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The City received from all accounts 79 flood-related service reports from Kanata South following the July 1 storm. The reports do not tell us why each property flooded or whether municipal infrastructure was responsible. They tell us where investigation and transparent follow-up are required.

City crews and emergency responders went to work. That immediate response mattered. But residents also deserve to know what was learned, what remains vulnerable and what will change before the next major storm.

No councillor can control the weather. City staff manage the operational response; elected representatives must examine the results, press for corrective action and report back to residents.

I also want to acknowledge College Ward Councillor Laine Johnson, who pursued answers and additional support through Council motions and formal inquiries. That is the kind of follow-through residents should expect after an emergency.

Success is not measured by how many service requests were opened. It is measured by whether help arrived, the problem was investigated and the risk of another flood was reduced.

Measure what residents experience

This is the same principle behind the trip success measure I recently proposed to Ottawa’s Transit Committee. Two buses can meet their individual targets while a passenger misses the connection between them. The system records two successful trips; the resident experiences one failed journey.

Did the system work for the resident who depended upon it?

Whether we are discussing transit, flooding or another municipal service, City Hall must connect its internal measures with the outcome residents actually experience.

Growth exposes the gaps

Kanata South continues to grow. Growth can bring new neighbours, businesses and opportunities, but it also adds demands to roads, transit, drainage, recreation and municipal services.

The problem is not lack of planning by City Hall. It is that connected services are often planned and measured separately. Residents experience them as one system working together and growth exposes the gaps between the stovepiped plans.

Take a weekday morning on Abbeyhill Drive. The road, bus service, school access, sidewalks, crossings and snow clearing may each have a separate plan. But a family experiences them as one trip. If a snowbank blocks the sightline at a crossing, school traffic slows the bus and the bus connection is missed, it does not matter that each service met its own target. The journey failed. Growth did not expose an absence of planning; it exposed the gaps between the plans.

What experience should mean

I am often asked whether I have enough experience to represent Kanata South at City Hall. It’s a good question, and I take it seriously.

But I ask you how can anyone acquire experience as a councillor before becoming a councillor? If already holding the position becomes the main qualification for keeping it, no community could ever choose new representation.

Incumbency brings relationships, institutional knowledge and familiarity with City Hall. Yes, these things have value. But we must remember that experience and effectiveness are not the same.

Has Kanata South become better prepared for growth? Has our infrastructure kept pace? Has our transit become more dependable? Are our recurring problems being resolved—or repeatedly justified?

Experience that produces results deserves recognition. Experience that produces the same problems again and again deserves scrutiny.

This is not a personal attack, or finger pointing. This is the needed accountability that should accompany every public office.

A practical alternative

Criticism without solutions is not enough. So, I would begin with three practical commitments:

Firstly, I will publish a Ward 23 Growth and Infrastructure scorecard using information the city already collects. It will show major developments, infrastructure requirements, known vulnerabilities and the status of important projects—in accessible digital and printed formats.

Secondly, I will provide clear and understandable community-impact briefings for significant developments that show the expected effects on traffic, transit, drainage, parks, recreation, accessibility and our municipal services.

Third, I would apply a seniors’ accessibility and emergency-preparedness lens to major ward decisions. Seniors are not a single group, but municipal planning must recognize different levels of mobility, transportation and access to information.

Can residents reach important services safely? Can someone who no longer drives get to a medical appointment reliably? During an emergency, how will people living alone receive information and assistance?

A councillor cannot order every department to act on a preferred schedule. A councillor can bring departments together, track commitments, build support at Council and report honestly when progress is delayed.

Representation should be measured by results

I am not asking residents to disregard experience. I am asking them to evaluate it fairly.

I am also not new to Kanata South. I have lived here since 1990, I am raising my family here, I am serving my community here, and I continue to work alongside neighbours to solve practical problems.

My approach is straightforward: listen to my neighbours throughout Kanata South, understand how the system works, identify where it is failing or stagnated and propose a practical improvement.

We should ask more than whether City Hall has followed its process. We should ask whether the process has worked for the resident(s) who depended upon it.

