Tuesday, February 22, 2022

HELLO OTTAWA  

Ahh ... the sound of silence.

Over Saturday and Sunday, the joint integrated enforcement team of the Mounties and the Ontario Provincial Police, joined by police officers from Toronto, Vancouver, Durham, and Gatineau cleared the streets.

New interim Ottawa Police Services chief Steven Bell has been on TV many times stating that this was an Ottawa Police-led operation but, to us, this seems like attempted face saving after three weeks allowing a siege on their city.

Speaking of TV (and radio): what in the name of Samuel de Champlain’s upsidedown astrolab were you doing CTV Ottawa, CBC, and CFRA? Where were your broadcasts? CTV Ottawa and CFRA spent most of the the daytime hours on paid programming, and the evenings on syndicated programming. CBC showed the Olympics.

ICI Radio Canada Ottawa was the real hero, staying with the police enforcement for the duration. 

Today, the streets are almost completely clear but the area below is still surrounded by checkpoints. Only residents and businesses allowed. It’s so strict that we've heard that Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes are being turned away. 

The integrated enforcement team worked on the principal of allowing protestors to leave, rather than arresting them, resulting in a tally of only 191 arrests. 

Three arrested siege ringleaders had their initial court dates over the weekend and today. Christopher Barber was released on bail Saturday and went back home to Saskatchewan. Tamara Lich was denied bail and will remain in custody until her trial. Patrick King had his bail hearing today and the decision will be made later in the week.

Remaing truckers have set up four encampments around Ottawa on private land.

The politicians have weighed in: the Federal Government has announced a $20 million fund for Ottawa small businesses. It will consist of $10,000 non-repayable grants and available ‘soon’.

At Queen's Park, the opposition parties all blame the Province for being absent during the siege. Premier Doug Ford was not in attendance, but finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says some sort of funding for Ottawa will happen.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says that towed vehicles should be sold to cover the City's costs to no one in particular.

Rideau-Vanier ward councillor Mathieu Fleury says there will be a vote to keep Wellington Street closed to traffic at tomorrow's City Council meeting. 

Coincidentally – really coincidentally, not coincidentally the way that we usually use it – there has been a proposal to pedestrianize Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. And the proposal is really great, creating ‘a venue where the District can showcase art and entertainment, and host events while still having a lively streetscape that can be a destination on a daily basis’.

In the miscellaneous files of stories we're not sure how to process, we have:

• The Toronto Star took a look at how fashionable the protestors were, concentrating especially on beard quality
   
• CNN fact checked a viral social media story that the UN had sent troops into Ottawa. Turns out people are just unfamiliar with the sartorial choices of the Sûreté du Québec.
   
• Esquire magazine came to town and hung out with the truckers, and didn't have much to add. 
   
• Slate.com came to town and hung out with the truckers, and didn't have much to add. 
   
• Two of the siegers were a nice couple from Saskatoon who – logically – brought their pregant dog with them, The dog had five puppies and now they have to take off back to Saskatoon with a truck cabin full of dogs, which is as good a summary of the past three weeks as anything.
   

And everyone remember that bus routes 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 55, 56, 85 and 114 as well as all Para Transpo trips to or from the Rideau-Vanier and Somerset wards are free for the next 30 days or so, Transfers will not be given because OC Transpo still has not learned anything.

We'll see you tomorrow – Martha and Darren

? Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at [email protected]. We read every single comment.

STATS

Weather: ?️ Ice pellets or freezing rain. High of 0°, low of -3°. 

Number: 3. The number of hours over the past ten years that a $286,000 snow melter was used by the City, as reported in the City Audito fraud report. [CBC] [The Report (PDF)] [Fraud Hotline]

Ottawan of the Day:  Svitlana Demchenko. The first-year University of Ottawa medical student has represented Canada at the World Cup of Chess, and is now making moves with her chess videos. [Globe.& Mail] [Svitlana's Smart Moves]

Quote: ‘We would like to invite Blue Jacket guy, Balcony Man, Pot & Ladle man, 3 grannies and of course Zexi Li to dinner on us any time’ – Downtown restaurant North & Navy, offering a free dinner for the heroes of the occupation.  [CTV]

Sports: NHL New York Rangers 2 – Ottawa Senators 1, last night

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

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

ONTARIO

Ontario COVID Page    Ontario Vaccine Rates 

QUEBEC

Quebec COVID Page     Quebec Vaccine Rates

OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health     Ottawa Vaccination Rates.    Ottawa Wastewater 
 

OUTAOUAIS 

As of February 15, 2022 Updated Weekly

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. 

Eastern Ontario Health Unit.   Daily Stats  

COVID-19 NEWS

⭕ The United Kingdom will drop all COVID-19 restrictions as of this Thursday, including self-isolation. Free testing will also end, except for seniors. Coincidentally, the Queen has tested positive for COVID-19. [CBC]

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️The first act of new Police Board chair Eli El-Chantiry is to cancel public delegations at the next Board meeting. A Police Services Board meeting was scheduled for February 28, which has been cancelled for a new one on February 24. This will be a one way session, with delegations banned. [Ottawa Police Service (PDF)]

▪️The Hunt Club Road forest is the subject of the lastest Fulcrum podcast. From the students’ newspaper at the University of Ottawa, the podcast deals with a BMW dealership’s proposal to pave into the forest. The land is owned by the Ottawa Airport, which is happy to sell. [Fulcrum Podcast]

▪️The City won't have enough time to test its four new electric buses in all Ottawa seasons before all 74 vehicles in the order are delivered. The City's auditor general says ‘the City will not have enough time to retrieve fulsome data from the pilot project and may not have sufficient time to plan the successful integration of the next 74 electric buses.’ The City's Press Release says ‘he performance requirements defined for the buses are aligned to key variables and parameters of industry research and a sample of municipalities undergoing their own electric bus transformations.’ Pretty much the same thing ... [Auditor General Report (PDF)] [City Press Release]

▪️A reminder that the deadline for standing and funding at the Province's inquiry into the O-Train is February 28. If you are someone that the inquiry considers essential to their investigation – a transit rider's group, engineer, etc. – the inquiry will pay for time and materials, and grant access to their documents. The general public will be able to speak on May 25 and 26. But wait – the general public will need to register. On a website. In March. We'll try to remind you then. [LRT Inquiry]

            

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