A proposed development near the Ottawa Greenbelt would house up to 45,000 people. Ontario reporter Carl Meyer and photojournalist Spencer Colby visited the area to learn more.
In a rural area beyond Ottawa’s core, photojournalist Spencer Colby and I had been door-knocking all morning. We wanted to know what locals thought about a proposed mega-development that would span 445 hectares and house up to 45,000 people.
Last week, city councillors narrowly struck down a motion to remove the Tewin development from Ottawa’s official plans. The project is backed by major developer Taggart Group in partnership with Algonquins of Ontario.
Everyone in the neighbourhood knows about Tewin. Many locals opened their doors to us for long conversations. Still, almost no one was willing to go on the record: it was clear a deep cloud of suspicion had formed over the whole thing, even among people who noted its potential benefits.
I’ve lived in Ottawa for 17 years and I’m raising my family here. Tewin has been on my radar for a while, and I’m grateful to everyone who gave their time to help me understand the issues. I’m indebted especially to Sushin Malik, a local shopkeeper, and Timothy Gluch, an avid birder we met on a Greenbelt trail, who were willing to openly share their hopes and concerns for Tewin.
The story, published this week, is a bit of a departure from my usual focus on the political influence of the fossil fuel industry. I’m glad for the opportunity to work with Spencer, who contributed excellent photojournalism, and to learn from fellow Ottawans about an important issue close to home.
This one project, massive as it may be, is part of a bigger story about how things get built in Ontario — and who benefits. I’m excited to dive into more development issues, and look forward to telling you all about it.
Take care and say hi to a neighbour,
Carl Meyer
Ontario reporter, climate investigations
Zak Vescera, a reporter with the Investigative Journalism Foundation, called me a few weeks ago to say he’d got his hands on some documents I might want to see. I was immediately intrigued. He told me he was looking at emails between David Vigneault, then-director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and pipeline giant TC Energy. The emails included a pitch from the company to set up regular meetings for “private, high-level discussions about security threats facing Canadian industry.”
I’ve reported on TC Energy’s apparently cozy relationship with the spy agency before, and Zak wanted to know if I shared his hunch that he’d dug up an important story. I certainly did, and we agreed to partner up on the investigation, published today.
The story is a glimpse inside the relationship between Canada’s spy agency and some of the country’s most powerful corporations — and how those companies successfully lobbied the federal government to change its rules on sharing sensitive information. Critics we spoke to worry the secrecy involved and the flow of information could have a “chilling effect” on the Charter-protected right to protest, particularly against fossil fuel projects advanced by companies like TC Energy.
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A proposed development near the Ottawa Greenbelt would house up to 45,000 people. Ontario reporter Carl Meyer and photojournalist Spencer Colby visited the area to learn more.
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