By measuring the outcomes we experience, identifying challenges early, and being transparent about our progress, we can ensure that growth in in Kanata South strengthens our neighbourhoods’ resources and services rather than strain them. This is the experience I will bring to serving and representing our community.

Choose representation that Keeps Up!

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice.

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca | info@erincoffin.ca

At first, that sounds backwards. Standing still feels safe. It feels responsible. It feels like protecting what already works. But communities don’t stand still. They either adapt—or they slowly fall behind.

Over the past fifteen years, Kanata South has changed in remarkable ways. New neighbourhoods have appeared where open fields once stretched to the horizon. Hazeldean Road has become one of Ottawa’s busiest corridors. Community facilities like the Eva James Community Centre are straining to meet demand. Thousands more residents now rely on roads, transit, parks, recreation, and community services that were planned for a much smaller community.

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That isn’t a problem. It’s a sign that people want to build their lives here. Growth isn’t the problem. Falling behind the growth is.

As I’ve knocked on doors this summer, I’ve heard stories that have stayed with me. A parent described the frantic race to register for swimming lessons before every spot disappeared. A commuter talked about wondering each morning whether the bus would arrive. A senior quietly asked whether they would still be able to live independently in the neighbourhood they helped build.

Those conversations sound different, but they all point to the same question: are our services keeping pace with the community we’ve become?

That’s why I believe leadership should be measured by outcomes, not announcements. Are families able to access the programs they need? Can residents count on reliable transportation? Can seniors remain active, connected, and independent? Are we improving quality of life at every stage of life?

Better decisions begin with better questions. Will this improve residents’ lives? Will it still make sense ten years from now? How will it affect the rest of our community? How will we measure success? If it doesn’t work, are we prepared to learn and improve?

My career has been built around solving complex problems, measuring results, and adapting when circumstances change. Those same principles have guided my volunteer work in Kanata South. They are also the principles I would bring to City Hall. I don’t believe the answer is louder politics. I believe it’s thoughtful leadership that listens, measures what matters, and is willing to adapt.

Communities rarely fall behind all at once. They fall behind one decision at a time. The good news is they move forward the same way: one better question, one better decision, one better outcome.

Kanata South will continue to grow. More families will arrive. Our population will age. New opportunities and new challenges will emerge. Standing still is not a strategy. The communities that succeed are the ones with the confidence to adapt.

I believe that’s the next chapter for Kanata South, and it’s the kind of leadership I’m committed to providing.

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice.

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca | info@erincoffin.ca

They don’t they have a “recreation issue.” They tell me they couldn’t register their child for swimming lessons.

They don’t say they have an “infrastructure issue.” They tell me they avoid a particular intersection because it no longer feels safe.

At first, these sound like separate conversations. But the more I listen to my neighbours, the more I realize they’re all connected.

Kanata South is changing.

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Over the years we’ve welcomed new neighbours, new businesses and new opportunities. That’s something worth celebrating. But every change has consequences. New homes change traffic patterns. More families increase demand for parks, recreation and community spaces. More people place greater demands on our transit, our sewers, our roads, our sidewalks and paths, and city services.

Nothing every really happens in isolation.

Every decision made creates a ripple effect.

This is why I’ve am now asking a different question.

Rather than asking “How do we fix this problem?” I am asking “What is this problem telling us?”

Traffic may be telling us that growth is outpacing infrastructure, or that transit is so unreliable that neighbours are resorting to using their cars more often, or completely.

Recreation programs that are over subscribed and full within hours may be telling us our facilities and our services have not kept pace with our growing community.

Lack of transit reliability may be telling us that better choices need to be made to improve service.

The issues we are seeing today is the result of decisions made years ago.

This also means the decisions we are making today will shape Kanata South tomorrow and we, and our children and grandchildren will have to live with it.

I don’t believe good representation begins when a problem becomes impossible to ignore.

I do believe good representation begins by asking better questions before today’s decisions become tomorrow’s challenges and even crisises.

If our community continues to grow, what needs to grow with it?

If we make a decision today, what will the impact be five or ten years from now? Transit – I am looking at you!!!

When we solve one problem, what new problems are we creating elseware?

