We dropped our daughter #2 off at a Brownie camp yesterday north of Kanata close to Dunrobin.
We took March Road off the Queensway and I completely expected that, shortly after exiting, we’d be zooming past farms and trailer parks as we traveled toward the river.
Boy, was I wrong!
Much to my amazement, there is more to Kanata than that strip along the highway! Much more!
Being from a more urban part of Ottawa, I generally think that little of aesthetic worth exists outside the Greenbelt. Yes, there are boxy homes and big box outlets in places like Barrhaven and that wasteland along Innes Road in Orleans. But I never thought that such built form existed even in the wilds of KANATA!
For sure, I knew they had a wave pool and the Scotiabank Place. But drive northward sometime and I’m sure you’ll be as shocked as I was! I cannot even imagine what is situated the south! Lions and dragons, perhaps?
There are stores galour in these northern territories. And homes – likely with running water and utilities hooked into the wider infrastructure grid! Even a LCBO! And schools! And a Sobeys! We in Alta Vista don’t have one of those!
So welcome to that area of north of Kanata… Whatever you’re called. You truly are on par with other Ottawa planning glories. YOU deserve to be uttered in the same breathe as the other Ottawa suburbs!
… peeps think it is somehow cool to vandalize someone else’s property. I did a lot of crazy stuff in my youth but never once did I intentionally wreck or deface something that didn’t belong to me. I just didn’t.
…the city said they responded to 368 requests to repair bus shelters in 2011. There are about 1,400 bus shelters in the city.The City of Ottawa responded to more than 200 reports of shattered glass at bus shelters in 2011.(CBC)
Of those requests, 207 were to fix or clean up shattered glass. It costs $350 to replace one pane of glass.
In 2011 the city spent $225,000 for all bus shelters repairs and another $135,000 to clean up graffiti at the stops.
“Morguelike” is perhaps the best word to accurately describe the mood in the public service cube land these days.
The cuts to the PS are indeed deep and broad. Families are being hurt. Stress is causing health issues. This is not good.
Whether the cuts were needed at this time or not is debatable (I don’t think they were required to this extent), but they are indeed happening.
But I, like others I have spoken with who are NOT originally from the Ottawa Valley, have a bit of a different perspective on the job losses. Many have had jobs and careers before the Public Service and have experienced job losses or changes in the past. This is normal for most people who don’t hail from these parts. It is a part of life.
Yet not so normal to any great extent to those folks who grew up here, whose parents and grandparents worked for the PS. They have not gone through the life-changing job-related gut wrenches that are pretty much common outside the NCR. es, there was Program Review under Martin, but those who went through that period and this one tell me that the cuts of the 90′s were not as broad and deep as these ones. I don’t know if the numbers bear that out, but that is the impression.
So while these changes are tough on everyone, those who grew up here and have come to expect some measure of stability in their job lives; well, those are the ones hurting the most right now. Their world has been turned literally upside down.
Finally, a huge Trashy congrats to my bro’ and sis in-laws (and my nephew and niece too) on welcoming a new oenophile to the flock! I can’t wait to meet her!
The annual scholarship program, started in 1996, was developed to recognize students of the community who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to volunteering in our community.
Three scholarships valued at $1,500 each are awarded to area high school students entering college or university in the fall.
One Mark and Shanty Inman Community Service Scholarship, which is awarded in recognition of Mark and Shanty Inman’s dedication and commitment to the Association and to making life better in the Canterbury Community. In addition two Canterbury Community Association Volunteer Scholarships will be awarded.
The Scholarship Application Forms for the 2012-2013 scholarships are now available in English and French at the Association’s office in the Canterbury Community Centre, in the student services offices at area high schools, and on-line by clicking on the appropriate link below.
Completed applications must be postmarked no later than Friday, May 10, 2012.
The bolded text is assuming that current ECOPASS holders take 6 weeks of holidays in the summer! I don’t know ANYONE who takes off this much time within a 2 month block… or even spread through the year! Most take 2 weeks off – max 3.
For me, the fare will increase from $990 / year to $1,155… assuming I get the Presto card for 12 months… which I would do due to the convenience factor… not going to waste my time starting and stopping automatic debits.
I want to stay on the transit wagon… for environmental reasons alone and 150ish bucks may not seem like much, but combine that with the service that alternates between abysmal and barely acceptable… and, well, I think some may rethink their options.
The Canterbury Soccer Club is a community-based, developmental soccer club that has been run solely by volunteers for the past 35 years. Some years, we have had up to 700 athletes from 4-15 years old learn to play soccer and have fun at the same time with our organization.
For the past several years, the numbers of volunteers has dwindled to the point where parents whose kids no longer play with the CSC have been asked to come back to help complete 10 executive jobs that needed to be done.
Lately, we have also had to vigorously convince parents to volunteer as we are annually short on coaches. But, the three people on executive last year managed to organize the 48 teams for over 550 kids to make the season happen. One of those volunteers was at the field 4 nights a week for the entire season.
