Vital Signs report finds 'disturbing trends'

A Community Foundation analysis of the state of things in Ottawa will point to areas where life in the nation's capital could be made a lot better, reports Mohammed Adam.

The Ottawa Citizen
Sept. 26 , 2006
Page C3

By Mohammed Adam

Photo by Wayne Cuddington

Posted with permission from the Ottawa Citizen.

The Community Foundation of Ottawa will next month unveil a major report on the state of the city that it hopes will stimulate a public policy debate on how to make the nation's capital a better place to live.

Dubbed Ottawa's Vital Signs, the report will capture the pulse of the city through the study of 11 major issues that are at the heart of the city's quality of life. While it reveals nothing "shocking" about the city's overall health, the authors say it contains some "disturbing" findings that would require attention.

"What we found is that this is a great community, but there is a lot to build on. We are doing really well on some things, we are doing poorly in other things," foundation president Barbara McInnes told the Citizen.

"The things that are going well are not going well for everybody. We need to pay attention to other things."

"There are some disappointments," added Judith MacBride-King, chairwoman of the foundation's research committee. "I thought, in certain indicators, we'd be doing much better. There are certain disturbing trends we should all be aware of."

The first of its kind in Ottawa, the report identifies socio-economic opportunities, success, challenges and trends that reflect the city today and offer significant insight into the future. It will be released Oct. 4 and, coming in the middle of the race for mayor, the report could become fodder for candidates.

"The report gives the community a chance to know itself in a way that it could never otherwise know itself, a chance to look at itself differently and to get to understand something about itself," said Ms. McInnes. '

"It gives an overview of what Ottawa is like in a way that hasn't been done before.

"We hope that this is something people will use to learn things that they might not have known before ... and to stimulate conversation and public policy debates."

It is the first in a series of annual reports from the foundation that will tell Ottawa residents and policymakers how the city is doing on a wide range of issues critical to its quality of life.

Issues examined include jobs, the gap between rich and poor, crime and literacy rates, support for the arts, affordable housing, problems facing new immigrants, civic participation and key transportation issues such as problems of the daily commute.

The community foundation is a 19-year-old charitable organization that manages philanthropic endowments that now stand at about $87 million.

It provides grants to other charitable organizations from the invested earnings of the endowments. Appearing before the Citizen editorial board yesterday, Ms. McInnes said many residents often want to know where the biggest need is in the city and where they can make a difference with their donations.

To provide proper answers to those and other questions, the foundation decided to take a leaf from its Toronto counterpart. The Toronto community foundation pioneered the Vital Signs concept in 2001 to find out where the city is hurting the most and set priorities accordingly. The program is so successful, the city uses the information to identify priorities and channel funding to the areas that need it the most.

A team of Ottawa researchers was assembled to undertake a similar study, drawing from extensive research done by polling organizations, Statistics Canada, the Social Planning Council, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation and others.

The research team also consulted widely with a number of groups, including the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, school boards and police. The result, Ms. McInnes says, is a report that, she believes, paints a revealing portrait of Ottawa. And by publishing a report every year, the city will be able to track how well it does over time and make policy changes where necessary to fix problems.

The community foundation will gain valuable insight into where the need is, and redirect its resources as necessary.

Editorial: The city's quest for a vision, page B4

© Ottawa Citizen 2006