HELLO OTTAWA | → The Gatineau-Ottawa tramway plan makes it to the next station | → Those Shakespeare quoting kids, the Company of Adventurers, are fundraising with a free Hamlet tomorrow | → Atlético Ottawa has a new head coach | → Ticket savings for the Ottawa Home & Remodeling Show and mattress deals from Dufresne | → ☁️ High -3° Low -9° and overcast | – Martha and Darren | | STATISTICS OTTAWA | | 51,530 | In metric tonnes, the amount of salt that the City has spread on public sidewalks between Dec. 1, 2024 and Jan. 6, 2025. | | | | Ted Raymond at CTV |
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| OTTAWAN (TO BE) OF THE DAY | Diego Mejía | Atlético Ottawa has hired the former player and coach from Liga MX, Mexico’s top level soccer league, its new head coach. Mejía most recently was head coach of FC Juárez. | | | | CBC |
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| QUOTE | |
| | Is it like the old Playboy magazine, you have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr.? |
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| – US Supreme Court judge Samuel Alito to the lawyers representing Ottawa-owned Pornhub during a hearing yesterday. The Free Speech Coalition, a trade group of pornography websites, have taken several US states to court after those states enacted laws requiring proof-of-age to view their, um, essays. | | | | Tim Haines in Real Clear Politics |
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| | WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL | No more meetings this week | | | | Agenda |
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| | WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT | 🏠 Kickbacks | ▪️The City is once again making deals with private landlords to house people at risk of homelessness after pausing the programme due to alleged kickbacks to City staff. The Office of the Auditor General believes that some staff running the programme received kickbacks, up to $22,000, for inflating rents to landlords. At least 30 people were put on the waiting list during the pause. | | | | Arthur White-Crummey at CBC |
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| 🚊 Gatineau-Ottawa tramway | ▪️The Gatineau-Ottawa tramway is a step closer to reality after the Société de transport de l’Outaouais appointed Groupe Porteur for professional, technical, and multidisciplinary services. Shovels will not break ground until 2035, but in the meantime Groupe Porteur will provide technical and environmental studies, procurement, construction work supervision, and commissioning tests. It seems that the project managers have been following the O Train saga: an item on the Frequently Asked Questions page is ‘Will the tram work in winter?‘ (They answered yes). | | | | Ottawa Construction News TramGO Project Page |
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| 💸 Road Building | ▪️Orléans South-Navan ward councillor Catherine Kitts says the City spends far more on roads in the west and south than the east. Kitts’ staff found that, over ten years, the City spent $20 million in the east end, $131 million in the west end, and $174 million in the south end. | | | | Blair Crawford in the Ottawa Citizen |
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| 🛻 Convoy News | ▪️Convoy coörganizer Pat King will be sentenced today. King was convicted of disobeying a court order, mischief, counselling to commit mischief, and counselling to obstruct a peace officer during the February 2022 siege of downtown Ottawa. | | | | David Fraser at CBC |
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| | OTTAWA HISTORIC LOGO T-SHIRTS |  | Talisman Motor Inn |
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| Talisman Motor Inn T-Shirts | The Ottawa Journal began in 1885, edited by the legendary William Dafoe, later of the Winnipeg Free Press. It was closed in 1980. | Help support THE OTTAWAN by buying one of our historic logo t-shirts. | |
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| | THE ROLLING 3 DAY CALENDAR | Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form | TODAY | ▪️ Your first theatre outing of 2025 has got to be the Stratford Festival production of Salesman in China, presented in English and Mandarin and playing the National Arts Centre tonight through January 25. ▪️ The JazzWorks January jam session is taking place at Festival Japan restaurant (149 Kent St). ▪️ Keith Pedro plays The Brass Monkey. ▪️ Ottawa Senators meet Washington Capitals at Canadian Tire Centre. 🆓 Sad Girl Café - a women’s open mic - returns to GigSpace Performance Studio. Get your free tickets in advance for the 35-capacity event. ▪️ ByTowne Cinema: The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Detour: The Legend of Billie Jean, Ciné-Club d’Ottawa: Les Hommes de la Mère ▪️ Mayfair Theatre: Queer, A Real Pain, Vixen! Gigs ▪️ Joe McDonald. Irene’s Pub ▪️ Silent EM, Infinity’s Astrum, The Seance. House of TARG ▪️ Open Mic. Café British (Aylmer, QC) ▪️ Search Party with Cattail Creek, Occasional Pudding, and The Wayward Sound. LIVE on Elgin ▪️ Comedy Night. Pour Boy ▪️ Epic Karaoke-Dance Party at the Nuvo Lounge |
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| TOMORROW | | SATURDAY | ▪️ Maxime Zecchini plays Music for the Left Hand (From Classical to Musical Comedy) in Music & Beyond’s concert at Mackay United Church (39 Duffering Road). ▪️ Canadian Museum of History reopens after its annual deep cleaning. 🆓 Bytown Sea Shanty Collective brings its special brand of fun back to Beyond the Pale’s City Centre location. 🆓 A self-described “sustainable vintage mall of one-of-a-kind second-hand goods that’s so much fun!”, Vintage Pop-Up 613 presents another fantastic two day shopping event at Next Door Market & Event Space. 🆓 The Asian Community Arts Market at the NAC is more than shopping: performances, food, and workshops are all on offer. ▪️ Shop used books, “furrbulous merchandise”, and sweet treats atOttawa Stray Cat Rescue’s Book Purge at Studio Staja (507 Rideau St). ▪️ There are more used books for sale at Riverside United Church’s Winter Book Nook Sale. ▪️ If you need to refresh your goals check out the Exploring Life Goals and Making Change Happen workshop. ▪️ Hintonburg Public House’s monthly Karaoke night features drink specials from Beyond The Pale and Side Hustle vodka sodas. The fun kicks off at 9:00 pm. ▪️ 250 musicians play the soundtrack live at the screening of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. ▪️ Meet adoptable cats, dogs, and reptiles at the Critter Jungle’s Tax Free Weekend. 1405 Carling Ave. ▪️ ByTowne Cinema: The Room Next Door, The Last Showgirl, A Clockwork Orange ▪️ Mayfair Theatre: Flow, A Real Pain, Supervixens Gigs ▪️ Jahmeema X Julzzz. Irene’s Pub ▪️ PSTRNC Goth Industrial Dance Party. The Underground ▪️ All Bark No Bite, Coppershop, Alturna, Countdown 2 Earplugs. Dominion Tavern ▪️ Emo Night Ottawa. The 27 Club ▪️ Japanese Fusion Night. House of TARG |
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| JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING | | | DEALS OF THE DAY |  | Ottawa Home & Remodeling Show |
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| Tickets to the Ottawa Home & Remodeling Show are 25% off when you use the promo code WEEK. |
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|  | Dufresne |
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| | BUT, ONE MORE THING … | | | DAILY QUALITY CONTROL | What did you think of today’s OTTAWAN? | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great ⭐⭐⭐ Satisfactory ⭐ Needs Improvement |
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