These questions matter because every decision has three parts:

1) We make a choice.

2) We see the immediate results.

3) Eventually we live with both the intended and unintended outcomes.[JL1]

Too often, we celebrate immediate results:

- A project is approved.

- A road is resurfaced.

- A report is completed.

- A park update is complete and open again.

These matter, for sure. But the more important question is this:

Did these actions make our everyday life in Kanata South a little easier?

We know that growth is inevitable.

But we also know that falling behind can be avoided.

Good representation enables our community adapt by design, not by default.

To me, that means looikng beyond today’s issue and understanding how today’s decisions shape tomorrow’s neighbourhood.

It means consulting and listening to neighbours early in a process..

Planning ahead for the project.

Looking for connections, interactions, and cascading effects, instead of treating every challenge/project as though it stands alone.

After months of conversations across Kanata South, I’m feeling optimistic.

Not because our challenges are small. But because our community cares deeply about where it is, and where it needs to be.

The concerns, solutions, and ideas I’ve heard on my neighbours’ doorsteps are thoughtful, practical and hopeful. Each conversation I have continues to shape the way I think about our future together in Kanata South.

We know communities never stop changing and evolving.

And our representation should not stop learning, adapting and changing with us, not hold us back to a different time.

Your Voice. Your Ward, Your Choice.

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca | info@erincoffin.ca

“What should you be able to count on in your neighbourhood?”

Not what would be nice. Not what would be ideal. What should simply be the norm.

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What should be a given? Children should be able to walk safely to school. Parents should feel comfortable letting their kids ride to the park. Crossing guards should know drivers will stop when they raise their sign and enter the intersection. Neighbours should be able to enjoy a quiet evening without street racing becoming part of the soundtrack.

These aren’t “nice to haves,” they’re part of a good neighbouhood and good community.

But what I am hearing from neighbours in neighbourhood after neighbourhood are same concerns: road racing on Terry Fox, Katimavik, Eagleson and Hope Side, and drivers ignoring stop signs and speeding though residential streets to save a minute or two.

Kanata South is growing, transit is not great, and this is leading to more traffic. It’s not surprising. The real question is whether our quality of community safety and comfort in our neighbourhoods is keeping pace with all that traffic.

Last year, the province of Ontario removed municipal authority for automated speed enforcement cameras. While some residents were pleased (to no longer receive tickets), many were not. Reasonable people can disagree about speed cameras.

What concerns me is what happens next; When one tool disappears, what replaces it?

Too often, local politics becomes a debate rather than results. We talk about cameras, speed humps and enforcement. These are tools to support an outcome.

The outcome we need to achieve is much simpler: children arriving safely at school, parents feeling confident about neighbours respecting crosswalks, and neighbourhoods that encourage walking, biking, waking the dog(s), rather than worrying about safety.

When the city provided the province stats on the rise of speeding now that the speeding cameras are gone, the province didn’t see the need to bring the cameras back. Well, then the Bridlewood Community Association tried a different approach. You may remember our Ryan Gosling ‘Hey Girl... Slow Down’ signs. They weren’t expensive or permanent, but they started conversations, made people smile, laugh, and encouraged drivers to slow down.

Eventually, by-law removed the signs, and Ryan went to impound. That’s okay. Ryan was never the point. The point was that communities are often more creative than we give them credit for, and sometimes changing behaviour starts with changing the conversation.

As I’ve reflected on conversations across Kanata South, I’ve realized something. Whether people are talking about speeding, transit, parks, sidewalks or local businesses, they’re really asking the same question.

Before we can decide how to solve these problems, we should agree on what residents should be able to expect in the first place.

“What should we be able to expect from our city?”

Over the coming months, I want to explore that question with you—for road safety, transit, parks, infrastructure, local businesses, and the everyday services that shape our quality of life.

I want to call that the Kanata South Standard.

Because the success of our city isn’t measured by the newest thing it builds. It’s measured by whether a child can walk safely to school. Whether a family feels comfortable crossing the street. Whether neighbours can enjoy their community with confidence.

