Call For All Residents to Participate in the 2024 Rural Summit

By Irene Staron, MVCA President

On February 28, the MVCA participated in our third Ward 21 Council meeting on behalf of our members and community.  Participating were leaders from rural communities across Councillor Brown’s Ward. The key takeaway? The launch of Ottawa’s 2024 Rural Summit. Read on to learn more.

Rural Summit Workshop

All rural residents are invited to participate in the upcoming Rural Summit workshop for Ward 21 on April 29 at the Alfred Taylor Centre in North Gower. If you wish to attend a session in another rural ward, follow this link for more details. https://engage.ottawa.ca/rural-summit-2024

Why will the 2024 Summit be important to you? Since amalgamation with the City, there have only been two other rural summits – 2005 and 2008. Since then, the City appears to have ‘drifted away’ from promoting a ‘rural way of life’. Thanks to the efforts of our five 5 rural Councillors and the support of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC), a four-tier approach is being launched to obtain resident feedback on what is being done well, what needs to change and what needs to be added to the programs and services being delivered by the City to our rural communities.

Tier One was rolled out in March in the form of a survey. All are encouraged to participate either online or in hard copy.  Go to https://engage.ottawa.ca/ for the on-line version or pick up your hard copy distributed from our Councillor’s offices through local schools, libraries, and community partners.

Tier Two will take place through Ward workshops in early April followed by Tier Three, the ‘Big Summit’ in late November, culminating in Tier Four during which the findings and recommendations of Tiers One through Three will be reported to City Council in December.

Each workshop will be unique and based on community requirements, conducted through a ‘drop-in’ style during the day with evening ‘town halls’ to accommodate every resident schedule. Manotick residents will be welcome to attend these workshops at either Councillor Brown’s or Councillor Darouze’s offices.

All rural workshops will be open to all rural residents, regardless of which Ward they reside in, to offer residents abundant opportunity to participate.

It’s an ambitious undertaking that the MVCA fully supports in advocating in the best interests of our members and our community. We encourage you to take part! 

MVCA Annual Meeting

The Board of the MVCA invites all our members, residents and community partners to join us at our Annual Meeting May 29 at 7 p.m. being held in-person at the Kiwanis Hall, 2nd floor of the Manotick Arena and on-line, for the convenience of our members.  Featuring a recap of the MVCA’s 2023 activities, financials, and elections of new Board members, this meeting offers the opportunity for non-members to learn about the work the MVCA is doing on behalf of your community. While questions will only be taken from members, the experience gained from seeing the MVCA in action could convince you that being a member does make a difference in our community! Registration details and more information will be