See the 8 day forecast at the ottawan weather
Snow warning: 5 cm - 10 cm expected this afternoon to tomorrow morning

HELLO OTTAWA

This one is for Ottawa Public Library card holders only. By holding one, it shows that you are ‘cool’ and ‘with it’ and able to view things the ‘squares’ are not ‘hip to’.

The Library has created a Book Sanctuary for titles that have been challenged by the public. By clicking through – card holders only – you are let behind the velvet rope into the seemy side of library life.

You can also view the real life books on display at the Library Main Branch at 120 Metcalfe St. Don’t forget to tip the bouncer.

– Martha and Darren

TODAY’S LINE UP

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

FORWARD the ottawan TO A FRIEND

FAMILY DAY WEEKEND FUN

Family Day is this Monday

•  The National Arts Centre’s Big Bang! Festival will be in full swing this Family Day Weekend, so stop by for kids’ activities and performances in spaces all over the building. For example, Solarium: Interactive Sound Garden is a free exhibition that brings music to a lush indoor green space. 
•  National Gallery of Canada’s Family Art Adventures give your kids the freedom to create and play. Included with admission to the Gallery. Saturday through Monday.
•  Stories, crafts, and games await curious kids at Canada Agriculture and Food Museum (901 Prince of Wales Drive).
•  Are there empty spaces on your bookshelves? Habitat’s ReStore Reads sale is selling books priced from $1. Saturday and Sunday at 3 Iber Road in Stittsville.
•  After a day on the slopes at Calabogie Peaks, check out the live music at Black Donald’s Bar.
•  On Sunday (February 18), form an epic singing duo with your kid at the Hintonburg Public House All Ages Karaoke. 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
•  Also on Sunday, wear your kilt or just borrow some tartan to participate in the Scottish Society of Ottawa’s annual Great Canadian Kilt Skate, which is taking over the Lansdowne Park Skating Court from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. In addition to skating, you can expect performances by the Ottawa Celtic Choir, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, and the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa.
•  Ausome Ottawa creates sports opportunities for kids with autism, and the organisation is taking over the Mayfair Theatre on Monday for a fundraising screening of the heartwarming comedy Kicking & Screaming. While open to the public, the event will be sensory-friendly, with a partially lit theatre, lower volume of the film, and no previews.

Family Day Weekend Road Trips

•  On Saturday, find events and activities all over downtown Perth, Ontario at the Frost & Fire Winter Festival. Be as active as you want with bowling or the scavenger hunt, or simply bundle up and take a horse and carriage ride throughout the bustling town. Then, head to Code’s Mill where a vendor marketplace will feed you.
•  Perth is also the place to go to watch the mystery thriller Sleuth, by Studio Theatre Perth.
•  Back Forty Cheese is opening up its groomed snowshoe trails, toboggan runs, and Cheese shop from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday. 1406 Gulley Road, Mississippi Station, ON
•  Groove Sunday night away at Almonte Black History Month’s Dance Party (Almonte Curling Club, 160 Bridge Street in Almonte Ontario.). $20 admission. The event is raising funds for Equal Chance, the Ottawa organization that assists Black communities in accessing social, economic, cultural and political opportunities and services.
•  Fulton’s Sugar Bush opens this weekend, and it’s the place to be on Monday February 19 for horse drawn sleigh rides, the consumption of delicious maple taffy and skiing the trails.

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OTTAWA STATS

Ottawan of the Day

• Cindy Day
• – The former meteorologist for radio station CFRA was namechecked on Jeopardy last night with the clue ‘Meteorologist Cindy Day says that like an honest talk, thunderstorms do this when dry westerly winds are behind them’. No one gave the correct answer, ‘What is Clear the Air’.
• Day says that Jeopardy producers called her three years ago, quizzing her on thunderstorms. (Toula Mazloum at CTV)

Quote

• “

• I grew up watching The Simpsons and we’re going to have a situation potentially of three-eyed fish

• – Kitigan Zibi Chief Dylan Whiteduck at a rally yesterday opposing the approval of a radioactive waste disposal site at Chalk River.
• Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ own environmental impact statement contemplates dumping ‘effluent laced with radioactive tritium into Perch Lake, but only in certain circumstances and only with treated wastewater that meets safe discharge targets’.
• Perch Lake, via Perch Creek, is a tributary to the Ottawa River.
  
