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Friday, December 1 2023

Today

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Tomorrow

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HELLO OTTAWA

We’ve updated our website calendar to include all of the Christmas Markets, Festivals, and Parades taking over our region starting today and continuing throughout the weekend and beyond.

– Martha and Darren

 

🎄The Ottawan Christmas pages

TODAY’S LINE UP

  •  Ottawa Stats
  •  City Hall Agenda
  •  What Ottawa is Talking About
  •  Events
  •  Deals of the Day

OTTAWA HISTORIC LOGO T-SHIRTS

Talisman Motor Inn t-shirt

The Beachcomber Room tiki bar at the Talisman Motor Inn was where Ottawa swingers could be found in the early 60s

Help support the ottawan by buying one of our historic logo t-shirts.

OTTAWA STATS

    Number 

    • $5.86 million
    • – The cost to build the superdome in Ben Franklin Park in 2007. Ottawa has a bunch of these climate-controlled, fully lit, cheap-to-build domes for recreation use. (Brigitte Pellerin in the Ottawa Citizen)

    Honorary Ottawan of the Day

    • Brent Mansfield
    • –  The Vancouver elementary school teacher is running 200 laps around Parliament Hill to raise awareness on the need for a national school food programme. Mansfield figures the run is 30 km. (Peter Szperling at CTV)

    Quote 

    • It’s not fair to the developers. It’s not fair to the community that we have this discussion over and over again

    • – River ward councillor Riley Brockington at Wednesday’s planning committee after yet another proposal to build tall buildings that may cause shadows over the Experimental Farm introduced. (Arthur White-Crummey at CBC) (h/t Ottawa Bulldog)

     

    CITY HALL AGENDA

    What’s going on at City Hall
     

    Board of Health
    Monday, December 4, 2023 at 5:00 PM

    • 2024 Draft Operating Budget for the Ottawa Board of Health
    • Ottawa Public Health’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2027 –Strategic Action Plan
    • Ottawa Public Health Submission to Health Canada on the Second Legislative Review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act

    📋 Agenda

    WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

    ⚡ Battery Farms

    •  Only one of four battery farm applications has received support of the City’s agriculture and rural affairs committee. The project planned in Rideau-Jock ward was supported but the three in West Carleton were not. Councillors say that they do not have enough information about what happens in an emergency, such as a fire. The provincial Independent Electricity Systems Operator is the agency that will actually approve any application but it prefers to have the support of the local municipality. (Elyse Skura at CBC)

    🍷 Mercato Zacconi

    •  Mercato Zacconi, a grocery store in Little Italy, says it must close because of provincial alcohol enforcement. Despite the statement released by the shop and a not-quite-accurate article by CTV, Mercato Zacconi’s liquor licence was granted on the basis of its in-house restaurant. COVID-regulations allowed restaurants to sell liquor for takeaway, which they could not before. The dispute with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is over selling wine with groceries instead of takeaway food. (Older CBC story on the issue)

    ⚕️Family Doctor

    •  A family physician on a work visa has had her permanent residency residency denied because she is over 45. United Kingdom citizen Dr. Carmen Bilcea has been practising at the Meadowlands Family Health Centre on a five year work visa. She applied to stay in Canada through the federal government’s Express Entry programme, which uses a points system. Being unmarried and over 45 did not give her enough points to stay. (Katelyn Wilson at CTV)  

    🚨 Out of country crimes

    🎿 Camp Fortune

    •  Camp Fortune, the ski hill in Chelsea, opened for the year yesterday.  November 30 is the earliest opening date in four years. Two runs are currently open. (Tyler Fleming at CTV) (Camp Fortune)

    🛻 Convoy News

    Convoy co-organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are currently on trial for mischief and intimidation, amongst other things, over the Convoy occupation.

    •  The Crown is arguing that Tamara Lich and Chris Barber  worked together in a conspiracy which began when both arrived in Ottawa and therefore the judge should consider evidence against one as evidence against the other. (David Fraser at CBC
    •  The Ottawa Citizen is live blogging the trial.

