Ottawa Citizen
WHO OWNS THIS ROAD?
New cottage neighbours arrived. Then they closed the only right of way. Hundreds of pages of court filings, all over a dirt road barely wide enough for a single car, unravel what constitutes “private property.”
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Jittery residents mopping up again after back-to-back major floods
For Adrienne ten Cate, every rainy day now comes with the unwelcome ritual of running down to the basement to make sure more water hasn't managed to find its way in. After around 50 centimetres of water poured into her basement during the massive July...
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Abandoned Syrian Embassy continues slide into disrepair
A couple of years have passed since Golden Triangle resident David Turnbull walked by the former Syrian Embassy and noticed some unexpected signs of life within the 100-year-old heritage building. The building had been vacated in May 2012, when...
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Glitchy locker app frustrates cyclists
When Hintonburg resident Eric Warren needs to leave his bike downtown, he knows exactly where he wants to park it. Instead of locking it to a bike rack on the street, Warren uses one of Ottawa's secure public bike lockers. He considers himself one of...
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Byward vendors face eviction threat
Long-standing businesses in Ottawa's Byward Market Building received notice letters from their landlord after they put up posters that the Byward Market District Authority claimed were in breach of their tenancy agreements. The posters were put up...
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A WORLD ON FIRE
Toronto and New York choked under orange and white skies. Madrid and Bordeaux had flames licking at their doorsteps. Vast forests, rural communities and ranchlands full of livestock in Western Canada and the U.S. have burned — and all in the month of...
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VENDORS BOXED IN
Sales have been poor and customer traffic low at Rahimullah Samandar's stall in the Byward Market's new Vendor Village. Frustrated merchants renting the converted shipping containers say the market authority hasn't done enough to support the...
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Flypast was `requested' by U.S.
The Canadian Forces says it wasn't its idea to conduct a flypast over the U.S. ambassador's residence in Ottawa on July 4 and it was only responding to a request from the Americans. Two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets and two U.S. F-35s...
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Safety of ride-sharing questioned
When moving around Ottawa, Astara van der Jagt says, it's very common for women and gender-diverse people to plan their routes primarily around what makes them feel safest. That could mean choosing to walk on well-lit streets, even if it adds 10...
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Craig Henry park stabbing raises fears of increasing Islamophobia in the area
Though a man was stabbed in Nepean's Craig Henry Park on July 23 when intervening in an argument between young girls, Deidre Guy isn't worried about her neighbourhood's safety. What concerns the Craig Henry neighbourhood resident most after the...
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Ironman athletes and supporters don't let soggy weather stop them
It was a long day in the rain for the Ironman athletes. As if swimming almost four kilometres, cycling more than 180 km and then capping it all with a 42.2 km run wasn't ridiculous enough, participants in Sunday's Ironman Canada-ottawa sloshed through...
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CHELSEA'S MIDAS TOUCH
When Manuela Teixeira bought the Chelsea Pub almost two decades ago, it needed a big makeover. It was about time. For that matter, that heritage building on Old Chelsea Road had undergone multiple transformations during the previous 130 or so years....
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Ottawa emergency services transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 network
Most Ottawa residents won't notice anything different the next time they call 911. Operators will still answer the phone, ask where the emergency is and dispatch first responders, as they always have. But behind the scenes Ottawa has joined...
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With no central terminal in Ottawa anymore, are we missing the bus on intercity travel?
When Charles Anderson and his son Matthew decided to take the bus from Ottawa to Montreal recently, they first got a lift from their homes in Pakenham to Laurier Avenue and Waller Street, where Charles expected to find a proper bus station. Instead,...
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Volunteers dig in for battle against invasive plants in city's parks, forests
The Clyde Bee and Butterfly Patch is a labour of love for volunteers like Sharon Boddy and Nora Lee. Up to three times a week, they tend to the 2,000 square-foot garden alongside a small group of volunteers, removing invasive plants and replacing them...
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THOM'S GOLD MEDAL SHINES AGAIN IN PARK
When I sat with Linda Thom in the Old Ottawa South park that honours her last May, the mood was hardly celebratory. The replica medal commemorating Thom's Olympic gold in women's pistol shooting at the 1984 Los Angeles Games had seen far better days —...
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CBSA PLANS REVIEW AFTER $13.2M COCAINE CASE TOSSED
Canada's border agency says it is considering policy changes after a Windsor, Ont., judge dismissed a $13.2-million cocaine-smuggling case over what she called “egregious” violations of a truck driver's Charter rights. The ruling found border officers...