That’s the standard we should expect from our city. And together, it’s the standard we should insist on. That’s the standard we should expect. And it’s the standard worth working toward.

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice.

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca | info@erincoffin.ca

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As I listened, I found myself thinking about how often we talk about local businesses as economic assets.

They create jobs. They generate taxes. They support commercial development.

All of that is true.

But it misses something important.

What would Kanata South lose if a cherished business disappeared tomorrow?

Not just a storefront or jobs.

We would lose part of our community.

The coffee shop we visit before work. The restaurant where birthdays are celebrated. The place where neighbours run into one another on a Saturday morning. The owner who knows our name.

These businesses become part of the rhythm of everyday life.

Over the past decade, Kanata South has grown dramatically. New homes have been built, new families have arrived, and our communities have continued to evolve.

Growth has brought opportunity.

But growth alone does not create community.

Growth matters. New homes matter. New investment matters. But the ultimate measure of success is whether growth creates a more complete community. A community where residents can access services close to home. Where local businesses can thrive. Where recreation, transportation, and neighbourhood amenities keep pace with the families who live here.

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The question is not simply how much Kanata South grows, but whether that growth makes daily life better. Because successful communities are not measured only by the number of homes built. They are measured by the quality of life they create for the people who call them home.

Community is created by the places and businesses that give neighbourhoods character.

When local businesses succeed, communities become stronger. When they struggle, neighbourhoods become less personal, more generic, and more disconnected.

Ottawa has no shortage of plans. We have plans for housing, transportation, infrastructure, and economic development.

But are we creating complete communities?

Can residents access the services they need close to home? Are recreation opportunities keeping pace with growth? Is transit helping people move efficiently through their day? Are local businesses finding it easier or harder to succeed?

These questions matter because they reflect daily life—not committee agendas or budget documents.

It is the drive down Hazeldean Road. The coffee run on the way to the rink. Registering for swimming lessons. The businesses we rely on every week. The confidence that our neighbourhood provides what we need instead of constantly trying to catch up.

This is where leadership matters.

A councillor should ask the harder questions:

What problem are we trying to solve?

Will this improve people’s daily lives?

Will it make our community feel more complete?

Kanata South is no longer a collection of growing subdivisions on the edge of Ottawa.

It is a large and growing community in its own right.

We should not have to leave our community to find the amenities, services, and experiences that make a neighbourhood feel complete.

Because successful local businesses are more than an economic asset.

They are the consignment store for children’s clothes, the hidden café with exceptional pastries, the local restaurant, the chocolatier, and the small businesses that become part of our routines and memories.

These places make communities memorable.

Kanata South deserves better than being a neighbourhood where people sleep and then drive somewhere else to live their lives.

We can be a destination.

We can have thriving local businesses.

We can build a community that offers great experiences close to home.

And we should have those special places right here.

Strong local businesses do not emerge by accident. They flourish when communities are thoughtfully planned, when infrastructure keeps pace with growth, and when local decision-making remains focused on the daily experiences of residents.

That is why this conversation is about more than economics.

It is about building a community where people can live, work, shop, connect, and thrive close to home.

A community that feels complete.

A community that reflects the pride residents already have in the place they call home.

Because Kanata South can have nice things.

More importantly, we deserve them.

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice.

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Authorized by Erin Coffin, Candidate for Ward 23 Kanata South

We need more buses.

We need more routes.

We need more trains.

The assumption is understandable. As Ottawa grows, transit will require continued investment. New communities need service, aging infrastructure must be maintained, and long-term expansion remains important.

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But after looking at transit in Kanata South through a systems lens, I have come to a different conclusion.

The most immediate opportunity to improve transit in Ward 23 may not be building something new. It may be improving how well the existing system works for the people who rely on it every day.

OC Transpo already measures a lot crucial data. Service delivery, punctuality, regularity, and ridership all help us understand how the system is performing. These metrics tell us whether buses are running and whether service is meeting operational targets.

What they do not fully tell us is whether riders are successfully completing the journeys they set out to make.

That is the metric I believe deserves more attention.

I call it trip success.

