A different outlook presented as convoy leaders continued their testimony.

 ABOVE: Tamara Lich and Pat King both testified this week at the inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act.  The testimony of ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers this week painted a very different and, in some cases, engaging portrait of protestors as the main people behind the February 2022 occupation of

Ottawa’s big change election yet three candidates running unopposed. 

 ABOVE: Laura Dudas, Rawlson King, and Tim Tierney will all be acclaimed if nobody steps up to run against them. (PHOTO: VIA OTTAWA.CA) With seven days left, the deadline to register to run for municipal elections in Ottawa is fast approaching. This election year will see the most dramatic turnover Ottawa

Past the expiry date—Renewal will be good for Ottawa City Council

 Nine councillors will not be returning to Ottawa City Council chambers in the fall. Eli El-Chantiry is the latest to announce that he will not run for re-election. This comes only a few days after Carol-Anne Meehan stated her decision to withdraw from the race. In all, nine councillors and

To restore confidence Solicitor General must amend police services act

 ABOVE: Ontario Solicitor General Syliva Jones and Zoom image of February 2022 Ottawa Police Service Board meeting. Anyone who witnessed the February 2022 total collapse of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) must have reached the ineluctable conclusion that the time has come to disband police services boards in the province of Ontario.

Catherine McKenney: Ottawa’s “boots on the ground” councillor runs for mayor

 PHOTO: Neon Lilith Photography Catherine McKenney has been representing the citizens of Somerset Ward since 2014. Judging by how well they performed in the 2018 election, McKenney is well-liked by their community; Ottawa’s first non-binary councillor was re-elected in 2018 with a staggering 76.6 per cent of the vote.  This

Freedom convoy highlights differences between mayoral candidates

 FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Catherine McKenney, Diane Deans and Bob Chiarelli. (Photos: ottawa.ca, @bobchiarelli) The last two weeks in Ottawa have been some of the most memorable in recent history, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has received at best-irritated condemnation for its handling of

Mayor Watson gives his final State of the City Address

 Ottawa City Hall convened yesterday for the first time this year but the session marks the twilight of Jim Watson’s tenure as mayor. It is also the final year on the council for Catherine McKenney and Diane Deans. Both have thrown their hats in for the run to replace the retiring mayor

Adieu Jim Watson, hello . . . Bob Chiarelli?

 Ottawa will be saying adieu to Mayor Jim Watson this fall; that much is now a certainty. Watson, the popular mayor at election time in runs previous, has been more polarizing in his last term. He leaves behind the legacy of Ottawa’s longest-serving mayor. He has been at times both progressive

Budget season is almost over.

 The municipal budget has dominated the last month of Ottawa City Council committee meetings, but this chapter will be coming to a close on December 8th. There is no triumph of a balanced budget that Mayor Jim Watson was able to proclaim in years previous. This year's budget has shown that hard times

Jim Watson at 30—the ups and downs of public service and his LRT legacy

 ABOVE: Former Ottawa Mayor Jacquelin (Jackie) Holzman, Jim Watson, and Brian McGarry after Waston’s win in 1997. (PHOTO: OLM FILE PHOTO) Jim Watson first ran for municipal office in 1991, becoming the councillor for the Capital Ward after successfully running on a platform of curbing city spending and freezing taxes. In 1997, at the

Fifteen ByWard Market businesses post letter comparing ByWard Market to Vancouver Downtown Eastside

 Ottawa Life Magazine has received a copy of the open letter by the Merchants of Murray Street that was sent to various city officials outlining their frustration with the city's response to illegal activities and vagrancy in the ByWard Market. Already suffering from the decline of tourism and in-store shopping due to

Who are the Ottawa Police serving and protecting?

 Last week, we heard that the Ottawa Police wouldn’t implement a vaccine policy for their officers. Their reason for this was due to a fear of losing frontline staff. Soon after the announcement, there was public outrage, including from the mayor. On Friday afternoon, Chief Peter Sloly announced a reversal

Rapes and lies—the cancerous misconduct at the Ottawa Police Service

 The Ottawa Police Service Board members are accessories to the rape culture at the OPS. Ottawa Life Magazine has been writing about the serious problems in policing in Ottawa and across Canada with police misconduct, police recruiting, police training and police oversight for over a decade. Over the past several

The rapists and their protectors in both the RCMP and Ottawa Police Service

 No one is charged weeks after Supreme Court justice tells MPs the RCMP raped 130 of their own Two weeks after a scathing report on sexual harassment in the RCMP by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache was released which revealed that at least 130 women in the

Ottawa Police Service — Sheep in sheep’s clothing

 The Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) has received multiple complaints about harassment and misogyny against female officers and employees on the force for over a decade. On July 8, 2020 Ottawa police officer Carl Keenan was found guilty in a Gatineau court of assault causing bodily harm in relation to

Oversight and temperament problems at Ottawa Police Service

 Above: Ottawa Police Chief, Peter Sloly I am not sure which is more troubling, the ongoing failure of the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB) to properly adjudicate their responsibilities over the Ottawa Police Services (OPS) or the continuing systemic and structural problems at the force. These include flawed leadership, racism,