Elevators in an emergency: Councillor wants city to support NDP bill
An Ottawa city councillor is hoping to throw the city’s support behind a New Democrat MPP’s private member’s bill, calling for highrises to have emergency power for elevators, lights and water.
Ottawa West—Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma introduced the bill on Wednesday at Queen’s Park. If passed, it would amend the Residential Tenancies Act and the Condominium Act to require landlords to have an emergency generator or generators capable of powering at least one elevator, hallway lights and water supply throughout their buildings for two weeks, in the event of an extended power outage.
It comes on the heels of the devastating derecho storm in May, during which residents of Ottawa lost power for days. Some highrise buildings in the city that lost power could not run their elevators.
This meant that some residents, like Lynn Ashdown, who uses a wheelchair, were trapped in their apartments several floors up. Ashdown’s story was featured on CTV News Ottawa after the storm and her story inspired Pasma’s bill.
“Nobody should be forced into the horrific situation of being trapped in their home for days without access to water, food, or medical care,” Pasma said on social media on Thursday. “For people with mobility issues who live in apartments and condos, access to an elevator is essential.”
Ottawa city council discussed the idea of requiring generators in buildings after the storm, but city staff said they needed guidance from the province.
“If a building is built in the 1960s, it’s under one set of rules; if it’s built in the 2000s it has another set of rules. In all likelihood, we’re going to find that we need to go to the province to get some sort of harmonization of the rules,” said Stephen Willis, General Manager of Planning, Real Estate and Development for the City of Ottawa.
Now, with Pasma’s bill tabled in the provincial legislature, Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine says he wants to see the city support it.
“I'll be partnering with colleagues at Council to advance a motion to support Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma’s Protecting Human Rights in an Emergency Act,” Devine wrote on Twitter Saturday.
“During the derecho in May 2022, many residents in parts of Ward 9 were among the most seriously impacted by the storm's related power outages. Residents living in high-rises in the Parkwood Hills area experienced unique and dangerous hardships,” he wrote.
“Many residents were without power for 12 days. The elevators servicing their high-rise buildings did not work. The electricity-powered water pumps did not work. Many of these upper-floor residents were in the dark, prisoners in their homes, without even access to water.”
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron on Thursday, Ashdown says she’s still dealing with the trauma of her experience in May.
“Every time the lights flicker in my apartment now, I have this visceral reaction that it’s going to happen again,” she said. “Until this bill comes to fruition, I don’t ask myself if I will get stuck again because I know that I will. I ask how long will I be stuck there, how quickly will this become life-threatening for me, and when will those elected to protect Ontarians step up and do the right thing?”
Ashdown says she shared her story to ensure what she went through in May doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“Before my lived experience, I had no idea that this was an issue,” she said. “I think most people don’t know that it’s an issue and the reality is that this impacts everybody in Ontario. It’s not just people with disabilities. We have an aging population. Some people could be temporarily impaired. My friend has three little children; I asked how she would manage going up and down flights stairs with strollers and everything, and she said it would be virtually impossible.”
Devine says he will be urging his council colleagues to support an upcoming motion asking the City of Ottawa to endorse Pasma’s bill and work with local landlords and other interested groups to take action.
“The cost will be minimal in contrast to the potential cost of inaction,” he wrote.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as possible Rafah offensive looms
Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Egypt intensified efforts to broker a deal to end the months-long war and stave off a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Russia renews attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector as Kyiv launches drones at southern Russia
Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, in attacks that appeared to target the country's energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs files motion to dismiss some claims in a sexual assault lawsuit
Lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs pushed back against a woman's lawsuit that accused him of sexual assault, filing a motion on Friday to dismiss some claims that were not under law when the alleged incident occurred.