In Today’s Edition

→ Ottawa Police proceed with Parliamentary precinct protection programme

→ Four days worth of weekend events

→ Deals of the Day with specials on fabric and socks 

→ ⛅ High 0° Low -8° and partly cloudy.  ☀️ 6:29 am 🌛 5:59 pm 
 

Friday Mailbag

Reader Margaret T sends us this: ‘We attended the jazz guitarists at GigSpace last night. What a wonderful duo. It was a perfect night except for the weather of course. Your headsup newsletter reminded me to get tickets. Thank you.’

OTTAWA HEADS UP would have made a great alternative name for THE OTTAWAN but it's of no help to us 4 years and 11 months later. Nevertheless, thank you, Margaret!

The Poll

Yesterday, we asked ‘Have you ever spoken to your ward councillor?’

31% Yes, on official business
20%  Yes, in passing at a event or while out and about
29%  No, I've never had a reason to
6% No, but I have tried
13% Who?

That’s a pretty respectable result, we’d say. Well done on your availability, ward councillors.
 

Today’s question:

FORWARD the ottawan TO A FRIEND

STATISTICS OTTAWA

OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

• Sam Laprade

• Laprade has been announced as the 2025 recipient of Volunteer Ottawa’s Lifetime Achievement Award. For over 30 years, she has ‘emceed countless galas, shone a light on local charities through "An Hour to Give", and volunteered for numerous organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa, the Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Caldwell Family Centre, Harmony House, Volunteer Ottawa, the Capital City Condors and Elevate International’.

• Volunteer Ottawa

QUOTE

• “

• Even though there still exists a strong presence of Shopify workers and office space in downtown Ottawa where the head office is still located, the company’s centre of gravity is now in Toronto

• – Consultant Dan Stankovic on mom-and-pop business Shopify’s trek from a local start-up to a global business and the weakening of its Ottawa connections.
• Shopify Changed How Ottawa Works in Ottawa Bulldog

WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

🚨 Parliament Hill

• The Ottawa Police Service confirms that it is working on a dedicated police service for the Parliamentary precinct.  The Federal government previously announced $50 million for the policing, but until now there has been little word about it from the OPS. Public Safety minister David McGuinty said ‘We want to make sure that the Parliament buildings and Parliament Hill isn’t turned into some sort of fortress. We need to jealously safeguard and secure the right to protest and the right to visit and the right to be there’.

  
  Anja Karadeglija in the Canadian Press

☢️ Best Theratronics 

•  Kanata-based Best Theratronics needs to provide a financial guarantee, says the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, before it can reopen. Best makes radiation-based medical tools but has been closed for the past nine months due to a strike. The Commission says the financial guarantee is to provide for the safe disposal of high-risk nuclear substances.
  
  Joanne Laucius in the Ottawa Citizen

🐾  Waddles ’n Wags

• Eganville’s Waddles ’n’ Wags Zoological Haven has been closed after Animal Welfare Services seized 10 of its attractions. Animals taken include ‘two wallabies, two boa constrictors, one beauty snake, and a pixie frog’. The owner of the Haven lost an appeal to Ontario’s Animal Care Review Board after inspectors previously found animals in distress. ‘They’re going after everybody with any kind of exotic animals’, says owner Kim Rock-Harris.
  
  Andrew Duffy in the Ottawa Citizen

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

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

✳️ Means change from previous edition

FRIDAY

• Your ticket to the Byward Beerfest includes a 16oz pour of Lowertown Brewery’s Winter Seasonal Beer.

• The Children continues at Gladstone Theatre.

• The Spring edition of Pique Art and Music Festival fills the spaces at Arts Court this weekend. Today’s programming kicks off at 5:00 pm and runs til midnight. If the festival’s self-description of “club futurism, intercultural ambient-electronic, jazz-hop vanguardism” piques your interest, you’ve got to go.

• Settle in for a night of down home country music as Ethan Mitchell celebrates the release of his first-ever record at Art House.

• Orpheus Musical Theatre’s production of Beautiful: the Carole King Musical continues.

• 🆓 See new works by Atticus Gordon and a group exhibition by Canadian artists at the De Montigny Contemporary Gallery Winter Edition Art Opening.

• Expect to rock out when Hellrager, Don’t Tell Sarah, and Hyena play the Brass Monkey.

• The Shawshank Redemption by Ottawa Little Theatre continues.

• The third installment of Jazz Dialogues brings Steve Boudreau, Ottawa bassist John Greggie, and renowned New Zealand-Canadian jazz trumpet player Lex French to 10,000 Hours Rehearsal Studios.

• Get up on stage at Stray Dog Brewing’s Karaoke Night.

• Students from Algonquin, La Cité, Conestoga, Fleming, Sheridan, and St. Claire compete in Ontario’s Got Talent.

• Bawdy Broadway Bodies continues.

• ByTowne Cinema: The Brutalist, Seven Veils, I’m Still Here, Nosferatu

• Mayfair Theatre: I’m Still Here, A Complete Unknown, The Room

  Gigs

• Thievery Corporation. Bronson Centre

• 80s Dance Party with DJ Remi Royale and The Underground (live music). House of TARG

• Our Lady Peace 30th Anniversary Tour. Canadian Tire Centre

• Victor Calderone. City at Night

SATURDAY

• Corrected link The Femme Fest market celebrates women-led businesses and throws live entertainment and family activities into the mix. Next Door Market & Event Space.

• ✳️ Road Trip: Blondie Apparel is holding another in-person retail event in their space at 3494 Dwyer Hill Road in Ashton, ON.

