Please see our Annual Report (November 2007/08) for the latest update, presented at the Annual General Meeting of November 20, 2008.

Also see the Chair's Report 2007, presented at the Annual General Meeting of October 18, 2007. 

Veuillez regarder le Rapport de la Présidente, 2007 pour la mise-à-jour qui a été présenté à l'Assemblée annuelle du 18 octobre, 2007.

An earlier sum-up, dated September 22, 2006, updated April 3, 2007:

So what's the Alliance been up to lately? Here is a sample:

• Alliance members are part of a coalition that is trying to restore the Carp River to good health. A letter was sent to the Ontario Minister of Environment, requesting a more thorough environmental assessment of a number of projects proposed by the Kanata West developers. A decision was expected before the end of the year but has not yet been issued.  Serious discussions with developers and the city (staff and politicians) had begun to see the River restoration project extended to the rural reach --  our key objective -- but have not continued while the developers hope for a green light from the Ministry...

• The Alliance appealed several sections of the 2003 Ottawa Official Plan to the Ontario Municipal Board and was accepted as a Party to several others. We have won a number of settlements and, last May, went through a 2-day hearing where we gained some points.  A Decision on our main demand in that hearing (for greater protection of Rural Natural Features) was issued March 21, 2007.  See more on that here.   A final issue, the City's policies on Country Lot Subdivisions, was settled on December 21, 2006.

• The Alliance was part of a Coalition for NCC Renewal, made up of 10 organizations and led by an Alliance member. The Coalition drafted four papers and submitted them to the NCC Mandate Review Panel: on Gatineau Park, on the Greenbelt, on NCC lands other than the Park and the Greenbelt, and on Governance. The Panel's Report, issued December 21, 2006, in many ways reflected the Coalition's Recommendations.

• A major milestone with the Poet's Hill project at Beechwood Cemetery was reached on September 13, 2006 with the inauguration of the site by the Parliamentary Poet Laureate. As well, working with two Councillors and city staff, we achieved agreement to protect the view of Parliament Hill from the site (and from the adjacent Tommy Douglas memorial) in the Official Plan and Zoning By-law.

• The Poets' Pathway project (of which Poet's Hill is one anchor) has been recognized by the Community Foundation of Ottawa/Sustainability Fund as a project eligible to attract donations. (See the major article by Janice Kennedy in the Ottawa Citizen of September 10, 2006; read the article here).

• For the municipal election on November 13, Alliance members together with the Ottawa Group of the Sierra Club of Canada and the Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa, prepared a voting score card of the incumbents to assess their environmental record and a questionnaire for all candidates to reveal their opinions on environmental issues. Go to http://ottawaenvironmentalvotes.org/  for more information. Here is a post-election comment.

There's much to do! Contact us if you'd like to help on this or several other projects!