Residents on both sides of the Ottawa River need a new interprovincial bridge. There is doubt about this. City planner Jacques Gréber actually planned for it over 60 years ago.

Forty years ago the approaches on both sides of the river were designed. More than 30 years ago they were built. In the spring of 1984 the National Capital Commission told the members of the then Gloucester City Council that it would transfer title to the not yet named Aviation Parkway from the NCC to the Ontario Department of Transportation in order to give direct access from the 417-174 split to Montée Paiement and Highway 50 on the Gatineau side. The bridge would be built in 1999.

Oops, yet another thing that did not get done.

The bridge has been a pawn in countless political maneuvers motivated by nimbyism and political expediency. The time has come to put politics aside. The time has come to finally follow science and build the bridge.

We need a bridge. Sixty years of studies all point to that bridge at Kettle Island. The infrastructure at this location is most solid and study after study has demonstrated this is the location that will most effectively serve our communities.

Nimbyism often hurts the people who adopt it more than anyone else.

The past, indeed, is an indicator of the future. I said then and I reaffirm now, my support for a bridge at Kettle Island. It was, is and will remain the best option before us.