OTTAWA— A recent report by the City of Ottawa’s Rural Affairs Office says rural Ottawa residents, including about 1,400 farms, are better off since the 2001 amalgamation that swallowed up surrounding townships.

Rural residents have seen improvements to the majority of their services, the report says. Paramedic response times are up, more rural residences have access to high speed internet, more money has been spent to maintain and repair rural roads and volunteer firefighters now receive the same training as full-time city firefighters.

However, not everyone agrees with the report. "The statistics are subject to interpretation," says Ottawa Rural Issues advisory committee chair and Richmond-area dairy farmer Richard Fraser.

"Rural Ottawa is not better off because you have an urban council making decisions about rural areas," he said. "Rural residents would still like to see more maintenance of roads and weeds at the side of the road."

Despite these issues, Fraser does not believe de-amalgamation will happen. "It is a dream for some but will not become a reality. Rural efforts need to be focused on improving rural Ottawa and not de-amalgamation."