With Wellington Street cleared of vehicles, many say it should stay that way

UPDATE: McKenney's motion to study temporarily closing Wellington Street was approved by council on Feb 23. It speaks specifically to the section between Elgin and Bank streets and would apply until the end of 2022. That would also involve closing Metcalfe and O'Connor streets north of Queen Street.

The trucks are gone from Wellington Street and now that they are, many are suggesting vehicles be barred from the street for good. 

For more than three weeks, vehicles, which came to protest in front of Parliament Hill, clogged Ottawa's streets and disrupted the lives of residents. 

"I don't think that you're going to see Wellington Street reopen," Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury told CBC.

"It's going to look like a street for the time being, but it's likely going to be converted into a pedestrian plaza." 

Fleury, who represents people in some of the neighbourhoods affected by the recent protest, said the conversation has been ongoing for years, but the last number of weeks have likely pushed it into action.

While Ottawa is used to protests, he said, this last one has many local businesses looking for reassurances that their doors won't be closed because of demonstrations again. 

Meanwhile, Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney tweeted Monday evening they were going to bring a motion to city council on Wednesday to keep at least a portion of the street closed to vehicles. 

Walking mall could be better for security, tourism

Former Ottawa police chief and sitting Senator Vern White says he's been advocating for Wellington Street to become a pedestrian-only zone for years. 

The convoy posed a national security threat, in part because it was allowed to set up camp so close to key national buildings.

"It emboldened those people and gave them a backdrop that allowed other people to say: 'I want to be a part of that,'" White said. 

He envisions a chunk of Ottawa streets becoming a pedestrian walking mall under federal jurisdiction — everything from Wellington Street to Queen Street and from Lyon Street to Elgin Street. 

"It will give us a buffer between Parliament Hill and vehicles, and I think it'll provide a much better atmosphere from pedestrian-only access and I think, as well, it may be a bit of a tourism move."

Referring to Ottawa police assessments that officers couldn't manage the protest on their own, he also said he believes the area should be federally policed. 

At least one member of parliament is on board with the idea.

Hull-Aylmer MPGreg Fergus says White helped convince him of the idea about seven years ago. 

"I think we can [bring] our Parliament more to the people, and this is a great way of doing it. I like his idea. I'd like to see it even go further." 

Fergus is a proponent of the connecting the Ottawa LRT and proposed Gatineau tramway along a loop that would serve Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the Canadian Museum of History and the National Gallery of Canada on the Ottawa side.

Connecting the two transit services along Wellington Street was an idea the National Capital Commission endorsed last year. 

Because the train cars are public property, Fergus expects it to be a much more secure setup than the current one — and more inviting.

He said the expansion of the parliamentary precinct may happen via a land transfer from the City of Ottawa to the federal government, with the city receiving another parcel of federal land in return. 

History of parliamentary precinct creep

The parliamentary precinct creep has been ongoing for years. Mayor Jim Watson said he remembers driving right up to the Peace Tower to watch the Christmas lights show with his parents. With road blocks and barricades, that's not possible anymore. 

He also remembers when an armed passenger hijacked a bus bound for New York in 1989 and re-directed it to Parliament Hill and when Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot and killed while standing guard at the National War Memorial. 

Cirillo's death, and the events surrounding it, led to a complete review of the security in and around the hill. In 2015, federal security services were amalgamated to create the Parliamentary Protective Service and tasked police with ensuring the security of the parliamentary precinct under the RCMP's command.

Watson said this latest protest will act as a catalyst for a review of whether Wellington Street should be open and accessible given the fact it connects the Prime Minister's Office, the Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament Hill.

"I don't want Parliament Hill to turn into Fort Knox. I want people to go and have yoga on Wednesdays and cycle around," he said. 

"At the same time, we have to be conscious of the fact that there are people that come to our city to cause havoc and danger, and that has to be minimized and limited."