Dow's Lake is Ottawa's newest swimming hole
The National Capital Commission officially took the plunge Thursday to allow swimming at Dow's Lake. CTV's Tyler Fleming reports.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Quebec language watchdog now says it's OK to use ‘go' to support sports teams
A bus is seen with the expression "Allez! Canadiens Allez!" in Montreal on Thursday, April 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi MONTREAL — Quebec's language watchdog has changed its tune on whether it's acceptable to use the word 'go' to cheer on sports teams. In a new guideline posted in its online dictionary, the Office québécois de la langue française says that while 'allez' is the preferred term, it's now 'partially legitimized' to use the English word to show encouragement. The flip-flop comes after the office took a hard line with Montreal's transit agency, pressing it for months in 2024 to scrub the word 'go' from the electronic signs on more than 1,000 city buses. The watchdog confirmed it had changed its position after The Canadian Press obtained a series of emails through access to information legislation, revealing it gave the transit agency a green light to use 'go' in June. The reversal followed a public outcry on the eve of the Montreal Canadiens' first playoff home game in April, when the Montreal Gazette reported how the transit agency had replaced 'Go! Canadiens Go!' with 'Allez! Canadiens Allez!' to stay on the watchdog's good side. The revelations prompted French-language Minister Jean-François Roberge to intervene, declaring that the expression 'Go Habs Go' is part of Quebec culture, and that any future complaints about the slogan would be dismissed. That statement verged on political interference and placed the watchdog in a difficult position, according to one expert. 'The office had to respond to a political order,' said Benoît Melançon, emeritus professor of French literature at Université de Montréal. 'The minister said, 'You will accept this,' so the office had to find a way to accept it.' The transit agency says it hasn't decided whether it will put the word 'go' back on its bus displays. On Wednesday, a spokesperson said the agency is now 'beginning its reflection on the subject.' In an April statement, Dominique Malack, the president of the language office, agreed that the slogan 'Go Habs Go' is anchored in Quebec's history. Still, she went on to say that the word 'go' is an anglicism, and that public bodies have an obligation to use 'exemplary' French, which includes using only French words in their signage. Emails released to The Canadian Press show the transit agency asked the watchdog in May, following the uproar, for authorization to start using 'go' again. A month later, on June 6, the language office directed transit officials to its new entry for the word 'allez' in its online dictionary of terminology, a reference guide for the proper use of French in Quebec. The page notes how the anglicism 'go' has been used in Quebec since at least the 1980s and is 'well-established' in common parlance. 'It is considered to be partially legitimized,' the entry says. When asked by The Canadian Press to comment on the newly released email correspondence, the watchdog confirmed it had updated its position. 'The office now considers that a public body can use the interjection go in a context of encouragement … without this compromising the duty of exemplarity incumbent upon it under the Charter of the French Language,' spokesperson Gilles Payer told The Canadian Press in an email. Payer confirmed the entry was newly published on May 30. 'The media coverage of the case concerning the use of the borrowed word 'go' in a sports context led the office to officially assess the acceptability' of the word, he said. Melançon, the French literature professor, said the new rationale – especially the term 'partially legitimized' – suggests the office was uneasy with the change. 'This must have given rise to some pretty intense internal debates,' he said. ''Do we take into account what the minister is telling us or do we not take it into account? If we don't take it into account, what are the consequences? If we do, how do we justify changing our minds?'' At least one transit agency official felt dubious about the original complaint, which related to a bus displaying the words 'Go! CF Mtl Go!' in support of Montreal's professional soccer club. She called the issue a 'grey zone' in a June 2024 email to colleagues. 'We've been using the word 'go' for years without a problem,' she wrote. 'Are we going to change everything because of one complaint?' But by later that month, the agency had decided to scrap the word, which involved manually updating the display on each of more than 1,000 buses over a period of months. The agency has said no further change will be made before the buses undergo regular maintenance in the fall. The language office has received at least two other complaints about the word 'go' in the last five years, according to a response to a separate access-to-information request. In 2023, someone complained about the slogan 'Go Habs Go' appearing on an outdoor billboard. That complaint was dismissed because the expression is a trademark. A similar complaint in 2021 targeted the hashtag #GoHabsGo that appears in oversized letters outside the Bell Centre in Montreal, the home arena of the Canadiens. The person who filed the complaint suggested that to comply with Quebec's language rules, the expression 'Allez les Habitants allez' should appear alongside the English slogan, in larger letters. 'And yes, I'm serious, if the law applies, then apply it! :)' the person wrote. According to the language watchdog, that complaint was resolved following an intervention, though it provided no details. A spokesperson for the hockey team declined to comment. The #GoHabsGo sign remains in place. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025. Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. named American League all-star starter
Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a two-run single against the New York Yankees during sixth inning MLB baseball action, in Toronto on Monday, June 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Thomas Skrlj Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is once again an all-star. It's the fifth straight year the Toronto Blue Jays slugger has made the American League all-star team, and the fourth time he'll be the starting first baseman. He beat out New York Yankees star Paul Goldschmidt for the top spot, garnering 75 per cent of the vote to take the starting spot at first base. It's the second consecutive fan election for Guerrero, and his fourth fan election in five seasons to join Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar and José Bautista as the only Blue Jays with four fan elections. The 26-year-old Guerrero has hit 12 home runs and 44 runs batted in to go along with a .278 batting average in 84 games this season. He leads the Jays in runs with 53. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Forced to pivot from top pivots