  (Natasha Bulowski & Matteo Cimellaro in the National Observer)

Sports

• 🏒 PWHL Ottawa 1 – Minnesota 2 last night

CITY HALL AGENDA

What’s going on at City Hall

Police Services Board Human Resources Committee
Friday, February 16 at 2:30 pm

• 4.1 Safe Workplace Program Update
• 5    Move In Camera to discuss four labour relations matters

📋 Agenda

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

🛻 Convoy News

•  The lawyer for the Convoy says some of the main players are suing the Federal government now that a court has declared that invoking the Emergency Act was illegal. Keith Wilson says that Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, Tom Marazzo, Danny Bulford and others have filed suit with each seeking $2 million in damages for having their Charter rights violated. Yesterday was the second anniversary of the Convoy siege. (Keith Wilson Twitter)

🍹 The Beachcomber Room

•  City staff neglected to send the 60 day notice of demolition of the ‘Japanese Pavillion’ at the the former Travelodge Hotel on Carling Avenue. Built as part of the old Talisman Motel Inn, the pavillion was once home to the infamous Tiki bar, The Beachcomber. As the building is on the City’s heritage registry, Council was supposed to be informed 60 days before a demolition permit is issued. Council was not informed and the Tiki bar was demolished Monday as part of a new development. (Arthur White-Crummey at CBC) 

🏒 The Sens

•  The National Hockey League Players Association has taken Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly's side over cross checking Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig in the head. Rielly had been suspended for five games for slugging Grieg in the head after the latter had slapshotted a goal into the empty Leaf’s net with only seconds on the clock. The Players Association has taken up Rielly’s cause and is appealing the suspension. (David Alter in the Hockey News)

🚊 OC Transpo

•  Two separate incidents closed sections of the O Train yesterday. Fifty passengers had to be escorted back to Lees station after a train stopped just before 10:00 am. OC Transpo blamed a faulty pantograph – the springy device on top that connects the train to the power line. At 10:40 am, another train stopped at uOttawa station, which was not moved until 12:30 pm. (CBC) 

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MORE FROM THE OTTAWAN

• 🍺 Our Ottawa-Gatineau Craft Brewery Map

•  

• 🏆 The Best Of Ottawa Awards 2023

•  

• 🎧 Best Podcasts from Ottawa

EVENTS

Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form
 

Today

•  Burlesque, drag, and comedy. Check, check, and check. Club SAW welcomes the Sequins & Soul cabaret of Black burlesque.
   
•  The OPL Nepean Centrepointe branch’s Teen Anime and Manga Club is for kids aged 13-18 who love to discuss their favourite games. 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
   
•  Tonight’s presentation of French Movie Night / films en français at the OPL Main Branch is 2015 dark comedy Lolo.
   
•  Ottawa Art Gallery’s regular Thursday Happy Hour gets an update with Winterlude-themed cocktails, mocktails and bites from the culinary experts from Le Germain Hotel. 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
   
•  Love on the Rocks musical theatre cabaret settles in for three nights at LIVE on Elgin.

•  Undercurrents Festival shows: Malunderstood, I Don’t Even Miss You, Chasse au Trésor

•  ByTowne Cinema: Four Daughters, Ciné-Club d’Ottawa: L’Innocent

•  Mayfair Theatre: The Braid (aka La Tresse), Once Within A Time

  Gigs

•  Chris Murphy of Sloan, Fanclub Wallet, Chemical Club. Rainbow Bistro (limited free tickets at the door)

•  Lonesome Ace Stringband. Red Bird

•  The You & Mes, FORX, 86 It. House of TARG

•  Comedy Night. Pour Boy

Tomorrow

•   Tickets go on sale at 10:00 am for the PBR Ottawa Classic, which hits the Canadian Tire Centre on June 1
   

•  Be inspired by the Ill-Abilities Dance Crew: No Excuses, No Limits show at Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe.

