A spokesperson for the Salvation Army is pushing back against the notion that the organization has been secretive and opaque in its dealings, when it comes to a proposed shelter in Vanier.

Speaking on CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Evan Solomon, Glenn van Gulik, the Area Director of Public Relations and Development, said the Salvation Army has been consulting with the City and the area councillor, Mathieu Fleury, for a long time.

“We’ve been talking with the councillor and the City of Ottawa for over two-and-a-half years, specifically about 333 Montreal Road,” van Gulik said. “I’ll say, Saturday, we actually sent the councillor a letter outlining all of those conversations, all of the meetings, specific with dates, the dialog, the items that we talked about.”

Van Gulik says the letter was sent because the Salvation Army felt it was being portrayed in the media as “non-consultative.”

“That’s simply not the case,” van Gulik said. “We engaged him from the get go when we were looking at this site. We sent that letter with the intent of simply clarifying that consultation has been done, and we’ll continue to do it with the public or with anybody that asks.”

In the letter, obtained by Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now, van Gulik said they first started having conversations about 333 Montreal Road in January 2015. The letter outlines follow-ups in April and October of the same year.

“We discussed the possibilities of the site, we talked about the criteria that we used to select the site,” Van Gulik said. “That would have also been the time we would have explored other sites.”

He says there were a couple of other sites available, but they didn’t meet the criteria the Salvation Army had provided. He cites a location “out by the 417, near an on-ramp” but said it was not close enough to where their clients are.

Van Gulik claimed there was no request to consult with community associations.

“If there was, we would have of course done that,” he said.

The letter also says there were meetings in Fall 2016 and as recently as April of this year. At the April meeting, the letter says the Salvation Army presented proposed final designs. The Salvation Army says "there was an insistence by [Fleury] to keep this proposal for 333 Montreal Road private until the announcement on June 22."

Fleury has been public in his opposition to the proposed move to 333 Montreal Road. He has asked the Salvation Army to put a pause on its zoning application in order to hold more consultations with the public. Fleury issued a public letter on June 22, outlining his concerns.

Van Gulik says the Salvation Army is willing to meet with anyone who has concerns.

“Invite us, and we will provide you with answers to the questions that you have,” he said. “If there are questions, if people have concerns, we’re here to listen. We’re part of a solution. We’re an organization that is invested in the communities in Ottawa, and throughout the country, at helping people, and we would hope that the residents of Vanier, and throughout the city, would recognize that.”

Fleury says while talk of a move was brought up in previous meetings, other possible locations were put forward. Fleury maintain's he's always been opposed to the 333 Montreal Road location.

"Two years ago they started a conversation identifying various locations," he says. "I believe at that time 333 Montreal Road was on the list. This was done in a meeting where we discussed the current issues and started to discuss their future plan. It was never done in a context of bringing urban planners from the city into the discussion or the real estate office."

Fleury says the city put forward vacant land across from the old Chimo Hotel on St. Laurent Boulevard, but after "basic analysis," the Salvation Army said it did not meet its criteria.

Below is the letter from Glenn van Gulik to Mathieu Fleury, sent July 15.

Councillor Fleury - Letter From Salvation Army Re 27-JUN by Christine Cassandra on Scribd