Feds and city could be ‘fairly close’ on Wellington Street sale

The sound of grinding brakes and the smell of gas and diesel percolate on Wellington Street during weekday rush hours. The street, which divides Parliament Hill from the rest of downtown, has remained a busy artery for vehicle traffic ever since the city reopened it to cars in 2023 after the convoy protests.

Since then, there have been competing visions for the future of the street, which is just outside of the government’s Parliamentary precinct. There have also been questions about who should be responsible for policing the area after the convoy protests dragged on for weeks, as various levels of government squabbled over who should lead the charge to remove them.

The city has been pushing to transfer ownership of the street to the federal government, but negotiations have inched along. Senator Andrew Cardozo, who has proposed pedestrianizing Wellington Street, told the Ottawa Citizen that the two parties were “fairly close to a deal.”

But a looming federal election could scramble talks between the federal government and the city.

The federal government also recently announced new funding for the Ottawa Police Service to have a greater presence in the area — something the city and its police force have long asked for because of all the protests they deal with in the area. It’s unclear whether this funding is a stop-gap measure while negotiations continue.

With all of that in mind, here’s what you need to know about the state of plans for Wellington Street. 

Wellington Street for sale

Even though the city currently has jurisdiction over Wellington Street, those who frequent the area say it’s an intrinsic part of Parliament Hill and the government buildings adjacent to it. Around 40 percent of Parliamentary staff have offices south of Wellington Street, which bridges offices with West Block.

The federal government has also embarked on a massive redevelopment on the south side of Wellington, called Block 2, which will transform a whole city block between O’Connor and Metcalfe streets.

All of this, in addition to the fact that the protests that spill onto Wellington Street from Parliament Hill are often directed at federal politicians. For Cardozo, the federal government’s ambition to purchase Wellington is also about the security of Parliamentarians and their staff. Since the convoy protests, there has been increased animosity between demonstrators and politicians, and confrontations and harassment have become a pervasive issue.

So observers say it makes sense for the federal government to control the street itself and have it fall under the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Protective Service.

Where do the negotiations stand now?

Negotiations to transfer ownership of the street have been slow.

Last fall, Jean Yves Duclos, the procurement minister at the time, told CBC News that discussions had broken down and that the city was dragging its feet. At the time, the city claimed it hadn’t received a formal offer from the federal government.

But Jullian Paquin, a spokesperson for Public Service and Procurement Canada or PSPC, said in an emailed statement that the government at this point has “made an offer that takes into account the potential impacts of restricting vehicle traffic on Wellington and our commitment to fairly compensate the City.”

Paquin added that “PSPC remains committed to ongoing collaboration and partnership with the City of Ottawa in support of redeveloping Wellington Street in a way that balances security for Parliament with the needs of the public realm.”

Cordozo, who is a member of the Progressive Senate group, believes the negotiations have been held up over how much money the city wants and how much the federal government is willing to offer.

For their part, city officials say negotiations are still underway.

“Discussions between the City of Ottawa and the federal government regarding the future of Wellington Street are ongoing,” Vivi Chi, the city’s interim general manager of planning, development and building services, told the Ottawa Citizen in an emailed statement. 

Competing visions for Wellington Street

Sticking points may also remain about what use Wellington Street should serve.

The City of Ottawa has designated Wellington Street as a transportation corridor in its internal transportation study on Wellington Street and doesn’t want to see it pedestrianized.

The report found that OC Transpo will become even more stressed, with buses on Queen Street expected to experience service delays if traffic demands continue to rise. Emergency vehicles and taxis could also be impacted by traffic delays if Wellington becomes closed to vehicle traffic.

However, with mitigation measures, like opening up Queen Street back to four lanes or other options to bolster traffic network resiliency, proponents of ridding Wellington Street of cars say it could become a beautiful fixture on the global stage.

“If you go through so many cities all around the world, they have, over the last few years, closed off many streets to traffic and made them open to pedestrians only,” Cardozo said. “It is such a widespread idea, but somehow in Ottawa, some people have a real hang-up about that and feel that automobiles are the number one entity.”

Cardozo would like to see Wellington Street transformed into a beautified public gathering space where families can picnic and promoters can hold festivals for residents and tourists alike.

The senator also thinks that at a time of a crisis with the national identity under American annexation threats, a dedicated public space at the heart of Canadian democracy can imbue a sense of Canadian pride.

“It’s a matter of really expanding a sense of national identity,” he said.

What about security on Wellington Street?

The security of the Parliamentarians and the staffers who work along Wellington Street has become a concern, as there have been recent incidents in which protesters have harangued them.

Last year, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confronted protesters who heckled him. Cardozo says he has experienced this abuse, too. At the time, the Parliamentary Protective Service were inside the West Block gate and inside a federal government building on the other side of the street, but no police were on Wellington Street.

The new funding announcement, made on March 7, will provide the Ottawa Police Service with $10 million a year for five years to bolster security on Wellington Street with an eye to boosting the safety of Parliamentarians and government workers.

The main catalyst for the deal was the public inquiry into the convoy, which recommended a dedicated police presence for Parliament Hill. Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs said 49 civilian and sworn employees will make up the dedicated parliamentary team.

The agreement raises questions about who will provide services to Wellington Street even if it is purchased by the federal government. With Ottawa police providing security for the next five years, it’s still unclear if the city will provide other services like snow removal and other necessities if a purchase is made.

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