For many residents, transit is not a single ride from Point A to Point B. It is a sequence of connections. A local feeder route connects to Eagleson Station. Eagleson connects to major west-end transit corridors. Those routes connect to the O-Train network. Each step depends on the previous one working as intended.

When everything operates smoothly, the system feels efficient. When it doesn’t, a missed feeder connection can lead to a missed rapid route or train. What begins as a five-minute delay can quickly turn into thirty minutes or more.

Anyone who has stood at the Eagleson Park & Ride watching a connecting bus pull away just before they arrive understands this experience.

This is why reliability remains such an important challenge facing transit in Kanata South.

On Thursday 11 June 2026, I presented this idea at the Transit Committee. The delegation below outlines why rider-focused measures such as trip success deserve a larger role in how we evaluate transit performance.

To be clear, this is not an argument against investment. Kanata South continues to grow, and additional service will remain necessary as more residents depend on transit to reach work, school, appointments, recreation, and community activities.

However, improving reliability offers something that large capital projects often cannot: the ability to improve the rider experience in the near term.

Resilient transportation networks provide alternatives when disruptions occur. In urban neighbourhoods, riders likely have another bus, station, or nearby corridor. In suburban communities, those alternatives are often limited, making reliability especially important.

It also helps explain why many transit complaints sound remarkably similar. Riders frequently talk about cancelled buses, missed connections, overcrowding, long waits, and uncertainty. Few of these concerns are about speed. Most riders can manage a slightly longer commute, but what breaks them is unpredictability. They want confidence that the trip they planned is the trip they will actually be able to complete.

Ultimately transit is about more than moving vehicles. It is about ensuring people can go about their lives.

The commuter heading downtown. The student travelling to class. The senior attending a medical appointment. The parent trying to reach daycare before pickup closes. For them, transit is not an abstract network diagram. It is part of daily life, and when a connection fails, the consequences are real.

As Kanata South grows, the importance of reliability grows with it. More residents relying on the same infrastructure means that small failures can affect more people. That is why improving trip success deserves greater attention.

The good news is that many improvements that would enhance reliability don’t need billion-dollar investments. Better coordination of key transfers, better protection of critical neighbourhood and feeder routes, improved communication during disruptions, and investments in pathways, cycling connections, and walkable access can all improve rider experience. These are practical improvements that can happen quickly and provide quick wins for both riders and OCTranspo staff.

This is where the role of a councillor matters.

While councillors do not build rail lines or purchase buses, they do influence priorities. They influence which outcomes are measured and which issues receive attention.

Organizations improve what they measure. If Council focuses primarily on budgets and ridership, those become the dominant objectives. But what if we also measured outcomes from the rider’s perspective?

How many riders successfully complete the journeys they intended to make?

How many connections are missed at major transfer stations?

How quickly does the system recover from disruptions?

How effectively are riders informed when problems occur?

Answering these questions would not replace existing performance measures. It would complement them by focusing attention on the experience of transit users themselves.

As councillor, I will advocate for transit performance measures that focus on rider outcomes. I will support important metrics on connection reliability at major transfer points such as the Eagleson Park & Ride, I will protect critical neighbourhood feeder routes, better-quality communications during service disruptions, and regular public reports so neighbours and riders can see if reliability is getting better or declining over time.

Residents deserve transparency. They deserve accountability. And they deserve confidence that transit decisions are being evaluated based on the experience of riders, not simply the experience of spreadsheets.

In an era of financial constraints, residents also deserve confidence that we are getting the maximum value from the transit infrastructure we have already paid for.

The central idea is simple. Ward 23 does not need to wait for the next megaproject to make transit better.

There is value in expanding service when resources allow. But there is also tremendous value in making the existing system more reliable and more focused on helping residents complete their journeys.

Kanata South residents do not expect perfection. They expect a dependable system.

As our community continues to grow, focusing on reliability, accountability, and practical improvements today can help ensure transit keeps pace with tomorrow’s Ward 23.That is how we move transit forward.

And that is how we move Kanata South forward.

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca info@erincoffin.ca

While administrative on the surface, the report raises a fundamental question: If Ottawa reallocates funding from completed or delayed capital projects, how will Council ensure infrastructure investment keeps pace with the realities facing growing communities?

