Clive Doucet would prioritize affordable housing if elected mayor

Mayoral candidate Clive Doucetis promising to prioritize the creation of more affordable housing options in Ottawa if elected in three weeks' time.

"We live in a beautiful, prosperous city but on all sorts of indices we're failing we're failing on transit, we're failing on housing, we're failing on long-term care," Doucettold reporters Monday morning.

"Weneed to change and I think I'm the person to bring that change."

Affordable housing a priority

Doucet laid out his campaign platform for social services on Monday, with the support of Dick Stewart, the former head of social services for the city, long-term care advocate and journalist HilaryKemsleyand Karen Second, the head of the Parkdale Food Centre.

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Doucet, who represented Capital ward for 13 years, said his first move would be to use all planning tools available to ensurethe development industry provides more affordable housing, including:

• Introducing inclusionaryzoning, which would compel developers to include a certain number of affordable units in new builds.
• Introduce a rental replacement bylaw to make sureexistingrental units are replaced with rental units when redeveloped.
• Step up the city's response to property standard infractionsto make sure landlords are keeping their units in good shape.
• Introduce a landlord licensing program to keep in check landlords who break property standards rules.
• Increase funding for affordable housing options, including rental supplements.

According to the Ottawa chapter of the Alliance to End Homelessness,20 per cent of households are spending more than 50 per cent of their income on on rent and utilities. These are the families Doucetsaid his plan would target first.

However, Doucet did not put a dollar amounton what his plans might cost. When asked how he would fund some of his promises, he repeated his statement that the city's budget process is not transparentand that he believes funds can be re-allocated to different priorities, including affordable housing.

In the last four years, the city has created about 364 affordable and supportive housing units, but the alliance estimates an additional 14,300 bedrooms are needed to house all renters in Ottawa suitably.

Better long-term care, food security

Doucet also vowed to address the way the city's long-term care homes are run, with a view to making them more like communities than institutions.

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"We've got to change the model," said Doucet.

He referenced the so-called butterfly model for patients with dementia, which among other things replacesclinical settings with bright colours and cheerful decor that trigger positive memories for residents who can touch, hold and play with items. He also mentioned the Green House Project, which calls for a more home-like environment in long-term care homes.

"There are lots of models out there, but we need to stop this hospital care and give people in the last years of their lives the kind of dignity and respect they deserve," Doucet said.

He also promised to introduce a new community garden fund of $500,000 and to develop a partnership with the Central Experimental Farm to launch an urban farming program.

Doucetalso promised 2,000 grants of $5,000 awhopping$10 million over four years to develop a green-roof program similar to Chicago's, to increase the number of community garden space available in the city.

He pointed to the ParkdaleFood Centre, which served 8,000 meals during the recent power outage, as a model for using food to bring marginalized people in the community together. As well as serving as a food bank, the centre also provides cooking workshops and community meals.