A letter from Étienne Grandmaître Saint-Pierre’s letter (Kettle Island report downplays our concerns, Citizen Jan 8, 2009) is one more example of consultants ignoring or trivializing legitimate concerns and views of residents. The consultant’s client, in this case the National Capital Commission I believe, also appears to be silent regarding resident’s concerns.
Similar situations occur regularly within the City of Ottawa; a good example being the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor (AVTC) environmental assessment. The AVTC assessment process went on for years and residents from many community groups raised concerns with the City and the consultants at public meetings and through face-to-face meetings with City staff.
None of these concerns was ever addressed seriously by staff or the consultant and even a well documented case presented to the Ontario Minster of the Environment failed to halt or change plans for this unneeded road. Plans for the first stage of this road remain a high priority in the Transportation Master Plan despite ongoing concerns addressed to council during recent TMP hearings.
As Étienne suggests, consultants go through the motion of consulting with the community but they fail to respect the spirit of the process. Further, they are seldom called to account for their actions by the client on behalf of residents (taxpayers).
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