Barbara Ramsay stood at the edge of the former Kanata Golf and Country Club on Canada Day, watching water race across the fairways.
Beaver Pond had spilled beyond its banks—pathways disappeared beneath the rising water. The current carved a channel through the property, carrying stormwater toward the low-lying areas below. Residents who have lived in the neighbourhood for decades said they had never seen anything like it.
But while the scene looked alarming, Ramsay wasn’t panicked.
“What we saw on the greenspace was water moving as it was planned to do,” said the co-chair of the Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition. “Yes, it was forceful, and yes, it was 12 or 15 feet wide and six or 10 feet deep at one moment when I took a video up there. It was profound, but that’s what it’s designed to do.”
The record Canada Day storm flooded more than 4,000 homes across Ottawa. According to city figures, Kanata North was the fourth hardest-hit ward, with more than 500 reported flooded basements — a number the city believes is likely even higher, as many townhouse complexes saw multiple units damaged.
For residents who have spent years fighting plans to build roughly 1,500 homes on the former golf course, the storm became a way to prove their long-standing point.
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