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 kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Houston braces for flooding to worsen in wake of storms
High waters flooded neighborhoods around Houston on Saturday following heavy rains that have already resulted in crews rescuing hundreds of people from homes, rooftops and roads engulfed in murky water.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Golf season a summer tourism driver in Canada
Golf is a sign of spring and summer and a major driver for seasonal tourism, experts say.