It's
been four long years since Fran�ois Tr�panier finished a
disappointing third in the 2014 municipal election running
in Innes Ward against eight other candidates including the
winner, Jody Mitic.
During
that time, Tr�panier has been standing ready to run again
should Mitic decide not to seek re-election. When that possibility
became an eventuality last spring, Tr�panier jumped at the
chance for personal redemption and threw his hat into the
ring.
"I
had a lot to offer voters in Innes Ward back then, and
I still do today,� says Tr�panier. "I believe that Innes
Ward needs someone with my kind of experience, education
and leadership to be able to put Innes back on city council's
agenda.�
Unlike
2014, when nine people ran for the seat left vacant by
the departure of former Innes Ward councillor Rainer Bloess,
there are only four people running this time around �
Tr�panier; Laura Dudas, who finished second in 2014; Donna
Leith-Gudbranson, who was an office assistant to Bloess
from 2003 to 2009 and more recently for Beacon Hill, Cyrville
councillor Tim Tierney; and Tammy Lynch who, up until
she decided to run, was an assistant to Jody Mitic.
Tr�panier
is quick to point out that he is the only candidate who
hasn't worked for the city. In fact, he is a former navy
man having served with Canadian Armed Forces for 28 years
from 1987 to 2015.
Since
leaving the navy, he and his wife Laurie have operated
a successful consulting business that specializes in training
and learning development.
Highly
educated � he possesses two Master's Degrees in public
administration and education � Tr�panier says his expertise
in procurement and budget management will be a major asset
should he get elected to city council.
He
also has an extensive and well thought out platform that
addresses a whole host of issues from traffic management
to public transit and environmental concerns.
One
of the universal concerns, Tr�panier has heard during
his door-to-door campaign is speeding on residential streets,
especially in school zones.
"Speeding
is a big problem,� says Tr�panier. "It seems to be an
issue on every street.�
One
of the solutions Tr�panier has put forward is the installation
of rumble strips in school zones which would warn motorists
to slow down.
"People
are ignoring the signs and the warnings painted on the
road,� explains Tr�panier. "The difference between rumble
strips and speed bumps is that they don't affect the buses
and they don't affect the snowplows.�
Tr�panier's
safe streets plat- form also in-cludes the crea-tion of
a pro-tected bike lane from Blackburn Hamlet to the LRT
Station at Gloucester Centre along Innes and Blair Roads.
"It's
something I'd like to see happen as soon as possible.
I don't want to wait until there's a serious accident,�
says Tr�panier. "Right now the cyclists are sharing the
road with cars that are going 80 km/hr and often much
faster. I want to put in flex posts to protect the cyclists.�
One
of Tr�panier's more ambitious proposals is to extend Brian
Coburn Blvd. all the way to Walkley Road. His three opponents
only want to extend Brian Coburn Blvd. to Anderson Road.
Tr�panier says that's not good enough.
"Extending
Brian Coburn to Anderson only solves one problem,� says
Tr�panier, referring to the positive impact the extension
would have by diverting traffic from the Bradley Estates
community. "But it only pushes the problem further down
the road. By extending it all the way to Walkley in the
west and Frank Kenny Road in the east you create another
east-west corridor across the southern part of Orléans.�
Tr�panier
also supports MIFO's plans to triple the size of the cultural
centre on Carri�re Street � both of his teenage children
attended before and after school programs at MIFO and
they went to summer camp there � and he plans to champion
francophone services at City Hall.
Additionally,
Tr�panier wants to be a strong voice on city council in
support of sustainable environmental initiatives, most
notably the use of electric buses. It's something he pushed
for in the last election and OC Transpo recently unveiled
with it's first electric bus to be used as a pilot project.
"What
can I say, I was ahead of my time,� jokes Tr�panier. Ottawa
residents will head to the polls on Oct. 22. An advance
poll is being held on Oct. 12.
(This story
was made possible thanks to the generous support of our
local business partners.)