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MAKING YOUR MEDICINE
Renu Pillay is owner and pharmacist at a compounding pharmacy in the Glebe that can prepare patient-specific medications based on a doctor's prescription. As Ontario faces drug shortages, advocates say facilities like Pillay's can help fill the gap....
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How can Ottawa resolve construction season chaos?
It often seems like you can't walk 10 steps in Ottawa during the summer without stumbling across large orange and black pylons encircling a construction site. The city says it manages about 700 municipally funded infrastructure projects each year,...
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City testing street closures around schools at peak times
During drop-off and pickup, the road in front of École élémentaire catholique Des Voyageurs is a chaotic place, according to Rob Attrell, whose three kids attend the Orléans school. He remembers one day in January 2026, when, just after a snowfall,...
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Meet the new CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank, who faces challenge of unprecedented demand
As the devastating derecho ripped through Ottawa in May 2022, Natalie Spooner wasn't watching the storm. She was watching Hydro Ottawa's outage map. Spooner wasn't concerned about the lights in her own home. As the Ottawa Food Bank's director of...
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That's a wrap on Bluesfest 2026
In a year when festivals around the world are paring down or going under, Ottawa Bluesfest has just wrapped up one of the most successful editions in its 32-year history. “Every night has been very successful,” said Bluesfest CEO and co-founder Mark...
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INTERNAL TRADE BARRIERS STILL COSTING CANADA: CFIB
A leading business group is giving some provinces and the federal government good grades for trying to break down Canada's costly internal trade obstacles, even as those barriers continue to cost Canadians billions of dollars a year. In its annual...
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ANSWERING THE CALL
The DJS are spinning tucked away at Bluesfest along the river somewhere between the RBC Main Stage and the River stage in a self-described “Big Chill” zone, but the vibes through the night could get anything but chill. The Sleepwell Big Chill is an...
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Bluesfest fans sing along and squeal for Conan Gray's whimsy-filled show
Bluesfest resumed Wednesday after a two-day break, rising back to life with a slice of emotional pop fare headlined by Conan Gray, a 27-year-old musician who's already an icon to his devoted following. The thousands of fans in the crowd sang, bounced...
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Ottawa colon cancer survivor applauds province's earlier screening as lifesaver
For Michael Groves, what began as stomach pain turned into a diagnosis that changed his life. The then-49-year-old thought he might have appendicitis when he went to the emergency room in early 2021. A scan ruled that out, and after the pain subsided,...
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OCDSB reverses Pride parade decision
The Ottawa-carleton District School Board has reversed its decision and will now participate in this year's Capital Pride parade in an official capacity. Capital Pride executive director Callie Metler confirmed to the Ottawa Citizen that OCDSB CEO...
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No mandatory evacuation of storm-damaged building
No hydro, no water and no food — that was the reality for Olivia Allan after the Canada Day rainstorm flooded thousands of basements and roads across Ottawa. Allan was among the hardest hit, as a resident of Park West at 30 Mcewen Ave. The 24-storey...
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SPENDING NEEDED FOR `GROWTH,' MINISTER SAYS
The federal government plans to pay for its recent big-ticket spending through a combination of economic growth and deficit increases, Finance Minister François-philippe Champagne says. Prior to officially kicking off the government's pre-budget...
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OTTAWA'S HIDDEN CRISIS
Reuben Khaemba, 23, has faced housing instability since he was 18 or 19, but didn't consider himself homeless at first. He now lives at the Ottawa Mission, but is waiting to hear about an apartment. Nobody is sure how many homeless youth are in Ottawa,...
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Dad wants to see daughter's legacy keep others alive
Kevin Williamson remembers the exact moment his world came crashing down. On March 17, 2025, months of unanswered questions about his daughter's constant fatigue, unexplained pain and unusual discharge finally started making sense. The cause was a...
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Storms make for tight-knit community
If extreme weather brings out any positives, Marina Petrovic says it will frequently bring her neighbourhood together. She referred to it as a sort of trauma bonding in the Graham Park community, located southeast of Bayshore. “In every big disaster,...
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Can Stittsville shops survive Carp Road widening project?
After a few years of operating a food truck, Craig Beaudry and his wife, Monique Haugen, went “all in” when they opened Wiches Cauldron Sandwich Shoppe in 2023. From their hearty soups to their rotating sandwich menu, the owners like to “keep regulars...
