Councillor Brockington tries in vain to save Hunt Club forest

 PHOTO: Forest via Save Hunt Club Forest Today’s Ottawa City Council meeting was particularly interesting as Council finds itself in a late-term debacle with lame-duck rules possibly kicking in if fewer than 18 sitting council members do not run for the next term. With 24 seats in the chamber currently, including

Taiwanese Canadian Comedian Ed Hill to perform at Ottawa Fringe

 Canadian comedy changed twenty-odd years ago when Russel Peters brought his brand of multi-cultural humour to the stage before exporting it to worldwide audiences. Peters made jokes about how South Asian his parents were, and the themes of his jokes were very Canadian. Peters might have opened the door to

Ottawa Ribfest is a smoky, savoury feast!

 ABOVE: The Alabama-style ribs from Camp 31 were so decadent, and fell off the bone. This weekend Ottawa is hosting one of its most delicious annual events — Ribfest. It’s back on Sparks Street for three blocks of delicious BBQ with vendors from across North America selling ribs and other meaty

Del Duca and Horwath box for second place as Ford heads towards victory.

 It is uncertain if Ottawa residents will give Doug Ford another chance. It seems likely that some ridings snatched up by the PC party in 2018 could flip to the NDP. However, residents in some Ottawa ridings appear to be caught in an existential crisis between a kind of liking

Tavern at the Gallery is the perfect summer getaway right downtown!

 With the summer weather upon us, you’ll undoubtedly be looking for ways to beat the heat while enjoying the sunshine. The good news is that Ottawa has a great patio culture and a lot of hidden gems where you can have a drink with friends or escape the home office

Pot & Pantry will have you fall in love with your kitchen

 Pot & Pantry represents the best of Elgin Street. The store opened back in 2016 on the corner of Elgin and Cooper. Owner Robin Coull is a self-described passionate cook and baker who has a background in desert catering. Walking into the shop, her love for all things home is

Ottawa partnership to further help connect immigrants to employment

 World Skills Employment Centre launches research initiative aimed at deepening employer partnerships to help newcomers integrate into in-demand labour sectors A new partnership in Ottawa offers an opportunity for immigrants who face challenges gaining employment while supporting local businesses. The World Skills Employment Centre and Carleton University initiative will help

Minister Joly’s mandate to regulate the media is anti-democratic

 With the availability of global media, now more than ever, people do not have to rely on a singular government narrative to find the truth. In a democracy, a free press and freedom of expression mean it is the prerogative of an individual to read or say want they want

Masks—it was about trusting the science until it wasn’t.

 Being a science denier is a typical jab taken at those on the political right, often with good reason. From the denial of theories such as the big bang and evolution to the rejection of the climate crisis or the effectiveness of vaccines, segments of Canada’s conservative movement are anti-science.

War in Ukraine highlights importance of drones in modern warfare

 Photo: @herzogg96 The dogged resistance of the Ukrainian armed forces and the country’s territorial forces has gained much international attention in the last two weeks. Ukraine is a unique conflict for a multitude of factors. The most significant is that, unlike recent western military operations in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Ukraine

Canada’s real heroes take centre stage

 ABOVE: Images from the 2017 Invictus Games. (PHOTOS: COURTESY INVICTUS GAMES) In 2017, Toronto hosted the very successful Invictus Games. They brought attention to the cause of helping wounded veterans, service members and their families from around the globe, and they benefitted the city and the country. The Invictus Games

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

Jojo Coco is your destination for curated artisanal chocolate

 Joanne Mutter is an admitted chocoholic. The owner of Jojo Coco Chocolate on Terry Fox Drive in Kanata fondly remembers as a child getting sweets sent to her from family in the U.K. After a career in retail, she decided to make her love of chocolate her retirement. Mutter attended

Stubbe Chocolates brings European perfection to sweets

 ABOVE: Heinrich Stubbe is the master chocolatier, head pastry chef, and proprietor of Stubbe Chocolates in Westboro. Stubbe Chocolates is one of Ottawa’s oldest continuous operating businesses. It began, in 1845, in Germany and came to Ottawa in 1989. Until a few years ago, the shop was on Dalhousie Street in

PM goes into hiding as convoy protest arrives in Ottawa

 The Freedom Convoy is one of the more interesting political protests in the last 20 years. The anti-vax attitudes of some of the participants have been a central theme of the media coverage but it is not the only reason the protest is picking up steam: the convoy of trucks

Flora Hall Brewing: So much more than a friendly local brewpub.

 ABOVE: Owner Dave Longbottom believes that part of what makes his business special is creating an atmosphere where people get together and socialize. Tucked just off the corner of Bank and Flora street, Flora Brewing Hall is a modern gastropub, and a brew hall mixed together to create a unique brewpub

A hopeful story about one man’s battle with depression

 ABOVE: Bruce R. Ross, author of Breaking Free of Depression’s Grip. Even the most successful person can struggle with depression. One out of every four Canadians will experience depression severe enough to warrant treatment in their lifetime, and one out of 10 will have a manic episode. Yet, depression continues to

Can an intersectional approach solve CBC’s rating woes?

 This week the United Kingdom’s government announced its plan to end television licenses by the end of 2027. The British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) primary revenue source, the “Telly Tax” is paid annually by every British taxpayer who owns a TV and wants to stream content, including cable services, even YouTube. The

The government doesn’t think your home is a tax shelter, but their hired help does.

 Last week, the Twitter pages of the region’s conservatives were exploding, perhaps with better reason than their usual gripes. According to Brian Lilley of Sun News, the rumour is that the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is looking at implementing an equity tax on homes worth over $1 million

The Ontario lockdown is cognitive dissonance on steroids

 OP-ED: The province’s Covid strategy has been unvaried for almost two years and yet they expect a different outcome. The December 2020 to February 2021 lockdown ensured that Ontarians got vaccinated and the pandemic was well on its way to ending. Society once again feels balkanized, isolated, shut out, and vulnerable. The nice platitudes

Lockdowns and the Covid class battle

 When walking through the streets of Ottawa’s ByWard Market, it’s easy to see the carnage that Covid-19 has inflicted upon local business. Empty restaurants and shop windows are commonplace. Institutions like Tuckers Marketplace and The Fish Market are gone. Both symbols of the ByWard Market are now gone forever, driven

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christma. . . Groundhog Day?

 The City of Ottawa’s top doctor, Vera Etches, released new health restrictions for the entire city on December 17th with 50 per cent capacity limits for the already struggling hospitality industry. Other new (but unfortunately familiar) rules have been put in place, including table limits of six people and no

Supporting Ottawa small business is #GoodIdeasOttawa

 ABOVE: Garrick Tiplady, Canadian Country Director for Meta, at the December 14 unveiling of #GoodIdeasOttawa. (OLM Staff) This year Ottawa residents want to buy local. According to Meta (formerly Facebook), the parent company that owns social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, eight out of ten residents plan to shop locally for the

Give rogue councillors the provincial boot

 If there is a metaphor for the dysfunction that plagued Ottawa City Hall during the 2018-2022 term, most would exclaim the LRT. But they would be wrong. The perfect analogy for the city government that literally can't get the trains to run on time is counsillor Rick Chiarelli. After last year's damning inquiries

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