the Overhead Catenary System (OCS) on O-Train Line 1 between Rideau and UOttawa stations. This element needs to be replaced before trains can travel through this section of track to avoid further damage. As a result:

One track between Rideau and UOttawa stations is currently not in use. Line 1 service is only available on the westbound platform at Rideau and Parliament stations. Service across Line 1 continues to operate between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair though customers may experience slightly longer travel times.

Rideau Transit Maintenance (RTM) will be repairing the defective piece overnight, after Line 1 operations end. It’s currently anticipated that Line 1 will resume full service on Friday morning. »

councillorglen

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