PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force Launches New Public Consultation

January 31, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario

The Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force wants to hear from residents, local stakeholders, and experts on their ideas to reimagine Ottawa’s downtown core. Today, they have launched a public engagement tool to hear ideas and feedback around revitalizing our downtown.

Creating a more inviting environment in downtown Ottawa for people to live, work, visit, and play in is an effort that requires significant public feedback and consultation. The Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force was created in 2022 by MP Yasir Naqvi to explore ideas and create recommendations that will assist policymakers in reimagining the future of downtown Ottawa. To assist us in this effort, the Task Force is opening up the conversation to hear from a variety of different voices and groups across our community. Interested individuals can follow this link to start providing their feedback: https://downtown-ottawa.in.howspace.com/home-page

“The best ideas always rise to the top when we engage people and seek broad public input on decisions being made,” says Yasir Naqvi, Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre and founding member of the Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force. “If we want to come up with recommendations that our community and local policymakers can support, public consultation and sustained engagement are key to building a consensus.”

The Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force will be seeking feedback in three phases until the end of March 2023. Phase One of the consultation, beginning today and continuing for the next three weeks, will seek to gather general input and ideas from the community. Following this initial round of engagement, the Task Force will follow up with participants to provide feedback on two subsequent rounds of consultation that will seek to dig deeper on the findings that come from phase one.

“One of the things we really want to accomplish with this Task Force is making our downtown core a better place for people,” says Graeme Hussey, Co-Chair of the Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force and President of Cahdco. “To do that, we need to make sure we are actually hearing from those people who live, work, or play in the area today.”

The Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force will utilize this public feedback in its final report with recommendations.

“This is about hearing from people across Ottawa on how to improve our downtown,” says Neil Malhotra, Co-Chair of the Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force and Vice President of Claridge Homes. “Our Task Force is not looking to improve Centretown just for the individuals who live in the area. The success and revitalization of our downtown is something our entire city has a stake in. The success of downtown Ottawa, as the heart of our nation’s capital, will have downstream benefits for our entire city.”

Additional Information

• The Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force is composed of:
  • Graeme Hussey (Co-Chair)
  • Neil Malhotra (Co-Chair)
  • MP Yasir Naqvi
  • Sueling Ching
  • Mary Huang
  • Kevin McHale
  • Christine Leadman
  • Catherine Callary
  • Hugh Gorman
  • John Thomas
  • Mathieu Fleury
  • Christophe Rivet
  • A representative from the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition
  • Councillor Ariel Troster (Observer)
  • Councillor Stéphanie Plante (Observer)
  • A representative from the City of Ottawa Mayor’s Office (Observer)
  • A representative from the Treasury Board Secretariat (Observer)
• People can participate in the Task Force’s public consultation by following this link: https://downtown-ottawa.in.howspace.com/home-page

Media Contact

Jared Maltais
Office of MP Yasir Naqvi
[email protected]