A big week for local issues

A number of local issues in the news this past week alerted my bullshit detection antenna.

Local produce quality and pricing

There were two stories this week in the Ottawa Citizen about local food. The first story in yesterday’s paper (Local produce sold here via Ajax, Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen, September 26, 2009) concerns locally grown tomatoes (SunTech Greenhouse, Manotick) that are supplied to Loblaws and other supermarket chains. SunTech sells produce to Loblaws, first shipping it to Ajax, Ontario for distribution to individual stores (a round trip from Ottawa of 700 Km.). Then Loblaws has the gall to advertise itself as a source for local produce. Really!

The second local produce story concerns price setting in local farmers markets (Paying the market price, Ron Eade, Ottawa Citizen, September 27, 2009). The writer reviews pricing at various farmers markets in Ottawa including Lansdowne, the Byward Market, Parkdale Market and Carp. Produce prices at Byward and Lansdowne are particularly high and the writer discovered that there is an informal price setting arrangement in place at these locations. Farmers claim that this is not price fixing, just an informal agreement in their mutual interests. Also prices are not discounted at the end of the day. This discourages bargain seekers arriving at the end of the day to buy their produce.

Pricing of local produce at farmers markets is beyond the reach of many people, especially as one can buy produce in most supermarkets for about one third of the price in farmers markets. Market prices that cover costs and make a profit are fair and reasonable. But there’s got to be a middle ground, especially when one considers the transportation and distribution costs that supermarket chains have to cover.

Glen Cairn’s flooding problems

An interesting news item reported in a community news paper this week (Flooding fracas, Blair Edwards, Barrhaven this Week, September 22, 2009) concerns a letter that Ted Cooper, a City of Ottawa water resources engineer, sent to the premier of Ontario. Cooper believes that the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) is responsible for Glen Cairn’s flooding problem and that they signed off on development in an area with an inadequate storm management system. He is asking the Province to investigate MCVA’s stewardship of the Carp River flood plain. Remember that Ted Cooper blew the whistle over the city’s computer modeling error in the Kanata west development.

In light of Mr. Cooper’s concerns it is very disturbing that Ottawa City Council this week voted down a motion to put a temporary hold on development in the area (Development moratorium nixed, Patrick Dare, Ottawa Citizen, September 24, 2009). The motion rejected at Council is a much diluted version of a motion debated by the Planning and Environment Committee. The original motion called for a development moratorium until corrections to the Glen Cairn flooding problem are resolved. The motion put before council called for only a few weeks of delay. I’d really like to know who is paying the piper here!

Light rail in Ottawa - dumping the tunnel

I really appreciated Ken Gray’s column this week (Dump the expensive rail tunnel, Ken Gray, Ottawa citizen, September 24, 2009). In the article Grey suggests that the city should have another look at the original North South line plan including its above ground link to the University of Ottawa. This is a transportation link that the city can undertake and likely afford within the foreseeable future.

Then of course there’s the ongoing issue of Lansdowne Live

As Councillor Clive Doucet says in his letter to the Citizen (Lansdowne Live is an unsolicited, exclusive proposal, Clive Doucet, Letters to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, September 25, 2009), the proposal is “…set up to ensure that only one proponent has the opportunity to pitch their proposal to the city. Why?…” When will people come to their senses about this outrage?

As well as dumping the light rail transit tunnel and Lansdowne Live we need to go further and dump a majority of existing council. Let’s make sure there is a good slate of refreshing new candidates running for office in 2010.