Letters to the Editor – August

Letter-to-the-editor

Disappointment all round

To: Shawn Menard
Councillor, Capital Ward
cc Editor, Glebe Report

Allow me to add my voice to the articles and letters in the recent Glebe Report (June 9) on the deplorable state of the administration of our little corner of Ottawa.

With the various infrastructure projects being under a mix of federal (NCC), provincial and municipal responsibility, it is very easy to “pass the buck,” which has been done time and time again.

Being a senior and having lived in the Glebe for over 30 years, I have seen how the quality of our day-to-day life has worsened, despite paying exorbitant municipal taxes. You are the elected official and should be providing a better service, not only in informing “your” residents of the status of planned and ongoing disruptive projects, irrespective of who is carrying out the projects, but also in opposing such follies as Lansdowne 2.0.

Some examples:

  • lighting along the canal: two years
  • replacing the Queensway bridge over the canal: 90 weeks of detours
  • Bronson east bound exit ramp: when will it reopen?
  • Percy Street under the Queensway: when will it reopen?
  • what is happening to the Queens- way between Bronson and Bank? The sound barriers are down but what will the final product be and when will this happen?
  • further afield, we see work on other bridges happening at the same time, reducing traffic flow. When will the Chaudière bridge ever be open?
  • Wasting time on new initiatives such as garbage “tags.”

Perhaps answers to many of these questions exist somewhere on the web, but it would be greatly appreciated if you could compile them and share them with your constituents.

Robert Benoit


Lansdowne flyover an adolescent stunt

To: The (then) Honourable
Anita Anand
Minister of National Defence
cc Editor, Glebe Report

Last evening [June 15], I was sitting quietly reading in my backyard when, without warning, a jet screamed by low overhead. So low, so unnerving that I literally bolted out of my chair. The adrenaline kicked in; my stress levels soared. And it took considerable time before I was able to regain any sense of calm.

This was not merely loud. It was a full-frontal assault. I didn’t have time to haul out a decibel meter, but the screech must have been well over 100 dB, perhaps 110. Levels such as this, according to dB scales, can cause hearing loss in a very short time.

In what universe should my peace and quiet and those of my neighbours be shattered like this? And for what? An adolescent, Top Gun stunt by our military to mark the beginning of a football game at a nearby stadium. How many hundreds (thousands?) of people in our neighbourhood – babies, the elderly, the infirm – were similarly harassed? And, sheesh, let’s not get into the irresponsibility of spewing CO2 emissions and thinking that it’s harmless fun in this age of global warming.

This occurs every year. For the love of our sanity and peace of mind, stop this nonsense.

John Davidson


Queen Elizabeth Drive frustrations

Editor, Glebe Report

Re: “How long does it take bureaucrats in Ottawa to change a lightbulb?” Glebe Report, June 2023

I echo J. Spiteri’s frustration with trying to get the NCC to replace lights along Queen Elizabeth Driveway. I did not count the light poles with no light but was amazed at the large quantity, especially from the Pretoria Bridge to Dow’s Lake when driving back from the NAC around 10:45 p.m. I found it quite difficult to drive at night and had to keep using my high beam.

However, the problem of poor upkeep is compounded by another issue – the closing of long stretches of Queen Elizabeth Dive to cars during the day, presumably to give cyclists priority. This is not logical or necessary because there are numerous bicycle paths all along the way. The closure forced me to take a detour to get to the NAC, involving many stop signs and hence more gasoline.

It becomes even more illogical when seeing how few cyclists use Queen Elizabeth Driveway on weekdays. I brought this to the attention of Councillor Menard last year and asked if there were any statistics on bicycle use to justify their priority and have not yet had a reply.

L.J. Cabri


Von’s patio flowers pilfered

Editor, Glebe Report

It is really very sad that people steal my flower boxes. I spent not only money but also time to make our patio attractive. This is the second box that has been ripped off!

Keep a look out in case you see them on someone’s front porch!

Caren von Merveldt

Owner, Von’s and Flippers

Share this