Wednesday January 12, 2022
What Ottawa is Talking About – 12 January 2022
▪️Ontario is dropping the parallel parking requirement from driver’s license testing. Not an Ottawa specific item but we'll all see the results of this in the future. The decision to skip parallel parking was to speed up tests because of a huge backlog. [CBC]
▪️The Tom Brown Arena in Hintonburg has reopened as a winter respite centre. The arena has 70 beds for people lacking housing. People that need shelter, or people that see people who need shelter, should call 311 for assistance. [CTV]
▪️The City has come up with some rules for the proposed vacancy tax. Residential properties that are vacant for 184 days or more can be subject to a tax of one per cent of the property’s assessed value. Valid opt-outs are: owner is in hospital or dead, extensive renovations, or complicated sales arrangements. Council will receive a formal report in the Spring. [City of Ottawa]
▪️The Ottawa Public Library has opened the 2022 Awesome Authors contest. Writers in two categories – 9 to 12 and 13 to 18 – can submit comic/graphic novel, poem, and short story for cash prizes and possible publication in the annual anthology Pot-pourri. Stories can be in English, French, or both. Deadline is February 25. [Stittsville Central] [Awesome Authors page] [Pot-pourri]
▪️Here's an interesting history of the Rideau Belle, Rideau Queen and the Rideau King, luxury steamers that plied the waters of the Rideau Canal between Kingston and Ottawa last century. [Community Press]