    THE OTTAWAN T-SHIRT

     

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    MORE FROM THE OTTAWAN

    EVENTS

    Is there an event we should know about?
    Please use our easy event submission form, now working again.

     

    Today

    Tomorrow


    Sunday

    •  Learn to make Weaving Wall Art with Caryn, at Art House Café. All materials are included. $60 per person.

    •  The virtual edition of the European Union Film Festival runs until December 17.

    •  In a true Christmas tradition, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Nutcracker graces the NAC’s Southam Hall stage. Closes today.

    •  The Coro Vivo Ottawa Choir will be serenading shoppers at the Robert Plante greenhouses.


      Gigs
       
    •  Christmas in the Pontiac matinée show. D’Arcy McGee’s (Terry Fox Dr.)

    •  Live Jazz Night featuring The Ottawa Pocket Jazz Band. Lavender Grill

    •  Jesse Greene Band. The Atomic Rooster.


    Monday


    Just Announced / Now Booking

    DEALS OF THE DAY

    Just for today, baby and kids’ organic cotton rompers are 20% off at Mini Mioche. If you’re spending more than $150, the code HOLIDAYRVSCMJH4 will save you 15%.

    Here’s another today-only deal: Cheekbone Beauty’s Face Bundle, which includes Illuminating Primer Stick, Unifying Multi-Pencil, and Mattifying Moon Dust is 15% off.

    For today only, receive a free Bubble Knit Toque with the purchase of a Merino Sweater from Ecologyst.

    Flowers Talk Tivoli’s 15% off sale ends tonight at midnight.

    A final today-only sale: Côté Fleurs is turning 2 today and celebrating with a cool promotion: They’re offering free delivery and a free bouquet (value $25) with any of the Côté Fleurs and Côté Fleurs Christmas bouquets. Wait - there’s more. Côté Fleurs Subscriptions are 31% off the regular price.

    Franc’s The Big One Sale will save you 35% across the site. Ends December 8th.

    Mélissa Nepton’s Sale on Sale means you get an additional 30% off the sale section. Use the code surprise30.

    Eleven Thirty’s Holiday Sale will save you 30% off the entire website, but only until Sunday. The discount will be applied at checkout.

    BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

    Kathryn May’s fantastic newsletter, The Functionary, is a must read for those in the Federal public service. But the latest edition had an interesting bit from an advisor to the Canadian Digital Service and public-servant-in-residence at Carleton University, Sean Boots.

    Here are Boots’s top 10 ‘wild and radical’ changes to ‘bring on the revolution’ in the public service. Yes, there are only nine. That’s on you, Kathryn May:

    1️⃣ Hire people from across Canada, and if they work at a desk, let them work from wherever. ‘Last year’s return-to-office implementation took all the wind out of the sails of every conversation I’ve seen about making a better and more representative future public service. Until we admit that that was a mistake, I don’t think we can call ourselves an evidence-driven public service.’

    2️⃣ Give public servants the tools they need to do their work. Word and Excel aren’t enough for 2023. Roll out open-source data science tools to every public servant tomorrow.

    3️⃣ Get rid of at least one layer of executives. ‘We have way too many talented leaders that are just stuck acting as mailboxes.’

    4️⃣ Let digital experts climb the non-management ranks without becoming managers.

    5️⃣ Move Shared Services Canada to the chief information officer and make all of SSC services optional for departments and not mandatory. ‘That will create competitive pressure for their services to actually be good.’

    6️⃣ Phase out traditional corporate networks and just start using the internet like the UK did a decade ago and the US is moving to now.

    7️⃣ Stop making IT staff work in chief information officer shops. They should be everywhere.

    8️⃣ Split the IT classification in two so we can hire senior software developers and cybersecurity experts at competitive market rates.

    9️⃣ Make digital experts deputy ministers. ‘Don’t smother them under a layer or two of our longest-serving and most traditional senior public service.’

    You can read Boots’ full letter to the clerk of the Privy Council here.

    RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

     

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    THE END

    the ottawan is written and edited every work day by Martha and Darren.

    Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment. 

    We’ll see you Monday.


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