We're just a few weeks into the 2025 season and the Canadian Football League is already grappling with a significant quarterback problem. Despite the emergence of young, quality quarterbacks in recent years to complement a stable of veterans, this depth under centre has morphed into a weekly guessing game of who will even suit up, let alone perform. Indeed, of the league's nine teams, six have had to rely on their backup quarterback in a game. Heywood Yu / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES B.C. Lions quarterback Jeremiah Masoli throws against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, his second consecutive struggle starting in place of Nathan Rourke. We've seen Saskatchewan's Trevor Harris sidelined with a head injury, B.C.'s Nathan Rourke battling an oblique injury, Ottawa's Dru Brown dealing with a hip issue and Montreal's Davis Alexander missing time with a hamstring pull. That doesn't take into account Chad Kelly, who hasn't played yet after suffering a fractured leg last year; Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie has ruled him out until at least Week 7. This isn't just a couple of isolated incidents, but a systemic drain on the league's most important position. What's only made the matter worse is that the backups, some with several years of experience, haven't been able to pick up the slack with their average play. While a few have shown flashes, consistency has been hard to come by. You only had to check out this past weekend's slate of games, where five of the eight starting QBs were backups, to understand the kind of impact these injuries have had on the on-field product. The CFL is a quarterback-driven league, so when your top talent is on the sidelines the product on the field suffers. The league desperately needs its star quarterbacks healthy to restore the offensive fireworks the three-down game is known for. There appears to be some good news on the horizon. Brown is working with the Redblacks' first-team offence this week, suggesting he could be back in the lineup for Ottawa's road game against the Edmonton Elks on Sunday. Rourke is in the same boat for the Lions' tilt against the Alouettes, who still haven't ruled out Alexander from returning after missing last week. Teams might also be exercising an added level of caution, given how early it is in the season and how important the position is to a club's long-term success. Let's hope that's the case, because I'm not sure how much more of this QB play I can take. Now, let's dive into the latest edition of CFL Rundown. 1 Apologies for feeding a fed horse here, but I can't seem to get past how abysmal a couple of veteran pivots performed this past week. Jeremiah Masoli was awful in his second start for the Lions, which came after an underwhelming performance against Winnipeg in Week 3. Against the Roughriders, Masoli completed 16-of-29 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. His first pick was by far the most egregious and damaging: Masoli, down 8-7 and facing a first-and-10 from Saskatchewan's 29, forced a pass to the far left sideline, only to have it intercepted by Tevaughn Campbell and returned 89 yards for a Riders touchdown. And McLeod Bethel-Thompson wasn't much better covering for Alexander in Montreal, finishing 24-for-41 passing for one touchdown and two picks. Neither veteran offered their team much of a chance at winning, let alone capturing a Grey Cup if they were to take over full time. 2 It's becoming a weekly mandate to talk about the status of the Edmonton Elks, who dropped to 0-3 with a road loss to Winnipeg. While no one is selling silver linings in Edmonton, there was some notable progress despite the defeat. QB Tre Ford had his best game of the season, passing for 252 yards and one touchdown. Ford's 68-yard strike, followed by a field goal on the next drive, had the game locked in a 23-23 tie heading into the fourth quarter before the Bombers scored 13 unanswered points to seal the victory. Needless to say, with the Bombers (3-0) and Riders (4-0) unbeaten and the Calgary Stampeders (2-1) off to a good start, urgency needs to kick in if the Elks hope to make it out of a competitive West Division. 3 Staying in the West, I feel bad for the Stampeders, who could see their strong start evaporate over the next month. The Stamps play the Bombers twice, including this week in the first-ever Stampede Bowl, plus games against Saskatchewan and Montreal rounding out the four-game stretch. QB Vernon Adams Jr. is still without a passing touchdown, which will need to change immediately if the Stamps are going to compete with the three teams currently in the top three when it comes to generating points. 4 I'm really looking forward to what should be a spirited back-to-back Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl between the Bombers and Riders. In what's always a fun couple of weeks, no matter where each team finds itself in the standings, this year could see the two top clubs in the league take centre stage. The way both teams are playing this year, it wouldn't be shocking to see them both go undefeated, setting up an even more explosive clash on the Canadian prairies. That probably won't happen, but it's great to see the two most popular clubs in the CFL on top of the standings. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 5 Shifting to the East Division, the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats finally got into the win column. Both Ontario clubs improved to 1-3, with the Argos defeating the Redblacks and the Ticats downing the Alouettes. While both teams were in desperate need of a victory, Hamilton's win over the Alouettes was more impressive, if only because no one expected the Ticats beating the Alouettes this season. Both victories came against teams playing their backup quarterbacks, but as previously discussed, that's become more the norm than the exception this year. You could definitely make the argument for Toronto, as its win came on the road and with Kelly still sidelined. These two rivals will play each other this week, so only one will be able to keep that momentum going. 6 I don't often highlight an individual performance week to week, but how can you ignore the masterclass that Argos safety Derek Slywka put up against the Redblacks? Slywka scored on a 105-yard fumble return and then one-upped it with a 120-yard blocked field goal return for a second TD. The fumble return was three yards shy of the league record; the blocked field goal return, however, was simply poetry in motion. Easily one of the best individual efforts I've seen covering this league in the last decade. 7 The CFL is known for its photo finishes in games, but have you noticed there haven't been as many tight affairs, at least when it comes to the final score? In fact, no single game has been within four points. 8 I had a chance to sit down with CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston last week as part of his ongoing league-wide tour. I knew the former TSN executive would be a strong replacement for Randy Ambrosie, and that was only reinforced over our nearly two-hour chat. Johnston benefits from having a stable group of owners, which should free him up to focus on important items like growing the game and increasing viewership among young fans. What I appreciated most about my chat with Johnston was that he seemed to listen as much as he spoke, eager and open to hear others' suggestions. The main takeaway: Everything is on the table. Jeff HamiltonMultimedia producer Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University's journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff. Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
