Ottawa City Council met on Wednesday for a very brief meeting. Councillor Steve Desroches brought forward the first motion of the significant debate, which was seconded by Councillor Laine Johnson. It amends a previous staff recommendation asking that the city update the current idling By-law for vehicles.
The Desroches motion would allow for an idling time of five minutes within a sixty-minute period when the weather is between 0-27 degrees and 10 minutes within a sixty-minute frame when the temperature is below zero. The staff recommendation was for one minute and three minutes, depending on the temperature.
The motion also asked that public education and outreach campaigns around idling target heavy areas, including school zones and construction sites. Desorsches said the motion “strikes a balance” and pointed out that more parents picking up their children from schools “has an impact on the air quality that affects our students.” Desroches stated that the by-law was willing to take a “sensible approach to enforcement” and that the power of the by-law comes from the “educational components rather than a strict and aggressive by-law enforcement.”
Councillor Shawn Menard, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee spoke to the motion, giving a platitude of facts about why idling is bad. He addressed the relatively cheap cost of the education program, noting that the signage to be put up in high-idling areas will only cost $6000.
Councillor Ariel Troster also spoke out against the amendment brought forward by Desroches. Troster mentioned the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests, highlighting that “residents felt the impacts of trucks idling all the time” and that stronger idling controls were one of the requests in the Ottawa People’s Commission report (a non-binding document brought forward by residents who disagreed with the convoy protests).
Troster closed her remarks by stating, “I think we have a tendency to defang policies aimed at curbing our overall carbon footprint.”
Councillor Theresa Kavanaugh also opposed the ten minutes, saying she believed it was “going backwards” and that “we need to move forward.”
Councillor Allen Hubley spoke in favour of the Desroches motion, saying that idling considerations have to take into account residents with young children and elderly citizens who sometimes leave their cars running so that they can warm them up and more easily defrost their windshields in cold temperatures.
The new idling controls passed with six dissenting votes.
The new By-law will take effect in January 2025. The fine for violating idling limits is $500.
