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Wednesday, February 16, 2022

The Ottawan

 

HELLO OTTAWA  

The bureaucrats are definitely in charge today, as the paperwork part of the Siege of Ottawa has begun.

Members of the Integrated Police have been handing out a second warning to the Truckers, warning again they might be arrested. 

Councillor for Gloucester-South Nepean ward and Ottawa Police Services Board member Carol Anne Meehan immediately stuck up her hand and said ‘My idea! My idea!’ because she suggested sending a second letter at the Police Board meeting yesterday.

Here is a montage of the hand outs. This one was handed to a woman at the street daycare centre in front of Parliament.

The letter does not mention the very important fact that the Emergency Act has banned bringing children to the siege but the Children's Aid Society has put out a statement telling them to make arrangements for their children, because the Children's Aid Society knows how to write an effective warning.

This is not to say that that letter has had no effect on moving out a protestor. A truck on Kent Street wanted to leave, so the Ottawa Police helpfully ticketed a resident's car that was in front of the truck and called for a tow. The City-contracted DMT towing arrived lickety-split and lifted up the resident's car.

The resident's car was moved, and the Truck left without any tickets. The resident, however, paid $118 to the tow company to get the car off the tow, and was ticketed $60 by the police.

Meanwhile, the injunction against honking laid by local residents – and not the City or Police – was extended for 60 days, not that it has been obeyed for the past five. This one is the most dangerous for the seige organizers because they have been named in it and, unlike the City and Provincial officials, the private residents are willing to enforce contempt of court proceedings.

Mayor Watson has had a bad 24 hours. First, it was revealed that his failed deal with the Truckers to move the trucks out of residential areas was facilitated by the disgraced former chief of staff to Premier Doug Ford, Dean French. French was ousted in 2019 after being accused of giving pals high-salaried government positions.

Watson was also flustered when asked how many police officers and military personnel are participating in the siege

But, maybe we should have some sympathy what the protesters are living through. 

The artists of Ottawa, in one voice, have reputiated them in a strongly worded letter

Crowdfunding has been cut off, so they have moved to Bitcoin, raising over a $1 million in the cryptocurrency. The problem is, they have no idea how to turn a Bitcoin into a Loonie.

Here’s how VICE describes the process the Truckers need to fulfil:

If the distribution is to more than 50 people, the planning document states, then volunteers will follow a complex process of creating a wallet on a smartphone, recording the seed phrase, sending a small amount of Bitcoin to it, and then erasing the wallet, with another volunteer restoring the wallet and following the same procedure, transferring the full amount, and erasing it again. 

“Once the volunteers place the instructions and the seed words into the envelope and seal [it,] it should be numbered and squiggly random lines should be drawn on the envelope to help with later identification,” the Google Doc states. “Finally a photo of the envelope should be taken and posted to social media before distribution. The purpose of this is to allow recipients to complain on social media with reasonable evidence if they do not receive the funds.”

Volunteers need to remain in a room until the process is complete, with no more than one person leaving at a time to use the washroom, and with food being delivered. Of course, any devices used in the process must be destroyed, such as the printer for the paper seed phrases.


Don't let anyone tell you Bitcoin is not the future.

Probably the most unheralded heroes of the seige have been the #RamRanchResistance. This loosely-organized group are fans of ‘Ram Ranch,’ a very raunchy metal song by Grant MacDonald. The members of #RamRanchResistance have been infiltrating the voice chat rooms of the siegers and playing clips from song which, we reiterate, will move your booty but uses extremely vulgar language. (Click at your own tolerance for naughty prose.)

We'll see you tomorrow – Martha and Darren


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

STATS

Weather: ?️ A mix of sun and cloud. High of 5°, low of 6°. 

