City Council Votes to Sell Vanier to Hull

By: Keegan On

Ottawa City Council met last week to formulate a budget for 2016. The city is facing a record-setting deficit, and has been investigating creative ways to bolster municipal earnings. Some Councillors argued that cutting arts programming could save money, but since no one dared propose a tax increase, the Council ultimately decided on a dramatic move: selling Vanier to Hull for 22 million dollars.

“The City of Ottawa is growing. When a population rises, so do costs.” said Gregory Scott, Councillor for Nepean, “The decision to sell Vanier solves a lot of problems for us. The money from the sale will pay off Ottawa’s debts, giving us a fresh start for the new fiscal year. Additionally, a slightly smaller Ottawa means less roads to plough and less potholes to fix. Finally, our significant police forces that have been allocated for Vanier will be distributed elsewhere, making the city safer for everyone.”

The sale came as a surprise to residents, as something of this nature has never been done before. One has to wonder what those who live in Vanier think of the decision, but we were unable to obtain a statement from anyone, as none of our staff wanted to go there.