Ottawa Centre wants 'fresh ideas' for improved housing, education

With a mixture of wealthy and low-income neighbourhoods, the ballot box question for voters in Ottawa Centre varies depending on where you are, but most say they're looking for whatever "levels the playing field."

On Wellington Street West, young parents pushing top-of-the-line baby carriages share sidewalks with elderly couples out for a stroll. Each seems concerned about the quality of services being offered to taxpayers.

"I want social services and the party that decides they want to provide those social services would be the one I'm interested in," said Debbie Dramnitzki, who recently moved to Ottawa from Saskatchewan.

"Anything for the poor, anything that levels the playing field."

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Cody Duguay-Davies has a more specific answer: child care and educational resources. 

"They just need to do a lot more to take care of us," he said, bluntly. 

Duguay-Davies added when he decides who to vote for, he'll be thinking of his son, Jackson, who hasn't yet turned five years old.

What matters to Ottawa Centre this election

8 years ago

Duration 1:45

CBC's Street Talk team went to neighbourhoods in the downtown riding to find out what issues matter most to voters.

Promises for young families

Daniel Gray likewise wants the province to improve the education system, specifically classroom sizes and supports for teachers. 

"I have a nine-year-old boy and he's struggling and he needs extra support. That would come in very handy."

Young families are a prime demographic for campaign promises and are far from forgotten this election: 

• The Liberals made a $2.2-billion commitment to make preschool free for kids aged two-and-a-half years to four.
• The PCs say they'll set up a tax rebate program to cover up to $6,750 in childcare costs. 
• The NDP promise for households with an annual income under $40,000 and a sliding scale of costs for those families who earn more.

For families with older children, like the Grays, parties have made a raft of promises, including to invest more in special needs education (Liberal), cap Kindergarten classes and end standardized tesing (NDP), and scrap Ontario's "discovery math" and sex ed programs (PC).

Housing a key issue

Take a short drive along Wellington Street West, past where it turns into Somerset Street, and you'll find different priorities. 

In Chinatown's Dundonald Park, university students walk their dogs next to a pair of recent immigrants speaking Persian.

A man near the swingsets is taking a break from panhandling, while a group of people across the street rummage through bags on the curb, collecting cans to exchange at the nearby Beer Store. 

"I see homeless people, real Canadians that are homeless," Mary Akavak said of her daily commutes through the area. "Sometimes they sleep here, sometimes they sleep there or wherever. Even places nobody even knows where, they have hiding places."

Akavak is hoping the candidates will do something to improve the situation in Ottawa Centre, where the latest census shows the proportion of households below the poverty line is 16.4 per cent and the average rental costs $1,126 per month. 

• Find out more about who lives in Ottawa Centre

Voters ask for affordable options

Natalie Beaudoin, who lives west of the multicultural neighbouhood, is one of a handful of people who bring up the high cost of rent and dearth of affordable housing units.

"I have a bachelor and I can't afford to move because you can't get a bachelor for less than $900." 

She wants her local representative to take action: "They keep saying they're going to do something about it, but nothing is ever done. That's what I would like. Are they going to do something or is it just going to be empty promises again?"

In a riding where only 42.2 per cent of people own the homes they're living in, and recent bidding wars have boosted an already hot housing market, it's not surprising. 

• Read more: Bidding wars intensify as Ottawa homebuyers hit perfect storm

The major parties have each made affordable housing part of their platforms: 

• The Liberals have a five-year, $125-million incentive program to encourage the construction of new purpose-built rental apartment buildings.
• The PCs have stepped back from a plan to open the Greenbelt to development, but Leader Doug Ford says he has an affordable housing plan.
• And the NDP's platform includes promises to build 65,000 new affordable homes and use $3 million as seed money for co-op housing development.

Steven Hemise has already spoken to his local NDP candidate and plans to ask the others vying for his vote if they can promise a solution to his housing woes. 

"I've actually been in the job market. It's very difficult to find full-time employment now. And I've also started looking for an apartment," he said. "The price ranges are just out of my league."

Others said they will closely review the parties' minimum wage and job creation programs.

All in a Day asked candidates representing the three major political parties what child care would look like in Ontario if their party formed the next government. Here is what they had to say.

CBC is coming to your riding

The Street Talk team is heading to every provincial riding in Ottawa to find out what issues matter most to the people who live there. 

From now until election day on June 7, reporters will go to Carleton, Glengarry–Prescott–Russell, Kanata–Carleton, Nepean, Orlé​ans, Ottawa Centre, Ottawa South, Ottawa West–Nepean and Ottawa–Vanier.

Then we'll take your questions to the people hoping to get your vote. 

Come back to our website each day to find out about another riding, and follow the discussion with the hashtag #CBCStreetTalk on social media.