What Ottawa is Talking About – 22 January 2022
25 January 2022
▪️The Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission wants to hear from you in its public inquiry. The Provincial inquest is looking into all aspects of Ottawa's O-Train, from the issuing of contracts to the derailments in the autumn.But it's not automatic – the Commission will decide whether you are worthy of being heard from, and whether you can have access to documents. However, should you be qualified to address the commission, funding may be available for your research. [CBC] [Commission Website]
▪️The City does not have a single IT staffer devoted to mobile apps, it has come out. Despite cells phones being the number one way people access City services, mobile work is contracted out. The City wants to spend $1 million to hire nine new staffers in its IT department. [Ottawa Citizen]
▪️The Ottawa Police Board decides to limit public engagement at police board meetings and move it to new roundtables. The scheme will still allow the public to make statements at Board meetings, they just won't receive answers from the Board members or police any longer. The as-yet-accounced roundtables are intended to let the public have more indepth converstations with the as-yet-unknown members of the roundtable. [Ottawa Citizen]
▪️The Federal Government is desperately trying to collect its Phoenix System overpayments before it is barred by law in February. The beleagured Phoenix System was the Federal Government's payroll system that massively screwed up civil service salaries for several years: overpays, underpays, and sometime no pay to Federal workers. The Federal governent will be barred by law from attempting to collect overpayments from civil servants on the sixth anniversary of the problem, which is next month. Around a half billion dollars is still outstanding in overpayments. [Policy Options]
▪️The Ottawa Arts Council is looking for nominees for its inaugral Community Arts Educator Award. The award will recognize excellence in community arts education and the accomplishments of Ottawa-based artists who provide unique and creative learning experiences. This year's recipient will receive $3,000, membership to the Ottawa Arts Council, and a limited-edition print by Geraldine Taylor from her "Ode to the Experimental Farm". Nomination deadline is February 28. [Broadway World] [Nominations]
▪️Little Ray's Reptiles is asking for donations to keep the wildlife centre open [Ottawa Citizen] [Donations]
