'Very busy summer': City council meets before summer break

The 2022-2026 term of Ottawa city councillors meet in this 2023 file image. (CTV News Ottawa)

City council will meet today for its last meeting before the traditional summer break.

After Wednesday's meeting, there won't be another council meeting until mid to late August.

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal on Tuesday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said it's a time to take a break, but it doesn't mean work isn't getting done.

"We still have a lot of work to do this summer. It's going to be a very, very busy summer," he said. "I am encouraging councillors to take a bit of time with their families and to get some rest. Everybody deserves a break and it's been a busy year, so I am encouraging everyone to take a break. This is the time to do it."

Items on the agenda Wednesday include proposed priorities for the remaining term of council, votes on things like an alternative to 9-1-1 for mental health calls, a transition housing strategy, zoning changes to allow more grocery stores in the city, and a motion to allow the Ottawa Hospital to lease out some land near the Riverside Campus for a for-profit long-term care project.

Council will also receive a legal briefing on the LRT, but it will be held in-camera, meaning the public will not be privy to what was discussed.

"I can't talk about it much, it's a confidential matter, but around major infrastructure projects there are legal issues that arise between the municipality or the province and the contractors who are doing the work, so we're going to get an update on that. There's no big decisions to be made about that. It's an information update," he explained.

Sutcliffe was sworn in as mayor last November, and is approaching his first full year in office. He says he's pleased with what's been done so far.

"I think things have gone ever better than I hoped and expected," he said. "I think that council has been working really well together. The last term of council, especially the last couple of years, there was a lot of division and tension and fighting and squabbling and I think we've set a new tone."

City council's next scheduled meeting is Aug. 23.