This matters because Kanata South continues to grow. Population growth and intensification place increasing pressure on roads, pathways, parks, recreation facilities, water infrastructure, and transit. Residents deserve confidence that investment will keep pace.

The challenge is significant. Ottawa’s 2025 Asset Management Plans project an infrastructure funding gap of approximately $10.8 billion over the next decade. While the City’s new strategy addresses part of the repair backlog by prioritizing critical assets, substantial gaps remain.

I agree that the answer cannot always be higher taxes. But it also cannot be permanent deferral.

Growth communities like Kanata South should receive infrastructure prioritization based on measurable factors such as population growth, infrastructure age, service deficits, intensification pressures, and asset-condition risks.

When projects come in under budget or are delayed and funds are redirected, residents reasonably want answers:

• Will our long-term infrastructure needs be accelerated or deferred?

• Will reinvestment occur in the communities generating growth?

• How will Council determine which neighbourhood priorities move forward first?

These questions are not abstract. They affect everyday life.

Will pathways be repaired before they become unsafe?

Will traffic congestion worsen, or will transit service improve?

Will parks and recreation facilities keep pace with growth?

Is Eva James Community Centre sufficient for the population it serves?

When Jack Charron Arena reaches the end of its lifecycle, will it be renovated, rebuilt, or replaced?

Can our water infrastructure withstand both continued growth and increasingly severe weather?

Most importantly: is the City really planning, or simply managing problems as they emerge?

A recent example illustrates the concern.

Residents endured nearly two years of disruption while the City replaced a watermain beneath Hazeldean Road between Castlefrank and Irwin Gate. The project has now been declared complete. Yet the City’s latest infrastructure plan proposes replacing additional sections of the same 900mm pipe between Eagleson Road and 440 Hazeldean Road.

The City says this revised approach will deliver better long-term value and improve reliability. Fair enough. But it also raises a reasonable question: what happened to the roughly 500 metres of pipe between 440 Hazeldean and Irwin Gate that was originally expected to be replaced?

Residents should not have to dig through technical reports to understand the status of major projects.

As your councillor, I will communicate clearly when projects are delayed, partially completed, redesigned, or deferred. Residents deserve straightforward information about what is happening, why it is happening, and when results can realistically be expected.

I recognize that capital planning is complex. Council must balance affordability, debt capacity, reserves, and city-wide priorities.

But residents also need confidence that long-term planning is not quietly becoming long-term delay.

Communities like Kanata South cannot continue absorbing growth while critical infrastructure investments fall further behind.

That is why reports like this matter. Capital project closures are not simply administrative exercises. They determine where Ottawa reinvests, how priorities are set, and whether residents believe the City is planning proactively or reacting after problems emerge.

Residents understand that not every project can happen immediately. What they expect is transparency, realistic timelines, and reinvestment decisions that reflect the communities where they live and pay taxes.

My concern is simple: delayed infrastructure investment does not eliminate future costs, it increases them. Over time, temporary delays risk becoming permanent ones.

The committee ultimately approved the funding plan by a vote of 9-2. It now proceeds to City Council for final consideration on June 10.

Looking ahead, I will work with Council and City staff to reform processes that leave growth communities feeling like their infrastructure is perpetually catching up. Kanata South deserves visible reinvestment that reflects both the taxes we pay and the future we are building together.

Your Voice. Your Ward. Your Choice.

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Authorized by the Erin Coffin Campaign, Ward 23 Kanata South

erincoffin.ca | info@erincoffin.ca

But is it really? When you (figuratively) dig beneath the pavement you see a more concerning narrative of how our city is being managed and what our neighbourhoods really need going forward.

City officials have just told us the great news about the construction ending and the city has approved beginning the design process for a full replacement of the aging 900mm watermain from Eagleson Road to the new valve near 440 Hazeldean. They promise this will provide long-term value and a more resilient water supply. Woohoo! Great decision!

But wait – were we not doing that already? Why not? How much money did we spend over the last two years doing peacemeal localized repairs? And how much did the watermain blowing by Shoppers Drug Mart cost? Couldn’t we have done something to prevent it?

