WHEREAS Ottawa has been hit with destructive weather events, including the tornados in 2018 and the derecho in 2022, causing extensive and lengthy power outages; and
WHEREAS weather experts, as confirmed in the Official Plan, project that Ottawa will continue to experience severe, destructive weather events on a more frequent and basis; and
WHEREAS in the 36 hours following the derecho of May 2022, approximately 150,000 Hydro Ottawa customers were without power, and many Ottawa residents went without power for over 10 days; and
WHEREAS many Ottawa residents living in apartment buildings and condominium buildings were without power for over 10 days, without access to basic necessities such as elevators, emergency hallway lighting, and running water; nor access to emergency resources the city had set up for residents; and
WHEREAS access to an elevator is essential to the personal autonomy, dignity, and safety of persons with disabilities and persons with mobility challenges living in apartment buildings and condominium buildings; and
WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Canada has said that “one must be wary of putting too low a value on accommodating the disabled. It is all too easy to cite increased cost as a reason for refusing to afford the disabled equal treatment.”; and
WHEREAS the Accessible Housing Network urges that the Government of Ontario require that every apartment building have a generator capable of powering elevators and emergency lighting; and
WHEREAS Ottawa Fire Services has stated a need to shift priorities in their post-storm response to attend to residents living in apartment buildings; and
WHEREAS Toronto City Council has recommended that such residential apartment and condominium buildings have backup generators; and
WHEREAS the Protecting Human Rights in an Emergency Act, 2022, as brought forward by Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma, seeks to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, and the Condominium Act, 1998, to ensure that all apartment and condominium buildings have a back-up emergency generator capable of running an elevator, emergency hallway lighting, and water pumps for a period of two weeks;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Ottawa City Council request that the Mayor write a letter addressed to the Premier of Ontario and all Ottawa MPPs expressing City Council’s support of Bill 47, Protecting Human Rights in an Emergency Act (Emergency Power Generators), 2022, and asking the Government of Ontario to approve this legislation, and that this letter of support be sent to local MPPs, the Premier, and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).