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Stittsville deli owner `exhausted' as power returned after four days
Ivan Saric rarely takes a day off. But it was while relaxing at home on Canada Day that the business owner noticed the temperatures of his walkin freezers climb. The app that helps Saric monitor temperature levels at his Stittsville meat and deli...
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OLAND MURDER STILL OPEN 15 YEARS LATER
For those who were in the packed, fifth-floor courtroom of the Saint John Law Courts on Dec. 19, 2015, it was a scene that cannot be forgotten. Dennis Oland, on trial for the second-degree murder of his dad, Richard, stood next to one of his defence...
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`I FEEL BETRAYED'
Some weeks ago, a boarded-up stretch of Bank Street went up for sale for $14.5 million. It is a storied length of downtown Ottawa — the whole of the eastern side of Bank between Nepean and Lisgar streets. Wallack's Art Supplies and Framing occupied...
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Last Canada Day for country's beloved Snowbirds
For generations of Canadians, Canada Day in Ottawa has included a familiar ritual: looking skyward for red-and-white jets. With Wednesday's 1 p.m. flypast — heavy rains forced the cancellation of their 4 p.m. demonstration — the Snowbirds' iconic...
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Two kids die in suspected murder-suicide
Ottawa police are investigating a suspected murder-suicide after two boys were found dead inside a home in Findlay Creek, and their father was found dead, roughly 45 kilometres away in Kemptville. Police said officers were called to a home on...
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The Clemow's noise problem is back this summer, Glebe neighbours say
Neil Pearson used to spend summer nights with his windows open and relaxing on his front deck. Now, he says, he's often forced to shut the windows instead. “We have to close our windows on the front of our house,” said Pearson, who lives near The...
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A cruel irony of the war on drugs
It took Corey Tochor three years to get to this point. The Conservative MP turned heads on Parliament Hill when, in the midst of the House of Commons' final dizzying days of passing legislation before adjourning for the summer, he emerged with an...
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TURFED FROM MARKET
Has the city, in its haste to “reimagine” the Byward Market through activations, programming, placemaking and other fashionable planning jargon, forgotten the businesses that have helped make the market worth visiting in the first place? The question...
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WORTH REMEMBERING HOW THESE DRUG USERS GOT WHERE THEY ARE
I want to tell you about an eightyear-old girl and her pet dog, Scooby. But first I want to tell you about one recent Friday. It was the day before the last of Ontario's supervised consumption sites were closed by government fiat, when people with...
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An ongoing fight for inclusiveness
Celeste Constantineau knows the amount of time, planning and preparation that goes into attending a social event. Showing up to her six-year-old daughter's “seemingly benign” after-school events meant sitting down her oldest, Evelyn Zanivan, and...
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Parents sour on `sweet' school water
The walk to Fallingbrook Elementary is a short one. Two minutes tops, said Crystal Mask, who accompanies her daughter to school with her husband, Garrett Hansen, every morning. But since March, the Orléans couple has been forced to rejig their morning...
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TKACHUK FLIES SOUTH
The Ottawa Senators have traded captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, where he will play alongside his brother, Matthew. The team said Monday the Olympic gold medallist asked to be dealt in a meeting at his New Jersey home last month.
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FORMER EDMONTON COUNCILLOR WARNS FEDERALISTS AGAINST COMPLACENCY IN REFERENDUM
Former Edmonton city councillor and mayoral candidate Michael Walters is back on the doorknocking circuit. He's not currently running for political office. But he is travelling through neighbourhoods in the southside area he used to represent, talking...
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MORE OVERDOSES FEARED
Dean Dewar, director of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, says the June 13 closure of the centre's supervised consumption site means more people will be injecting harmful drugs unsupervised on Ottawa's streets. Olivia Belovich reports.
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7 YEARS SINCE REPORT
Bridget Tolley is five years older than her mother was when a Sûreté du Québec police car struck and killed her in October 2001. She remembers rushing to see her mom, Gladys Tolley, shortly after she found out, along with her family and community...
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Hospital patients get house calls — from tattoo artist
On a recent afternoon in a family room on the fifth floor of the Bruyère Health Centretown campus in Chinatown — formerly St. Vincent Hospital — Hollis Peirce got his fifth tattoo. The new ink, on his right bicep, shows an opened zipper, underneath...