We know infrastructure ages. Pipes wear out. Roads deteriorate. Communities grow. Responsible governments know – and action – the replacement of critical assets rather than endlessly fixing them with band-aid solutions. Hazeldean Road, and similar infrastructure updates make us think about whether our city is being proactive rather than reactive when it plans for its infrastructure maintenance and replacement.

Right now, I’m not really convinced anything is proactive or advocated for as strongly as it could be.

In Kanata South, we are increasingly living through overlapping roadwork, lots of disruptions, lots of infrastructure concerns, and lots of rapid population growth within and outside of our borders. We know the construction is necessary, but what is frustrating is that we are only seeing these big fixes when our infrastructure has clearly reached its limits.

There is no doubt that the City needs to replace the watermain. But did the city plan early enough, coordinate enough, and really assess and communicate the risk of patching problems rather replacing infrastructure that just can’t do it anymore.

That’s the conversation we need to have, and we need to talk more often. Because our infrastructure is not just the pipes under our roads.

It is making sure that :

- We can get out and about in our neighbourhoods and throughout the city,

- Our buses are running reliably,

- We can access our local businesses,

- Our emergency services can reach us, and

- That we feel connected rather than constantly under construction.

Good stewardship of our infrastructure should feel informed, coordinated, predictable, and transparent.

And it matters more than ever!

Over the last several years, we are hearing the city increasingly adopting language like “long-term value,” “asset management,” and “risk-based prioritization.” These are important concepts – we want our tax-dollars spent wisely. And we deserve to feel confident that our city leaders are good stewards and advocates, not just reacting to avoidable problems once they become unavoidable.

This means:

- Improving our long-term forecasting and actioning it,

- Stronger coordination between projects,

- Clearer communication and consultation, and

- Providing infrastructure that grows with us, not always struggling to catch up with us.

Kanata South isn’t a small suburban village on the edge of Ottawa. We are a big, evolving, and diverse community with growing transportation needs, increasing pressure on our roads and services, and we NEED infrastructure that support’s what we need today, and it will provide for tomorrow.

Kanata South requires steady stewardship and modern planning.

Luckily, neighbours are telling me that they are paying attention. We care deeply about our neighbourhoods and how decisions are made. We deserve transparency. We deserve accountability. And most importantly, we are worthy enough to feel confident that our city leaders are managing the needs of our community in a smart and thoughtful manner rather than continually responding to the next problem as they pop up and, …burst.

Hazeldean Road is reopening. The construction is disappearing. Traffic is easing.

But the larger lesson isn’t going away.

Our infrastructure is telling us how dubious our city is planning for our future. I don’t feel particularly assured. We deserve – and we pay for - public stewardship that plans ahead and makes good decisions. Do we have it?

Your voice. Your Ward. Your choice.

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Authorized by Erin Coffin, Candidate for Ward 23 Kanata South

Kanata South continues to grow, and is quickly changing, but City Hall isn’t paying attention because no one is advocating enough on our behalf.

We are frustrated by traffic and transit that continues to worsen every day and we just want to stay home; by community and essential infrastructure that never keeps up with our developing neighbourhoods, and we keep on feeling like we are expected to “make do” while decisions downtown are prioritizing other neighbourhoods. Families are stretched and cannot continue to make up for accessible and essential services that the city continues to reduce and – let’s face it – half ass. Small businesses are under pressure with dwindling sales and rising rents. Our seniors, like my parents just down the road, want to age in place and stay connected to their community and family but it is getting harder.

My neighbours - and myself - are feeling like we are fighting just to be heard, or we have just given up because there has been no response, a forwarded email, or a terse response. I get it. It really sucks, and more importantly, it needs to stop.

Kanata South is not a small suburban afterthought anymore. We are a ward with over 24,000 homes and we are one of the fastest changing and vibrant communities in Ottawa who are being smothered by mediocrity and inaction!

