New community garden in Montreal is rooted in Indigenous practices
The Garden of the World and First Nations, in the Milton Park neighbourhood, is a space for residents to gather, grow food, and reconnect with nature. Organizers, volunteers, and local leaders say it's a small but powerful step toward building more inclusive and sustainable green spaces in the city.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
She says Service Canada made an error on her Old Age benefit application — the delay almost got her evicted
A Toronto senior is speaking out after she was left without her Old Age Security benefit for months because of a simple error by Service Canada that left her in a dire situation: the wrong year was allegedly entered into its system. Debbie Westfall says she applied for OAS in January, well before she turned 65 in March, because she knew she would be relying on it to get by. But many months and phone calls later, she was still without her benefit. Now, after CBC Toronto reached out to the agency, Westfall's wait is over and she says her money was deposited Friday. Still, Westfall and her case manager are speaking out because they say for someone like her, a delay in getting the benefit could be the difference between keeping a roof over her head and losing it. "I was so overwhelmed, I could never have done this on my own. I am so relieved to have money for rent and food," her case manager at the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre told CBC News Westfall said. Getting a hold of someone at Service Canada to solve the problem wasn't easy, she says. "We phoned and phoned, and I was crying every day," she said. Service Canada says there are a number of measures in place to ensure that seniors have support through the process, but one researcher who's studied issues with OAS says the system can often be difficult to navigate. More than a dozen phone calls and hours on hold Max Kelly, an intensive case manager at Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre, worked with Westfall through the process. He says he made more than a dozen phone calls to reach Service Canada and spent hours on hold. As Westfall neared the possibility of eviction, Kelly says he managed to access an emergency bridging program with the province of Ontario. But he's extremely frustrated about how much time and effort it took to solve the problem. "It seems to highlight a basic problem-solving issue within the federal government," he said. During one of his calls, Kelly says, one agent told him someone at Service Canada had entered the year 2035 instead of 2025. And while many of the agents were sympathetic and said the situation was marked as urgent, Kelly says it wasn't rectified urgently enough. Service Canada responds After CBC News reached out to Service Canada, Kelly said he received his first call from the government agency. He says he was told Westfall's money would be put in her account within 10 business days. Westfall confirmed she received the payments she's been fighting for on Friday. Service Canada confirmed to CBC News that her application was processed on a high-priority basis. It did not respond to questions about the error Kelly was told was made on the agency's end or about the lengthy hold times they experienced in the process. It also said it's committed to ensuring that all seniors receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and a number of measures are in place to identify and assist clients in accessing them. "These measures include automatic enrolment to OAS for some clients, a dedicated Pensions Call Centre, direct outreach initiatives through partnerships with various community support organizations, a number of promotion and awareness initiatives including mail-out campaigns, and support in obtaining information or to apply for benefits at over 300 Service Canada Centres located across Canada," the agency said in a statement. John Stapleton with the National Institute on Aging has researched issues with OAS and says Westfall's case points to a larger problem. "The Old Age Security benefits are extremely complicated," he said. Stapleton says he has advocated for around 100 people who struggle with the system by reaching out to their members of Parliament or advising them to do so. He says people originally from other countries sometimes struggle with missing acceptable documentation, especially if a country has broken infrastructure. People can have difficulty engaging with the system because they struggle with technology as older adults. "This is a program that's had many Band-Aids put on it over the years. It's generally a very generous program, and it's a program that is looked up to by a lot of Canadians, but at the same time it has complexities that have been added on over the years," he said. Kelly is relieved to know that Westfall will get her benefits soon, but hopes highlighting this issue provokes change.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Canada Day flypast a homecoming for this Snowbirds pilot
Capt. Caitie Clapp was born in Ottawa and attended the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston. She's only the third woman to fly as part of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Crooked intersection remains 'dangerous,' despite safety upgrades
Social Sharing An intersection in a rural area near Stittsville remains a problematic spot for collisions and near-misses, despite the installation of extra safety measures last year. The City of Ottawa added speed boards, flashing lights, and repainted road lines on Flewellyn and Shea roads as measures to improve safety at the skewed intersection. For years, drivers and local councillors have called for significant upgrades to the intersection, especially as suburban housing development sprawls closer to the rural agricultural area. "It's a dangerous intersection," said Brian Beattie, a retired bus operator who drives through it multiple times a week to volunteer at his church on Flewellyn Road. "We really need to get that intersection fixed sooner than later." Eight collisions in 2024 The area where the two main roads meet is offset and often causes confusion for drivers. Both roads have 80 km/h speed limits and only Shea Road has stop signs. According to the city, there were 16 collisions in 2022, no data available for 2023, and eight collisions in 2024. Beattie said he has experienced and witnessed many near-misses and even stepped in to help at the scene of a collision there last summer. "I saw this truck sideways, a big delivery truck, and he was stationary. And the other car was up into the shoulder, very, very smashed up." Beattie said he often sees drivers at Shea Road pull out beyond the stop signs at the intersection and prematurely turn because they can't judge the speed of the cars going down Flewellyn Road. He has brought his concerns to local city councillors, including flagging how trees and shrubs at the intersection create a sightline barrier. Local councillor aware of problems Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown said his office has received complaints about the intersection since he took office in 2022. "We've always known that we need to upgrade the intersection. It's getting the funding quick enough to do it," he said. It's not uncommon for rural areas to have skewed intersections, Brown said. "As those larger suburban areas continue to encroach on what is traditionally rural infrastructure, we're starting to see that imbalance of heavy traffic volume with relatively light infrastructure that exists in the area." Brown said he has received fewer calls about the intersection since the improved safety measures were added. He has also requested the clearing of the nearby trees, but says he knows a permanent solution is still required. "We need to make sure that we actually build [on] the intersection. We need to accommodate the growth of Stittsville." Functional design study underway Brown and Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower were successful in getting council to fund a functional design study on the intersection this year. "We're looking at what type of intersection modification would be required, whether that's a signalized intersection or a roundabout," he said. "Based on that design, the city will have to determine how much additional land that we're going to need. So we might need to purchase some of the the corners of that existing intersection." Brown says a four-way stop doesn't meet the provincial requirements because the offsets are so large. He thinks a roundabout is the best option for the section that sees a lot of drivers moving from Richmond, Stittsville and Kanata. A roundabout could adequately deal with the intersection's offset, he said. "It keeps traffic moving, whereas lights stop traffic," he said. "It sounds a little funny, but roundabouts don't need to be perfectly circular. You can have ones that are a little straighter, more like rectangles." WATCH | Safety concerns at an Ottawa intersection: Crooked intersection near Stittsville remains problematic for drivers 4 minutes ago Duration 4:19 CBC's Sannah Choi rode along with a driver who goes through the Shea and Flewellyn roads intersection multiple times a week. He says the intersection is 'dangerous,' despite new safety measures installed last year. The city is aiming to start construction in 2028, according to Elizabeth Murphy from the city's transportation engineering services. Brown said the construction of the intersection will be mostly funded through development charges paid by new homeowners in the area. According to Brown, the northwest corner of the intersection is slated for future housing development. "We know growth is coming," he said. "We just want to make sure that we build the infrastructure in advance of those homes being completed. And that's the track we're on right now."
