We have a glitzy power plant — but no house for PM | Letters to the Editor

The view of the Cliff Energy Centre and its curtain wall in Ottawa from Gatineau. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /POSTMEDIA

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We have a glitzy power plant — but no house for the prime minister

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I find it odd that $3.4 billion was spent on a glitzy power plant and design whereas just further down the river, up on the cliff, sits a house that used to house (and hopefully will again) the prime minister of this country, and yet they let it fall into a teardown repair state for years and hesitated on spending a mere $34 million or so renovating it.

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This is the capital, so there’s always going to be a little ostentation, but it’s also the political power centre of the country, so political architecture should also be emphasized and put front and centre.

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This Cliff Energy Centre is simply an industrial plant, and albeit it will provide heating and cooling for many downtown government buildings, why not turn up the heat on getting a residence for the country’s prime minister?

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The current prime minister has started the ball rolling on a new prime minister’s house, but the process has been painfully and unusually long, and the final result will probably still take years.

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This is a prime example of where Ottawa bureaucracy and showiness often either mix or clash.

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Douglas Cornish, Ottawa

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The Cliff Energy Centre is indeed an architectural marvel

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The clever and ingenious way in which an otherwise austere industrial-grade building without much esthetic appeal was so successfully integrated into the fabric of a very special Ottawa city precinct is impressive and highly deserving of being highlighted and applauded. Most noteworthy is the fabulously designed “curtain” concealing the mechanical workings of a functional plant with few aesthetically redeeming features.

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It may be of interest to also note that its concept and resulting design can be attributed to an entirely Canadian team of superb architects and engineers. Of particular mention in that respect would be the seminal contribution by a local engineering firm called Triodetic, headed by its nationally and internationally known chief engineer, William “Bill” Vangool.

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Kudos to the entire project team for producing such an endearing tribute to Canadian know-how and urban artistic ingenuity. An architectural marvel indeed, and a thing of beauty for our capital city!

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V.J. Lanctis, Rockcliffe Park

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We need to find a way out of the austerity trap

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We are dominated by neo-liberal economic thinking that focuses on less government and lower taxes. It also focuses on austerity. We all buy into this as normal, but it is not.

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The austerity trap cuts educational, medical and other social services to enable tax cuts. The services are lacking in people and budgets, and wait times for health care, for example, increase, and then people complain that they are not getting value for their taxes and fight any increases. But if we accepted higher taxes or a more progressive increase in taxes, we would get better service, have less stressed and happier service providers and we would all be better off.

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But who can drive a path out of this individualistic mentality that has lost sight of community and the common good? It is not obvious, but the need is really pressing.

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Michael Wiggin, Ottawa

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