Kanata South has incredible volunteers, there are amazing schools with hardworking staff, local businesses working tirelessly to provide great services and products despite the pressure of rising rents and costs of doing business, and we have beautiful parks and greenspaces that are underutilized because they do not have the resources and investments to make them really accessible despite the weather and other barriers to us using them to their full potential. And most importantly, we have neighbours who genuinely care about where they live, how their community thrives, and what we can become with a little more ingenuity and drive!!!

 But we need to plan, we need to designate resources properly, and we need a vision. Stop with the impossibilities of an idea and start with finding the ways to make it a reality.

Frankly, we shouldn’t have to fight for safer streets, improvingtraffic management, reliable and accessible transit, or simple access to recreation and community programming. It shouldn’t be this hard! Our families shouldn’t have to constantly drive to other parts of the city to access services or activities that we should have available closer to home. And when we pay our taxes, we deserve clear communication, and real and transparent conversations about where our money is being spent, and what are driving the priorities at City Hall that we do not understand.

This is why I am running, for a second time, to be YOUR Councillor in Kanata South – I want to sit in Council Chambers and make sure we are ALL heard.

I really do not believe that politics need more noise or silly divisions — we are supposed to be non-partisan and working for the best interests of our wards and our city. I don’t have time for games and political grandstanding. I admit I will likely be accused of political grandstanding, but it is more likely I am being hot-mic-ed and really annoyed with the theatrics. You will know this is what is happening because you will hear me – much to the chagrin of my father, my husband, and my campaign manager – swear worse than a sailor and be colourfully entertaining while I rant.

I 100% believe residents deserve leadership that is present, accessible, and connected to the realities families are dealing with every day. I am running so I can provide you that type of “leadership,” but really I don’t love the word “leadership.” Firstly, I have not seen it here in the ward as of late, and really what I prefer to be is an aid to making sure YOU ARE HEARD, and working to make sure you are part of a strong community that is vibrant, something to be proud of, and a Kanata South that we are all proud to have built.

This campaign is going to be about practical solutions, bettercommunication, and making sure Kanata South has a strong and collaborative voice at City Hall.

What does this look like?

• Smarter visions for important infrastructure, both hidden and recognizable ( yup – I will talk sewers and waste-water if you want to!)

• Safer streets, real traffic management, and a neighbourhood where we can let our children walk to school and feel confident they will make it home.

• Transit that actually makes us want to use it because we can reliably use it and get to where we need to go when we need to be there.

• Planning responsibly for growth in our neighbourhoodswhile respecting and protecting our greenspaces.

• Supporting our local businesses and community organizations NO MATTER WHAT.

• Most importantly, working tirelessly to make city government more responsive and transparent for all neighbours throughout Ottawa. If we can’t be transparent, is it really something we should be doing?

Most importantly, I want you to feel like you have a Councillorwho actually shows up — not just during election season, but all year long. You don’t have to like me, but if you need me, I’m going to be there for you.

The one thing I have learned through community work over the years is that strong communities are not built by politicians. Strong communities are built by volunteers, families, individuals, local businesses, teachers (and educational assistants – I see you!) volunteer coaches, seniors, community organizations, and our neighbours who care enough to get involved and look out for each other, even when they don’t have a lot of time to do it.

Kanata South already has that spirit. I know it. I have seen it. And I have worked with it. We are pretty awesome – we just need a helping hand to find our place, our voice and where we can help.

We need leadership at City Hall that can keep up with our energy, recognize our growth and how we are changing and support it, and help to unleash our potential to be an even more amazing community to live work and play.

Over the next five months, I am taking a leave of absence from my role as a public servant and I will be working my way across our ward listening, having conversations, coming to you at yourdoors, and hearing from you directly about what you want to see improved, protected, and prioritized for the future.

Please be part of these conversations – I need to hear from you to have a real picture of what our future needs to be. Because this election shouldn’t be about electing just one councillor and one mayor, IT NEEDS TO BE about building a Kanata South we want our kids, family, and our neighbours to be proud of, and call home for years to come.

I know our best days are still to come. We have a foundation that many before me have built. Sure, there have been highs and there have been lows – but we will continue to build the community we want, we need, and we deserve.

Come join me and lets build together!

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Authorized by Erin Coffin, Candidate for Ward 23 Kanata South