Ward bondary map showing the ward boundary changes in the east end taking into account the George Derouaze motion..

The east end’s municipal ward boundaries are expected to be dramatically redrawn on Dec. 9 when city council meets to vote on the final recommendations contained in the 2020 Ward Boundary Review as well as a surprise amendment put forward by Osgoode Ward councillor George Derouaze and adopted by the finance and economic development committee on Tuesday.

In their final report, the consultants who carried out the review have recommended that the northern part of Cumberland Ward between Willhaven Drive and the Ottawa River be included in Orléans Ward and the remaining rural part of the ward including the villages of Navan, Sarsfield and Vars, but excluding Avalon, be merged with Osgood Ward.

When that recommendation, also known as Option 6, was first floated in an interim report in July it unleashed a firestorm of criticism, especially from rural residents in Cumberland who wanted to remain with their neighbours in Orléans, and it immediately became a hot button issue during the Cumberland Ward bylection which was won by Catherine Kitts.

After winning her seat at the council table, Kitts immediately started lobbying her colleagues against breaking up her ward.

That lobbying effort paid off with the Derouaze motion which keeps the northern part of Cumberland Ward in a redrawn Orléans Ward, but also draws a line down Milton Road to Russell Road and then east to the Prescott-Russell border. Everyone who lives between Wilhaven Road to the north and Russell Road in the south will be included in a newly-configured Cumberland Ward with Avalon, Chapel Hill South and Bradley Estates. The remaining portion of Cumberland Ward south of Russell Road, including Sarsfield and Carlsbad Springs will be merged with Osgoode Ward.

The Derouaze motion was endorsed by Mayor Jim Watson which means that it will almost certainly be adopted by city council when it meets on Dec. 9.

Although the motion splits the former township of Cumberland Ward into three separate wards, it at least keeps a majority of Cumberland residents in same ward as their Orléans neighbours, which is a major improvement over the consultant’s final recommendation, according to Kitts.

“In a perfect world I would have redrawn things differently, but I also recognize that we have to redistribute the population growth,” says Kitts. “I’m just happy that my colleagues listened to the feedback from our residents and we were able to find a compromise.”

The ward boundary changes will effect all three east end wards. Innes Ward will lose Bradley Estates and Chapel Hill South, but pick up Convent Glen North and South, Orléans Wood and the western half of Présault. That means Orléans Ward will lose those neighbourhoods, but will pick up the section of Cumberland Ward between Willhaven Drive and the Ottawa River, including Cumberland Village.

Orléans Ward will also absorb the portion of Queenswood Heights and Fallingbrrok south of Des Epinettes and Gardenway which are currently in Cumberland Ward.
To view the proposed new ward boun-daries visit www.ottawa.ca.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)