We understand that soccer may not be a very familiar game to most, and that coaching is can be a daunting task. However, we have in place several options open for coaches’ training and practice plans that will help in running teams.
However, as a result of not having enough volunteers we have decided to cancel 2012 season in its entirety.
We hope that you will consider volunteering for a position on the executive or as a coach next year. The Annual General meeting where the executive jobs will be filled for 2013 will be held in the boardroom of the Biran Kilrea Arena (next the the Canterbury Community Centre) on Thursday April 19th at 7:00 pm.
Please step forward as a volunteer so that CSC will be reborn in 2013. Our kids are relying on you.
If you live in south-east Ottawa, please consider volunteering for next season.
Yeah, I know, it is tough to find the time. And if you are at all like me, you are already involved in one thing or another in your community or with your family. There is a limit.
But if you don’t already have something on the go, or can spare a few hours in the evening during the week next May and June, why not consider getting involved with this organisation? It is well-run, the season isn’t long, you get outdoors, and best of all, NO experience required!
I remember when my parents bought a set from a door-to-door salesman. I went through every single page! But the truth is that research tools have come a long way and we shouldn’t mourn the death of the candle because of the invention of the light bulb… as Ayn Rand might say.
OTTAWA — Nicholas Hoare, owner of the independent Canadian bookstore chain of the same name, said he was forced to close his Ottawa store when the National Capital Commission tried to hike his yearly rent to nearly $145,000.
The NCC sent Hoare a notice in mid-December stating his new lease agreement would increase the $84,000 rent of his Sussex Dr. store by 72 per cent. The letter also said the rent would continue to increase incrementally each year for the duration of the five-year lease agreement.
“We got this registered letter out of the blue from these clowns telling us in no uncertain terms that this was final and not negotiable,” he said.
Hoare said Matthew Mitchell, the manager of the Ottawa store, tried to contact the NCC and negotiate the lease but he received no response.
“Nobody would phone him back. It’s like dealing with a brick wall,” he said. “There was no discussion, no argument, no negotiation.”
Hmmmm… RoboGate seems to be unfolding a bit more clearly now. I wonder how the Cons are going to spin this? Again, I’m not going to jump to conclusions until the investigations have concluded.
But still…
An investigation by CBC News has turned up voters all over Canada who say the reason they got robocalls sending them to fictitious polling stations was that they’d revealed they would not vote Conservative.
Although the Conservative Party has denied any involvement in the calls, these new details suggest that the misleading calls relied on data gathered by, and carefully guarded by, the Conservative Party.
Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand announced Thursday that he now has “over 700 Canadians from across the country” who allege “specific circumstances” of fraudulent or improper calls. CBC News examined 31 ridings where such calls have been reported and found a pattern: those receiving those calls also had previous calls from the Conservative Party to find out which way they would vote.
Still amazed that, even though my Leafs are struggling right now, Sens fans are still obsessed more with the Blue and White rather than their own damned team! I will NEVER understand these people! They are in dire need of therapy!
There’s a group here in Ottawa that is trying to get the municipal ban on backyard hen-raising lifted. Specifically:
Objective: To influence revision of City of Ottawa bylaw #2003-77, to allow hens in urban and rural residential back yards.
I personally don’t have a problem with the idea of hens (no roosters) in the backyard. Other cities have done it and there seems to be an answer to every question posed about health (human and chicken), noise, vermin, etc. Plus, I think it important that we, as a society, begin to re-assess how our properties are used; food gardens and small-scale poultry operations, or, as a colleague has put it, non-productive domestic crops (i.e., lawns).
I have converted a nice proportion of what little backyard I have into plots for my tomatoes, beans, raspberries, horseradishes, beets and cucumbers. The food is GREAT and fresh as can be, plus, my youngest daughter has taken a keen interest in our wee little “farm”. And this is good as it is teaching her the value of work plus teaches her that food doesn’t just magically appear on store shelves.
So I say, hell, why not! The City might at least direct staff to take a closer look at this issue rather than dismiss it off the cuff like this:
“First and foremost, sincere apologies for our slow response to your message. By-law and Regulatory Services does not support the introduction of urban chickens for many reasons you refuted in your communication (noise, odour, attraction of predatory animals such as coyotes, potential for the spread of zoonotic diseases). The City is not presently resourced to issue permits nor respond to complaints concerning chickens – including chickens at large – and the Ottawa Humane Society (who provides sheltering services for the City) would have to be consulted on whether or not they have capacity to expand to shelter stray chickens and at what cost. We further question what becomes of chickens who grow too old to continue to produce eggs.
You speak of “responsible” hen ownership. Our concern would be the residents who do not take this responsibility seriously.
I appreciate and respect your submission and will retain it for future reference.
Linda Anderson
Chief
By-law and Regulatory Services”
Canada day
OK - now everyone just take a BIG BREATH! And take off your masks!
The so-called "bipartisan" agreement in the U.S...
Seal tragedy on DC street - 3 dead - PETA responsible
