Latest news with #Ottawans
Ottawa Citizen
a day ago
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
Deachman: To be Canadian is to 'come together and make the best of it'
Article content So what are the defining features of Canadianism? The top three in the most recent Abacus study were our politeness and kindness, cited by 17 per cent of participants; respect for diversity and inclusion (15 per cent); and unity and community support (10 per cent). None of these shows overwhelming consensus, however. Article content Ottawa-based Oksana Kishchuk, who conducted the surveys, says, 'There's a sense that there is a Canadian identity, but folks have a really hard time articulating what it is. I think the Canadian identity is that it isn't the same for everyone, but we can still rally around it.' Article content In March, Kishchuk asked Canadians what makes a strong Canada. The top three answers were shared values (37 per cent), a strong economy (36 per cent) and a strong democracy (34 per cent). Article content Beyond our reputation for being kind and welcoming, though, Kishchuk believes our 'shared values' actually vary greatly, depending on age, where people grew up or whether they were born here. Article content Article content Confusing? Absolutely. Helpful? Only as a starting point. It was time, I felt, to take my search for a national identity on the road (locally), and ask some Ottawans what they thought. Article content Luis Leigh, a Peruvian expat who's lived in Canada since 1971, told me our landscape is what's quintessentially Canadian. It made him take up painting, which is what he was doing when we met at Petrie Island. 'We have a beautiful country, with a landscape that's second to none.' Article content Others I spoke with similarly cited our affinity with the outdoors — or our love/hate relationship with the weather. 'We're always going to complain about it,' said Keira Conlin, 22, 'no matter what it is, but we are always going to rally. We're going to look forward to that first snowfall, to getting out on the ice. To make the best of it and come together as a community in all of those elements.' Article content Article content Both Conlin, who was at work at Wesley Clover Parks when we met, and Shayne Baylis, who had just played a game of pickup hockey at Sensplex West, cited sports as nation-building: In Baylis's case, hockey; in Conlin's, Olympic and other international competition. It's perhaps telling that, as the NHL playoffs winnow the field of contenders each year, many Canadians switch their allegiances to whichever Canadian teams remain in the hunt. Article content Leigh, meanwhile, recalled a Portuguese neighbour who proudly displayed a Canadian flag every Canada Day. 'I knew exactly why he was doing it. As an immigrant, you feel Canada is a country that's open and welcoming. Article content 'And it's happened to me so many times that I'm traveling in the world somewhere and somebody just asks, 'Are you Canadian?' I couldn't tell you how they know, but there is something that tells you someone's Canadian. The way they dress, the way they talk. We tend to be much more gentle and polite, and respectful of other people. Those are things that that are common to Canadians.'
Ottawa Citizen
12-06-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
Cannonballs at Dow's Lake: Return of swimming marked at new recreational dock
Article content Swimming at Dow's Lake is now permitted in the first time in more than a century. Article content The inauguration of the Dow's Lake recreational dock began with a splash on Thursday as politicians, National Capital Commission representatives and community members cannonballed into the water. Article content Article content It was warm, warmer than the wind that left swimmers shivering after their collective dip. Article content Article content Tobi Nussbaum, CEO for the NCC, was one of those swimmers. He told the Ottawa Citizen, while wearing a drenched watersuit, that he wanted swimming in the capital in the summer to be 'what skating is in the winter.' Article content Article content For many Ottawans, swimming in Dow's Lake is unthinkable. Those feelings were played upon when Nussbaum joked about the parallels to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who jumped into the River Seine before the 2024 Olympic Games. Article content But Laura Reinsborough, Riverkeeper and CEO at Ottawa Riverkeeper, said Dow's Lake and the Siene were incomparable. The Ottawa Riverkeeper is responsible for testing water quality in Dow's Lake for the NCC, and for the entirety of this year it has passed with 'flying colours,' she said. Article content In Ontario and Québec, levels of E. coli, a bacteria of concern that can cause infection and gastrointensional illnesses, must be under 200 per 100 millilitres of water to be considered safe for swimming, whereas in Europe the standard is 900. Article content Article content Article content 'This is excellent, excellent water quality,' Reinsborough said. 'And even after a significant rain event, when we'd expect in an urban area that conditions would deteriorate, Dow's Lake is showing excellent water quality.' Article content The Ottawa Riverkeeper will continue to monitor Dow's Lake water quality, five days a week. Article content It has been a decades-long wait for Dow's Lake's conditions to improve to meet swimming standards. Throughout that time there have been sweeping changes to area waterways. Article content Jennifer Halsall, the project lead on the Dow's Lake dock project and a real-estate advisor for the NCC, said tests for contaminants in the waterways were coming back consistently good, to a point that contaminants were either 'not picking up' or were 'less than half of human health thresholds.' Article content Dow's Lake's history has also changed over the years and it is 'very different from the Dow's Lake we would have seen 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago,' Halsall said. For example, what is now Commissioner's Park was once a lumber yard and the shoreline wrapping around the lake didn't exist until 1958.
