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What Ottawa is talking about

🤫 Secrets

•  The secret drone headquarters for the Canadian Armed Forces will be built at Uplands. To be fair, the Ministry of Defence says it was never a secret and it even did a public environmental review. Two hundred personel will work in the headquarters, which controls drones that are parked in BC and Nova Scotia. (David Pugliese in the Ottawa Citizen)

🚌 OC Transpo

•  Joining the 21st century, OC Transpo is testing debit card tap for fares. There is no date as to when it will be available across the system but the Interac logo is already being shown on payscreens (even though you can't pay that way yet). And STO, you don’t get to be smug – Gatineau transit still doesn’t accept debit either. (OC Transpo)

🏌️‍♀️ National Capital Commission

•  The National Capital Commission has bought the Dunnderosa Golf Course in Chelsea. Sold for $3.9 million, the 41.8 acres of property will not be reopened as a golf course – its been closed for years – but be added to Gatineau Park. The existing miniature golf course is not part of the deal and remains open. (Josh Pringle at CTV) 

💥 Neighbours

•  The Lowertown Food Bank has been prevented from moving into a new location because the neighbouring recreation centre won’t share the mobility ramp. The Lowertown Food Bank found new space in a City-owned building on Coburg, next to the Patro d'Ottawa Rec Centre. For reasons not disclosed, the Centre will not permit use of the mobility ramp to the Food Bank. (Dave Charbonneau at CTV)
  
  ➕ Related Hunt Club neighbourhood residents are the latest neighbours to be upset at the idea of a Inuit facilty in their area. The Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition wants to build a 30-bed facility for Inuit women who are affected by domestic violence. Previously, members of the the Upper Hunt Club Community Association opposed the Larga Baffin facility, which would temporarily house Inuit who travelled to Ottawa for medical care.

🏗️ Ottawa Hospital General Campus

•  The University of Ottawa has submitted plans to build a six storey Advanced Medical Research Centre on Smyth Road on the campus of the Ottawa Hospital. The centre would ‘address the urgent need for new research and innovation infrastructure, training programs to support talent pipelines, knowledge translation, and development of new start-up companies’. The University says that once built, it would support 1,000 researchers. (Josh Pringle at CTV) (Promotional video)

🏎️ Feel the Need for Speed

•  The Province is raising the speed limit to 110 km/h on the entirety of Highway 416. The speed is also increased on Highway 401 between Highway 16 and the Québec border and between Kingston and Belleville. (Province of Ontario)

🛒 Grocery Flyer Specials

•  Every week, Donovan Burey reviews all the grocery store flyers for deals and posts them on Reddit. Some highlights this week: ground beef (medium) $3.27 per lb at Walmart, dumplings (pork or chicken) $4.99 500g box at Farm Boy, and eggs  $7.99 30-pack at FreshCo. (/Ottawa)