From Dream To Weeds?

In August 2009, and to great fanfare, the Ontario Liberal government announced that Orleans would be getting a $150M health-hub to serve the ever-increasing population. The project was to start in 2011 and be completed in 2013. Seven years later and with wishful thinking that work may proceed in 2017, residents of Orleans have only an aging sign alluding to what may happen in their lifetime.

With local attention currently focused on a new site for the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, and given the challenge of stretching the health budget to cover all the competing priorities, it remains to be seen if the Orleans initiative will advance with the same level of enthusiasm as when originally announced. The 21 acre site at the corner of Brian Coburn Blvd. and Mer Bleue Road is testimony to the reality that political promises, while expected to be well-intended, are often lacking in specific financial detail. Any attempts to get a commitment for an exact timeline from start to finish is, as they say, like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.

Anyone contemplating building a house will ensure their plans and finances are lined up prior to undertaking the pursuit of their goal. The government on the other hand, with their focus on keeping their constituents happy, seems to set the objective and then worries about how to achieve it. Without a binding commitment, such as being up front about funding and implementation details, they simply stickhandle around the criticism about delays with whatever reason they deem necessary. When the promised objective slowly dwindles away, we just shrug our shoulders and chalk it up to business as usual, promises made and promise broken.

The City of Guelph, comparable in population to Orleans, has two health centers with residents being a fraction of the distance away from the hospitals compared to Orleans residents going to either the Montfort or the General. Five years ago, Canada Census 2011 reported the Orleans population to be 107,823. Between the census calculations and growth projections made by the City of Ottawa, it is not unrealistic to think Orleans may have a population of more than 126,780 in 2026. How long will the once field of dreams remain a field of weeds?