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
City sees 40 per cent dip in rat-related 311 calls
The City of Ottawa appears to be winning its war on rats. Article content In 2024, Ottawans made 40 per cent fewer 311 calls about rats than in 2023, according to a memo to city council from Marilyn Journeaux, a director in the city's infrastructure and water services department. Article content Article content 'Across all data points, the city saw a decrease in the number of rat related calls in 2024,' wrote Journeaux. Article content Article content There were only 512 rat-related calls in 2024, compared to 845 calls in the previous year. Article content Article content There were 72 calls in the first three months of this year. Article content Ottawa Public Health, a secondary source of rat inquiries, received just six calls in 2024, compared with 22 calls the previous year. Article content The report says the city will continue to conduct more frequent garbage cleanup in high-traffic areas and sewer baiting in problem areas. The city also plans to increase public education campaigns in neighbourhoods to address rat problems across the city. Article content The wards with the most rat-related calls last year were: • Ward 12: Rideau-Vanier, 73 • Ward 17: Capital, 43 • Ward 1: Orléans East-Cumberland, 38 • Ward 11: Beacon Hill-Cyrville, 37 • Ward 23: Kanata South, 33 Article content In 2023, the city launched what it called the 'Rat Mitigation Working Group' to bring together representatives from several city departments to develop effective solutions. Article content Article content The co-ordinated approach focused on education, prevention and control measures. Article content Article content Looking ahead, the municipal authorities have instituted a number of measures, including a Rat Sightings Reporting Tool for residents to alert the city of possible problems. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
11-06-2025
- General
- Ottawa Citizen
City sees 40 per cent dip in rat related 311 calls
The City of Ottawa appears to be winning its war on rats. Article content In 2024, Ottawans made 40 per cent fewer 311 calls about rats than in 2023, according to a memo to city council from Marilyn Journeaux, a director in the city's infrastructure and water services department. Article content Article content 'Across all data points, the city saw a decrease in the number of rat related calls in 2024,' wrote Journeaux. Article content Article content There were only 512 rat-related calls in 2024, compared to 845 calls in the previous year. Article content Article content There were 72 calls in the first three months of this year. Article content Ottawa Public Health, a secondary source of rat inquiries, received just six calls in 2024, compared with 22 calls the previous year. Article content The report says the city will continue to conduct more frequent garbage cleanup in high-traffic areas and sewer baiting in problem areas. The city also plans to increase public education campaigns in neighbourhoods to address rat problems across the city. Article content The wards with the most rat-related calls last year were: • Ward 12: Rideau-Vanier, 73 • Ward 17: Capital, 43 • Ward 1: Orleans East-Cumberland, 38 • Ward 11: Beacon Hill-Cyrville, 37 • Ward 23: Kanata South, 33 Article content In 2023, the city launched what it called the 'Rat Mitigation Working Group' to bring together representatives from several city departments to develop effective solutions. Article content The coordinated approach focused on education, prevention and control measures. Article content
Ottawa Citizen
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Pellerin: What if OC Transpo had a strong, capable leader?
OC Transpo general manager Renée Amilcar is leaving next month, to become head of a new Quebec government transportation agency, Mobilité Infra Québec. It must be nice to be mobile. Unlike, say, Ottawans who rely (if that's the word) on transit for their everyday transportation needs. Article content I'm sure Amilcar thinks she did a great job in the last four years running our beleaguered system. And in fairness, it's not immediately clear whether she did any worse than her predecessor. Now that we've set the bar suitably low, let's turn our attention to the next person who'll occupy that chair. I thought I'd get the process started by outlining a few key elements of the job description. Article content Article content Article content The first qualification is to be an excellent driver who lives anywhere in the city that doesn't have a quick, reliable and direct bus route to work. That way, they'll be certain to never use the transit system they are nominally in charge of. Leave that to other people, you know? Article content A proven ability to demonstrate a strong allergy to success is also required. The good people of Ottawa have been training for a long time in how to react to one bitter transportation disappointment after another. It is not at all obvious to me they would survive sudden efficiency during their commute. Article content I don't just mean that we got used to hundreds of cancelled buses and trains that only run sporadically. It's also roads crawling with drivers who have abandoned the bus. And construction projects that are apparently designed to inflict maximum pain in the slowest, most drawn-out way possible. Your drive is made worse by the number of people who would prefer riding the proletarian chariot but gave up on it and are driving in front of you instead. Article content Article content Like the frog that's slowly getting used to warming water, Ottawa commuters have gotten used to a slow worsening of their transportation options. They know things aren't good. Article content Article content Imagine what would happen if we had the option of walking out of our home in the morning and hopping on a train or bus that goes to where we're going and shows up often enough that we don't even need to think about looking at the schedule. Mass apoplexy is what. Article content And then what if we could get to a hockey game or a show at Lansdowne or the Canadian Tire Centre from anywhere in the city in half an hour without having to bother with traffic, parking or the worry of drinking and driving? And the ride was comfortable, clean and fare-free?
