Letters to the Editor

Remember the mayor’s role in Lansdowne 

 Editor, Glebe Report 

I was surprised to see Mayor’s Sutcliffe’s face beaming at me in an ad in the last Glebe Report. Then I remembered 2026 is the municipal election, and candidates are lining up early.  

The mayor’s track record is not good for the Glebe community considering his huge influence on the Lansdowne 2.0 project. He influenced most of the rural councillors to vote for it with him, and considering the 15-10 yes vote, it would easily have gone the other way if he had voted against it.  

Glebites now face the brunt of horrendous traffic jams, increased pollution and parking problems. not to mention loss of green space and the addition of two out-of-place 40-storey luxury highrises. Did I mention our taxes are bound to go up significantly to pay for the $420 million (and counting) expenditure the City will incur? I hope Glebites will remember Mayor Sutcliffe’s role in this costly and ill-conceived project that is Lansdowne 2.0. 

Rafal Pomian 

 Lansdowne – or separated sewers? 

 Editor, Glebe Report 

One thing that seems to have been ignored in the approval of the $418-plus million for Lansdowne is that much of the Glebe still has combined sewers, quite unlike Old Ottawa East and Old Ottawa South (see yellow arrows on the map). This means, if I understand it correctly, that when there are major storms, we end up with sanitary sewage being mixed with storm sewage in quantities that can’t be processed. Thus, there are overflows into the Ottawa or Rideau rivers. 

There may be a good technical reason for why the Glebe hasn’t been treated like OOS and OOE have with separated sewers but, at first glance, I’d say it is irresponsible to proceed with Lansdowne 2.0 when there seems not to be money for fixing the sewer problem. I may be missing something here, but it seems the city and mayor’s priorities are simply wrong. I think a massive storm retention reservoir is being created under the Great Lawn, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to get the sewer separation done? 

John Dance 

Old Ottawa East 

Lansdowne 2.0 a white elephant?

 Editor, Glebe Report 

I can’t believe this Lansdowne 2.0 white elephant has been approved. It is estimated to cost taxpayers $419 million but will likely be more. We spend a vast amount of money to produce something that is forgettable, unimaginative and does little for the Glebe or for Ottawa. With that kind of money, at least put a dome over the existing stadium for year-round use. 

When Lansdowne 1.0 was introduced, I proposed two ideas to then-mayor Larry O’Brien, to place Ottawa on the international map and generate revenue.  

My first proposal was a music/entertainment complex. The stadium would become a concert bowl with world-class studios and an underground amphitheatre for music teaching, recording, recitals and lecture halls, in a collaboration of school and professional music, sponsored by entertainment corporations. Chamberfest, Folkfest and other non-profit organizations, who currently need to search for facilities for their concerts, could hold them here. The facility would include a cinema, a theatre, an above-ground stadium for basketball, tennis and similar tournaments, as well as restaurants and a hotel. 

The second proposal was for a first sports school in Canada, dedicating resources to training professional team managers, scouts, coaches, agents, medical staff, general managers, etc. – a collaboration between Lansdowne and Ottawa and Carleton universities, sponsored by corporations. The surrounding fields would be used for practices. Underground would be classrooms, auditoriums, a lecture hall, a cinema for instructive films, a mini pool and a track surrounding a soccer pitch, as well as restaurants. This academic endeavour would appeal to local, provincial, national and international students.  

Instead, we have Lansdowne 2.0, probably soon obsolete, with half-empty restaurants and retail stores and overpriced condos. I agree that the most interesting part of Lansdowne is the sculpture “Moving Surfaces” that is to be razed. Well done, Ottawa. 

Clive Branson 

Lansdowne 2.0 a breach of trust 

 Editor, Glebe Report, 

Re: “Lansdowne 2.0 approved,” Glebe Report, November 2025. 

So. Lansdowne 2.0 is going ahead despite years of public protest, campaigns, surveys (60 per cent were against) and a damning auditor’s report. Mayor Sutcliffe and his councillor cronies who voted yes have appropriated $485 million (and more) from the people of Ottawa and put it directly in the pockets of the millionaire owners of OSEG. Our children and grandchildren will carry the debt. This is, plain and simple, a flagrant breach of trust.  

Justifying his so-called leadership on this issue, Sutcliffe takes us for fools, offering laughable platitudes: “Lansdowne belongs to the people of Ottawa.” I commend Shawn Menard and his staff for their tireless efforts to stop Lansdowne 2.0. Shame on the councillors who betrayed the will of the people. Little wonder that no one has faith in government anymore. 

Reading between the lines of the flawed Lansdowne 1.0 business plan, which was calculated to fail, it is obvious that the endgame of OSEG was always to get permission to build housing on the site. Council has granted its wish. 

For 10 years, the Glebe has been treated as an instrument, a mere accessory to Lansdowne. Lied to about parking arrangements, we have been pummelled, sometimes daily, with Lansdowne events, ramped up year by year, leading to breach of noise bylaws, crowds, traffic, emissions, bumper-to-bumper parking on residential streets, parking violations ignored by bylaw officers, as well as preposterous demands that we widen our sidewalks, change our parking laws and alter our neighbourhood in other ways, to accommodate day trippers. Our neighbourhood has become unrecognizable. The owners of OSEG care nothing about this. They don’t live here. 

Now, we face 10 years of construction. By what routes will trucks arrive at the site and where will the thousands of construction workers park? I suspect on the streets of the Glebe. 

Dorothy Speak