• There’s a lot to celebrate at Beyond the Pale. The brewery is holding a market at the 250 City Centre location today, featuring female artisans and women-led businesses in their community. They’re also releasing Kanpai Japanese Inspired Rice Lager, a speciality beer that “was brewed with the intention to celebrate female brewers, women in craft beer, and the imperative role of women in the history of beer in general.” Finally, BTP staffer Madison Roszell-Johnston took home the Excptiional Leader gong at the Shine-On Awards on March 5.

• Meanwhile at Bicycle Craft Brewing the International Women's Day release, Freedom Machine, will be available alongside Nonna’s Famous Pizza and a women-themed trivia match. The fun starts at 2:00 pm.

• Stray Dog Brewing Co plays Musical Bingo

• Get ready for the garden with a visit to Seedy Saturday in Carp

• NCC invites six to 12 year olds with ambitions to be city planners to the Urbanism Lab for Kids.

• Dogs are welcome at 613Flea, where you’ll find more than 150 vendors of vintage and antiques ready to serve you. Aberdeen Pavilion.

• The Femme Fest market celebrates women-led businesses, and throws live entertainment and family activities into the mix. Next Door Market & Event Space.

• With renovations complete, Giant Tiger reopens today in Hintonburg with giveaways, treats, and fun. 1085 Wellington St W

• Demo more than 30 brands of bikes, take in the conferences, and visit the exhibitors at the Gatineau-Ottawa Bicycle Show.

• Don a mysterious mask for the Mardi Gras Masquerade Social at Rabbit Hole (208 Sparks St)

• Mystara Women of Rock at Sonny’s Bar and Grill celebrates International Women’s Day with an epic live music show. $5 admission.

• Pique Art and Music Festival Day 2 starts at 4:00 pm.

• It’s your final chance to check out Bawdy Broadway Bodies  

• The Children continues at the Gladstone Theatre.

• Orpheus Musical Theatre’s production of Beautiful: the Carole King Musical continues.
   

• The Shawshank Redemption by Ottawa Little Theatre continues.

• ByTowne Cinema: Looney Tunes Cartoon Party, I’m Still Here, Seven Veils, Detour: Josie and the Pussycats

• Mayfair Theatre: Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party, Volume 36, Mukadderat, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu

  Gigs

• Elliott Brood. Red Bird

• The Scally Cap Brats. House of TARG

• Aurora’s Reef. Night Oat

• Weiner Kebab. Rainbow Bistro

• Ashwyn Singh. LIVE on Elgin

• Nick Beaton. Yuk Yuks Ottawa West

SUNDAY

• 🆓 La Fab Sur Mill presents a screening of Blackberry and a Q & A with Sean Silcoff, author of Losing the Signal. Bring your vintage Blackberry device to the show and tell after the screening.

• You’ll get more for your entry fee at the Canadian Museum of History this Sunday, when Ottawa’s Cirquonscient takes over the Grand Hall. ChronSpectacle: A Time Traveller’s Circus takes a gravity-defying journey from Paleolithic times to the future.

• C.A. and Sonny, Kloe and Samie, and London Trio kick off Gladstone Theatre’s Wintertime Music Festival with a matinée show. Then, at 7:00 pm Angelique Francis Band hits the stage.

• Enjoy some soul-soothing Music for a Sunday Afternoon with National Arts Centre Orchestra and guest violinist Karen Gomyo, who will perform sections of JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations and other pieces for strings.

• Ottawa Farmers’ Market vendors source their goods from a 100km radius around Ottawa. The market is open 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Aberdeen Pavilion.

• Practice your St. Patrick’s Day moves a little early. You don’t need to know the moves at the St Patrick’s Day Ceili (dance); just bring your enthusiasm for Irish music, dancing, and food. 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at St. Brigid’s Centre.

• The Shawshank Redemption by Ottawa Little Theatre continues.

• Orpheus Musical Theatre’s production of Beautiful: the Carole King Musical continues.

• ByTowne Cinema: Seven Veils, Spectacle: The Night of the Hunter, The Brutalist

• Mayfair Theatre: Magician Impossible: Amazing Magic Live on Stage! Wicked, Nosferatu

  Gigs

• Naomi Tessler. Art House Café

• Jamie Douglas Live at the Gilmour

• MC Lyte. Bronson Centre Music Theatre

• Buena Vista Social Orchestra. Algonquin Commons Theatre

MONDAY

• For those too cool to plan ahead, the Ottawa Public Library’s March Break for Teens Drop-In programme will be screening the Japanese anime film Spy X Family Code: White at 2:30 pm. Main Branch Auditorium

• Settle in for an evening of storytelling in song as the Gladstone Theatre Wintertime Music Festival continues.

• Daisy Train Karaoke plays the 27 Club every Monday night.

• Tanger Outlets aren’t just for shopping. They’re holding March Break activities all week

• Bring your thoughts about community projects to Urban Dreaming: Community Idea Café hosted by Synapcity’s Pulses Hintonburg

• ByTowne Cinema: Seven Veils, The Brutalist

• Mayfair Theatre: Wicked, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

  Gigs

• Geek Trivia

• Karaoke Mondaze. Atomic Rooster

JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

•  Dress your Easter table with Pysanky eggs you decorated yourself in the Maker House Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop. Choose from two time slots on March 14.

• Speaking of Pysanky, you could win your own beautiful Ukrainian Easter egg in the Ukrainian Pysanka Bingo at Ukrainian Banquet and Convention Hall on April 30. Tickets are $30 + tax each and include dinner, one bingo card, and a lot of fun.

• Teens who want to work with animals will get a head start with the Ottawa Humane Society Youth Pet Sitting programme, March 29 and 30.

DEALS OF THE DAY

BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

THE END