Number: 82-hectares. The size of the plot of decaying vegetation in Alfred Bog purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The bog, an hour east of Ottawa, is actually 4,000 hectares but this piece was the last portion in private hands and at risk of being drained for peat. [Capital Current] [Visit Alfred Bog]

Ottawan of the Day:  Rey Sabatin. When his employer, Spaceman Music store, had a redundant second building, Sabatin became the coördinator of the new Spaceman Music School, with over 100 students. [CityNews]

Quote: ‘I told myself that I wouldn’t let [diabetes] change who I want to be and where I want to go in life… I have good days and bad days, highs and lows, and everything in between’ – Dunrobin’s Hannah Schmidt, who will represent Canada for the first time in Olympic ski cross, tomorrow at 10:30 am. We're stumped trying to summarise what the dickens ski cross is, so here's the Wikipedia entry. [Apt 613]

Sports: NHL St Louis Blues 5 – Ottawa Senators 2, last night

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FOOD + DRINK UPDATE

Tomorrow is the first day that restaurants in Ottawa can open to full capacity – up from 50 per cent – in months. But March 1 is the date that the vaccine passport becomes optional in restaurants. Many restauranteurs are concerned that vaccinated people will not come in if they must sit with unvaccinated people and unvaccinated people are a small per centage of the population

What about you? Will you eat inside a restaurant after March 1, why or why not? Email your thoughts to us at hello@theottawan.com.

▪️NarCity asked its readers for their Chinese food restaurant favourites. They chose YangtzeAsia WokBrother Chiu’sWei’s Noodle HouseGolden PalaceHung SumRoyal TreasureNg’s CuisineDumpling? Dumpling!Café OrientMekong, and Asian Bistro. [NarCity]

▪️The Citizen uses the ultimate description to make Alice a desirable restaurant: hard to find. Chef-owner Briana Kim, as we've mentioned before, ferments her own ... food? Really, Citizen? That's the best description you’ve got? Lucky you printed Kim's recipes for Butternut Squash Amino Paste and Burnt Rye Bread Vinegar or we'd be quite cross with the whole article.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Information is as of this morning. Changes are relative to yesterday.
 

ONTARIO

hospitalizationschangein icuchange
1,403? -147364? -20
caseschangedeaths
1,078,610?2,53212,167 ? 46
  
? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)88.8% 
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)84.4%


Ontario COVID Page    Ontario Vaccine Rates 

QUEBEC

hospitalizationschangein icuchange
1,995? -57129? -3
caseschangedeaths
904,574?2,32813,790 ? 24
? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)91.2%
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)85.8%


Quebec COVID Page     Quebec Vaccine Rates



OTTAWA

hospitalizationschangein icuchange
20? -32? 2
cases changedeaths
61,072?201

741 ? 4

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)

911,981 (92%)
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)867,179 (87%)
? Eligible people vaccinated with three doses (18+)531,186 (63%)


Ottawa Public Health     Ottawa Vaccination Rates.    Ottawa Wastewater 
 

OUTAOUAIS 

hospitalizationschangein icuchange
51? -35? 0
caseschangedeaths
34,645?77283 ? 0
  


As of February 15, 2022 Updated Weekly

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (12+) 89%
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (12+)86.6%


Outaouais Public Health    Quebec Vaccination Rates
 

EASTERN ONTARIO HEALTH UNIT

The Health Unit is changing the way they report. In the meantime, they are reporting only selected information. 

hospitalizationschangein icuchange
11? -44? 0
active caseschangedeaths
-? -185 ? 0


Eastern Ontario Health Unit.   Daily Stats  

 

COVID-19 NEWS

⭕ Premier Doug Ford says his daughter’s vocal disagreement against COVID restrictions has not affected his decisions. Krista Ford Haynes is an outspoken supporter of the Truck protestors . [CBC]

⭕ Kids from 12 to 17 will be eligible for the third booster shot as of Friday. The wait time between second and third shot should be six months. [CityNews]
 

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WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️Advocates for changes in the way the Ottawa Police handles mental health calls are disappointed in progress. In the last police budget increase, $2.1 million was ringfenced from the regular Ottawa Police Services budget to create a mental health strategy. Campaigners say that the project is going nowhere because police representatives are on the board. [Capital Current]

▪️Mom and pop business Shopify exceeded expectations with a 40% increase in revenue for the past three monthsDespite taking in US$1.38 billion, up 40 per cent from the same time last year, the company still reported a loss on paper. [Ottawa Business Journal]

▪️World Atlas – no idea who they are – published a list of ‘7 Adorable Small Towns To Visit Along Canada’s Rideau Canal’. They recommend Westport, Delta, Burritts Rapids, Seeleys Bay, Merrickville, Perth, and Smith's Falls. We think that is roughly in order of adorableness.[World Atlas]


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