Friday, January 14, 2022

HELLO OTTAWA 

New Canadian publication The Breach has a scary story worth reading: police forces across Canada have been creating digital “operations centres”.

The centres draw on a combination of social media surveillance, private CCTV in shopping centres, campuses, and businesses, plus the algorithmic mining of existing databases from US corporations.

So, does the Ottawa Police Service have one of these surveillance centres? ‘[T]he Ottawa police “politely declined” to answer any questions’.

Keep your eye on this, it's sure to be an issue in the future.

[Canadian police expanding surveillance powers via new digital “operations centres”]
 

We'll see you Monday– Martha and Darren

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STATS

Weather: ☀️ Sunny. High of -15°, low of -26°. It's a extreme cold warning people, from today until Sunday.

Number: 34%. The number of workplaces with more than 100 employees in Ottawa in which French is the primary language [Statistics Canada]

Ottawan of the Day:  An ‘asset protection associate’ at the Baseline Walmart. The associate found security footage of a car that drove off with someone's dog, who had been tied out front, resulting in Azzuro’s return home. The dog drivers say that they thought the dog was abandoned. Azzuro’s guy says he considers the issue closed as they intended to be good samaritans. [Ottawa Citizen]

Quote: ‘Bob was the first comic Norm ever saw when he came to Ottawa’ – Comedian Angelo Tsarouchas on the launch of the long-running friendship between Norm MacDonald and Bob Saget. Saget died earlier this week. [Faces Magazine] 

Sports NHL Ottawa Senators 4 –  Calgary Flames 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 January 11, 2022 Updated Weekly

Outaouais Public Health    Quebec Vaccination Rates
 

EASTERN ONTARIO HEALTH UNIT

Eastern Ontario Health Unit  Eastern Ontario Health Unit Vaccination Rates

COVID-19 NEWS

⭕ The Federal Government has reversed ferret on its reverse ferret. Truckers who cross the Canada – US border do indeed need to be fully vaccinated as of tomorrow. The Border Services agency yesterday said it was only US truckers who were affected before saying that was an error hours later. [Global]

⭕ The evening curfew will end in Gatineau – and the rest of Québec – on Monday but the number of businesses that will require a COVID-19 vaccine passport will expand. Any business over 1,500 square metres in size, including big box stores, will be required to check for vaccine status. Grocery stores and pharmacies are excluded. [The Review]

⭕ The Mayor of Gatineau has tested positive for COVID-19. Mayor France Bélisle says she has been extremely careful as she has asthma but is living proof of Omicron's transmissibility. Ottawa mayor Jim Watson tested positive for COVID-19 in December. [CBC]

⭕ The Province is taking fourth dose bookings for immunocompromised Ontarians. This does is availabe if 84 days have passed since the third dose. Fourth booster shots have already started in long-term care and retirement homes. [CBC] [Appointments]
 

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️A terrible fire in a commercial building in Nepean may have taken six lives. A man has died in hospital and five other people are missing. The building at 1995 Merivale Rd. between Cleopatra Drive and Slack Road is registered to Eastway Tank Pump & Meter Ltd. [CBC]

▪️Ottawa start-up Ruckify has shut after failed merger with UK business. Ruckify allowed people to rent out anything – tools, bikes, clothes, etc – and had attempted to take over the UK's Fat Llama, which does the same thing. Because the way the deal was structured, all items in Ruckify's inventory had been transferred to Fat Llama, leaving the company with no business left after the deal fell through. The directors decided to close the company rather than rebuild after burning through $20 million. [Ottawa Business Journal]

▪️Via Rail service between Ottawa – Montréal and Ottawa – Toronto is being reduced. Via Rail is cutting back in response to COVID-19 changes in traffic. Business class will be completely removed. [CBC]

▪️All 7.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal skateway is open as of this morning. Last year's skating season only lasted 29 days, there is more hope that it will be longer this year. Concession stands and rentals are also open this year. [CBC]

▪️TVO has a comprehensive history Ottawa’s O-Train debacle.  Not much new if you have lived through it the past ten years, but painful to see it all in one place. [TVO]

▪️Here's a longread on the short life of the public toilets at the corner of O'Connor and Sparks Street. They existed between 1915 and 1930 and were designed by the prolific Frank Lloyd Wright pupil Frank Sullivan. [Urbsite]

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