•  Berlin Nightclub plays Drake in a big way at OVO - Drake Night. 10:30 pm - 02:30 am at 56 Byword Market Square. Tickets $16.32

•  Muslimfest presents Soul Flame, a theatrical production of stories from Palestine and Sudan. Canadian Museum of History, Laurier St, Gatineau.

•  Meet new friends or reconnect with your besties at Queers and Beers at Lowertown Brewery.

•  If you just can’t get enough of Taylor Swift, Overflow Brewing is the place to be, with the Swift Me Away Dance Party.

•  Love on the Rocks musical theatre cabaret continues at LIVE on Elgin.

•  Undercurrents Festival shows: I Don’t Even Miss You, Malunderstood, Keep Mars Red, Chasse au Trésor

•  ByTowne Cinema: The Promised Land, The Zone of Interest

•  Mayfair Theatre: Ru, How to Have Sex, Big Shark

  Gigs

•  Blingo Night. Pour Boy

•  The Barrow Gang. Atomic Rooster

•  Serpent Corpse, Fractured, Barrow Wight. House of TARG

•  Born Ruffians, Neon Ghosthouse, Dunner. Rainbow Bistro

•  The Playlist. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

•  Brutal Play, Altoona, Summit Drop, Sprout, The Lackeys. Dominion Tavern

Saturday

•  Come alone or bring a friend to the Carp Fair 4-Handed Euchre Tournament, where there are $800 worth of prizes waiting to be won. $20 per person.
   
•  There’s a British Invasion at Overflow Brewing this evening, as The Start plays 80s and 90s Britpop all night long. This band is 50% UK native, one quarter Montréaler, and one quarter homegrown Ottawan. It’ll be a class act, innit.
   
•  Laugh along with comedians Derek Kalala, Rose-Ingrid Benjamin and Abha Pamnani at the Black-Ish Comedy Show. Cultures Comedy Club at NUVO Lounge 295 (295 Dalhousie St.) Tickets from $25.57 and VIP packages available.
   
•  Love on the Rocks finishes its run at LIVE on Elgin.
   
•  Undercurrents Festival shows: Blood Offering, Malunderstood, I don’t Even Miss You, Chasse au Trésor, Keep Mars Red
   
•  ByTowne Cinema: 2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action, Amélie - 4k Restoration, The Promised Land, Streets of Fire
   
•  Mayfair Theatre: Ru, A Page of Madness
  
  Gigs
   
•  Lilith, Bronson Novella, Still Life, Street, Queçéssa. Dominion Tavern
   

•  Rachel Beausoleil. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

•  Sourpuss, February Hate Club, Curl. House of TARG

•  Jesse Greene Band. Atomic Rooster

•  Jeff and the Falcons, Josh Q. Irene’s Pub Restaurant

Just Announced / Now Booking

• Week 2 of the Volleyball Nations League Mens Competition plays the Arena at TD Place June 4-9. Competing teams include Canada, Argentina, Cuba, France, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, and USA. Tickets and packages are on sale now.

DEALS OF THE DAY

BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

The Reverend Jim Pot, newly installed as minister at Knox Presbyterian Church at Elgin and Lisgar, is wondering if his new desk originally belonged to D'Arcy McGee. Church lore says that the desk had been donated long ago and had sat unloved in the basement. 

McGee was one of the loudest voices in favour of Canadian Confederation and one of the first to advocate for literature by and about Canada. For his trouble, he was assassinated in front of his boarding house on Sparks Street on April 7, 1868. His state funeral was one of the largest in Canadian history.

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