Fulcrum Radio Show

Fulcrum Radio Show: Damian Piper covering local issues with excerpts from City Council meetings and interviews with local experts.


An extended conversation with Dr. Walter Hendelman, a physician and the guy who literally wrote the book on Neuroanatomy.

Dr. Hendelman, now retired, has been putting his efforts into the ongoing issues with the Civic Hospital proposal and the Central Experimental Farm. Dr. Hendelman is a member of ReImagineOttawa and discusses issues related to the planning and selection process, issues of accessibility which plague the current Civic proposal, the inevitable swelling of downtown traffic and the failed promises of two of the city’s most recent legacy projects, Lansdowne and the LRT.


S01 E14: Helipad concerns at Experimental Farm site as identified by Terry Chilibeck, a retired helicopter pilot/former inspector for Ministry of Transportation. Concerns include emergency manouvers with roof top helipad, annual bird migration paths around Dow’s Lake and wind spikes caused by continued high rise intensification in the area.

“There are [flocks of birds] flying in at night into Dow’s Lake…Birds at night & a helicopter landing are a terrible mix & these are BIG birds. They WILL damage helicopters.”

Fulcrum Podcast: Terry Chilibeck interview starts 18:40


S01 E13: Dr. Bruce is an Ottawa-based physician who first established his family care centre in 1973. He has also served as the Chief of Staff at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, his writing frequently appears in the Ottawa Citizen and he is here today to tell us why bigger hospitals aren’t always better.

Fulcrum Podcast: Dr. Bruce interview starts at 11:06


S01 E12: Toon Dreessen is an Ottawa architect who writes frequently about issues that arise in our growing city.

Does he like the proposed site for the new hospital? No! It’s geologically unstable, right next to prime heritage landscape and does a disservice to the people of Ottawa that spent billions on an LRT system that does not take advantage of the far superior LRT stop at Tunney’s Pasture.

Fulcrum Podcast: Toon Dreessen discusses the New Hospital Site at 18:30


S01 E11: Jerry Fiori of the Ottawa Disability Coalition. The Ottawa Disability Coalition is a network of organizations that advocate to ensure people with disabilities have the same opportunities in the City of Ottawa as every other citizen.

The Experimental Farm site for the new hospital is inherently problematic for people with disabilities. For example, the distance from the Dow’s Lake LRT terminal to the hospital main entrance is over 1/2 Km, considered too far for someone with mobility issues. In addition, the closest parking spaces in the above ground garage, will be in excess of 30m (handicapped parking best practices) from the main entrance. As a result there are no public transit options for the disabled at the site.

Fulcrum Podcast: Jerry Fiori discusses the New Hospital Site at 22:20


S01 E07: Re-imagine Ottawa, exposing the City of Ottawa’s plan to destroy the Experimental Farm. At least 600 trees, many approx. 100 yrs old, and others, rare worldwide species that scientists have been preserving for decades, all will be gone for a Mega Hospital in the middle of the city. Why is this a problem?

The NCC already determined Tunney’s Pasture was the best site for the Hospital. With existing infrastructure already in place. Raising many questions that are yet to be answered.

Fulcrum Podcast: Reimagine Ottawa interview starts 10:40