Search

Previous Newsletters

Tuesday, June 3 2025

HELLO OTTAWA

In Today’s Edition

→ Renée Amilcar, the head of OC Transpo, will leave the transit agency in July

→ Attack of the 50 Foot Woman screens at the OPL Main Branch

→Deal of the Day:  15% off Ottawa Jazz Festival tickets

→ ⛅ High 30° Low 10° and partly cloudy  ☀️ 5:17 am 🌛 8:46 pm 

That haze around us today and probably tomorrow is from the wildfires in Manitoba.

🎂 Birthday Shoutouts

Say Happy Birthday to OTTAWAN member Mary L!

– Martha and Darren

STATISTICS OTTAWA

    NUMBER 

    • $300
    • – The cost to buy one of the seats from the former Robert-Guertin Centre in Gatineau, which was demolished last year. Home team Gatineau Olympiques now play in the Slush Puppy Centre.
    • Before it was torn down, the Gatineau Olympiques Foundation saved many of the seats, whose sale proceeds will go to the Foundation and to the social services organization Gîte Ami.
    • Seats allocations will be drawn by lotto, so if you want one, you’ll need to register by July 2.
    • Ted Raymond at CTV

    OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

    • Richard Legrand

    • The Lowertowner is featured in the book, 1 Sussex, detailing his 35 years of service at Rideau Hall where he rose from footman at age 17 to running the show as maître d’hôtel.

    • Nancy Miller-Chenier in The Echo

    QUOTE

    • A Bank Street Subway would unify the region, serving sports fans, Gatineau workers, and new downtown residents, but its absence leaves the suburbs and Gatineau disconnected

    • – Clinton Desveaux, who argues the solution to Ottawa’s transit woes is the Bank Street O Train Subway. This idea would create Billings Bridge, Lansdowne, Glebe, Arlington, Somerset, and finally Gatineau stations. 
    • Unpublished 

    PLEASE SUPPORT THE OTTAWAN

    THE OTTAWAN was launched in 2020 as the daily answer to the questions: What’s going on? What should I do? Where is somewhere good to eat?

    Please consider joining the many other readers with a monthly, annual, or one-time donation to keep THE OTTAWAN on its mission.

    All annual or one-time donations over $60 include an OTTAWAN or historic logo t-shirt of their choice.

    Membership levels

    ✅ $5 mo / Technically Beautiful

    ✅ $10 mo / ByTowner

    ✅ $20 mo / City that Fun Remembered

    ✅ $25 mo / Truly OTT

    ✅ Or make a one-time donation

    JOIN US

    WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

    Planning and Housing Committee
    Wednesday, June 4 at 9:30 am

    • Zoning By-law Amendment – 245 Lamarche Ave

    • Zoning By-law Amendment – 3285 and 3305 Borrisokane Road

    Agenda

    The Committee of Adjustment also meets at 1:00 pm

    WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

    🚊 Renée Amilcar, the head of OC Transpo, will leave the agency July 18. City Manager Wendy Stephanson told City Council this afternoon that Amilcar will be leaving to ‘pursue a new career opportunity outside the organization’. She has been head of OC Transpo since October 2021 after running the bus division in Montréal.  – Ted Raymond at CTV


    🌊 The City’s planned change to the way it charges for water may also include calculating how much water runs off your property. To calculate stormwater usage rates, the City plans to use aerial photographs of every property and calculate what per centage is impervious to water.  – Randall Denley in the Ottawa Citizen    News release on water rate changes


    ⚕️ The Northwood Recovery clinic in Chinatown will close June 9. As part of a chain of addiction clinics across Ontario, the Northwood Recovery clinic provided prescription opioids as part of a safer supply harm reduction programme. Neighbours believed the existence of the clinic brought in crime and disorder. – Sadeen Mohsen in the Ottawa Citizen

    ↪ Carleton University is losing its Scotiabank. The branch will close August 5 with all customer information transferred to the 1145 Bank Street branch. – Josh Pringle at CTV
     

    🗳️ Those of you in Osgoode ward have a byelection coming up on June 16, to select a new City Councillor. The CBC sent a questionaire to all 11 candidates and seven answered. The questions/answers are actually quite detailed, so no encapsulations from us – you’ll need to read them. – CBC

    DAILY POLL

    The Poll

    Last time, we asked ‘What do you think should be done with Sussex Drive near the PM’s official residence?’

    47% Build housing, shops, and parks, Make it vibrant

    41% Leave it as it is; quiet and unobtrusive

    9% Sell the properties. Let the market decide

    0% Contract with Disney or Legoland for a new amusement park

    2% Other

    Note to self: OTTAWAN readers hate amusement parks. 

    Reader Elizabeth M says ‘Leave it as a park, with seating areas, flowers, green space’. 

     

    We should emphasise that for Today’s Poll, neither OC Transpo nor the City have suggested any version of this idea.

    HELP SHARE THE OTTAWAN

    Please help spread the word about THE OTTAWAN.

    🔗  Email THE OTTAWAN to a friend by clicking here

    🔗  Share THE OTTAWAN on  Twitter by clicking here

    🔗  Share THE OTTAWAN on Facebook by clicking here

    🔗  Share THE OTTAWAN on LINKED IN by clicking here

    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

     

    TUESDAY

    • You'll learn a different popular line dance each week at Country Line Dance Beginner Lessons.

    • Instructors from City of OM, Yogatown, and 24hr Yogapalooza lead a noon hour yoga session in Lisgar Field outside City Hall. 

    • The Folk Collusion brings an evening of folk, roots, and country blues to Le Hibou. Tonight's special guest is Gatineau musician Evelyn MacIver

    • Meet other friendly skeptics, atheists, humanists and freethinkers at Lieutenant's Pump on Elgin, for an evening of lively discussion. 

    • Jann Arden plays the first of two nights at the NAC. 

    • 🆓 Bring your own boardgames or use one from the collection at Wizard's Tower.  Board Game and Chess Meet-Up Night.

    • ByTowne CinemaJane Austen Wrecked My Life, Friendship, The Zone: Tetsuo: The Iron Man 

    • Mayfair TheatreSacramento, A Nice Indian Boy, Black Bag

      Gigs
       

    • Trivia Tuesday. Manor Lounge, Broadhead Brewery, Pour Boy

    • Questionable Behaviour Trivia. Overflow Brewing


    WEDNESDAY

    THURSDAY

    JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

    MOST CLICKED IN THE PREVIOUS OTTAWAN

    MADE IN CANADA DEALS OF THE DAY

    BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

    Nine worthies will be conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Ottawa during convocation June 8 to 12. They are:

    Elder Simon Brascoupé - of the Bear Clan, member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, adjunct professor and researcher at Carleton University and Trent University.

    Gilles Desjardins - founder and president of real estate company Brigil.

    Boucar Diouf - biologist, oceanographer and humorist.

    Abby Hoffman - former Olympic athlete, activist and public servant and not the 60s Yippie who wrote Steal This Book.

    Roberta L Jamieson - former President and CEO of lndspire, Canada's largest aboriginal charity.

    John McEntyre – Former electrical engineer, adventurer and philanthropist.

    Alanis Morissette - author, composer, singer.

    Égide Royer - psychologist and school success specialist.

    Chief Justice Michael H. Tulloch - Chief Justice of Ontario and President of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

    RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

    What did you think of today’s ottawan?

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Great

    ⭐⭐⭐   Satisfactory

      Needs Improvement

    THE END

    THE OTTAWAN is written and edited every working weekday by Martha and Darren.

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

     

    Silver Award 2023

    Best Email Newsletter Design

    Canadian Online Publishing Awards