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Homeowner stuck between a root and a hard place
Nicole Robert doesn't usually work out of Ottawa's City Hall, but now she's hunched over on the floor next to security, writing code on her laptop. Robert doesn't work for the city — she's a statistical analyst for the Medical Council of Canada. On a...
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`Safe gathering spot' at risk in policing push: Inuit group
When Lisa saw Kate out of the corner of her eye, she sprang toward her. It was hot and clammy. But the two friends were glued to each other like magnets as tears dripped out of their eyes. They had not seen each other in more than a year. The last...
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Lax border policies fostered one of Canada's most dangerous gangs
At the immigration hearing for an accused Indian gangster earlier this month, an Edmonton police officer attempted to illustrate the scale of the criminal operation that law enforcement was now dealing with. The hearing concerned Jashandeep Singh, an...
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THAT SINKING FEELING
Paul Charette had just finished a locksmithing job at the Rideau Centre and was returning to the van he'd parked outside when he first encountered the sinkhole. It had opened up, a giant, yawning maw, between him and the company car, a dark blue Dodge...
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BUS ATTENDANTS CUT
Amanda Jollymore and Brian Mcphail say their six-year-old daughter, Mia, is strong enough to get herself into trouble, but she isn't always strong enough to get herself out of it. So, when the parents learned Friday that the bus attendants assisting...
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Proposed bill would keep tenants cool
Ontario landlords are required to keep tenants warm in the winter. Ottawa Centre MPP Catherine Mckenney says it's time the province offered the same protection from extreme heat in the summer. Mckenney has introduced a private member's bill that would...
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`Concrete action' on safe supply clinic celebrated
It's been a year since the New Dawn Medical clinic has called Chinatown home. But only now, Somerset ward Coun. Ariel Troster says, are residents and politicians seeing “concrete action” regarding the controversial safe-supply clinic. For months,...
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HOUSING PRICES WOULD BE 10% LOWER IF CANADA HAD KEPT PACE WITH U.S.: CMHC
Canada's housing stock would be about 30 per cent larger and prices 10 per cent lower if this country's building industry had been as responsive to demand as its American counterpart over the last couple of decades, says a new report from the federal...
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THE EARLY BUZZ
Robert Anderson, a research scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, says that while their appearance has been delayed because of a cool, damp spring, we can expect lots of mosquitoes in the Ottawa area now that the weather has warmed, Natasha...
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`It's just a mess': residents avoid congested intersection
For Findlay Creek resident Roger Baliki, avoiding the intersection of Bank Street and Leitrim Road has become part of his routine. Baliki says he now plans routes around the intersection whenever possible, frustrated by congestion and a layout he...
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OTTAWA HAS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BOOST SENIORS HOUSING OPTIONS
When Debbie Staples was told she might have to leave the apartment she has lived in for nearly 20 years, she tried to imagine what might come next. “Is the postman going to deliver the mail to my car?” she recalls thinking. “Because that's where I'd...
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GM seeks to get OC Transpo `on track'
OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary is hoping to “change the narrative” and steer clear of the negative media attention surrounding the organization he was tapped to lead two months ago. Leary highlighted some of the positive progress OC Transpo has...
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Highway 417 work making traffic woes in Nepean even worse, advocate says
Since the Highway 417 construction and closures began near Angela Prescott's Glabar Park neighbourhood, traffic congestion in the area is worse than ever. “The exacerbation has been tenfold since the reduction on the highway. So we've seen a dramatic...
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FEDERAL MINISTER POURS MORE COLD WATER ON N.B.'S LNG IDEA
Canada has reached a landmark deal to export liquefied natural gas to Germany — but it's from the Pacific coast. And federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson has poured more cold water on the possibility of an East Coast export terminal, even as New...
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FAMILY HOUSING CRISIS
Amy Ayers and her three children, 26, 15 and 14, along with their cat and dog, are living in tent in an Ottawa forest. Not for fun, but because they have nowhere else to live. Their precarious housing situation started more than a year ago. Ayers...
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This painful, common disease has no national action plan
Karissa Renaud was 25 years old when she first experienced pain in her pelvic area so severe that trips to the emergency room at various Ottawa hospitals became routine. Doctors couldn't quite figure out the cause. Instead, she was prescribed...
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Program expands to divert youth from gangs, exploitation
Ketcia Peters still remembers the moment a teacher told her she was a leader. As a teenager who had recently moved from Montreal to the United States and struggled to speak English, Peters said she often acted out in school rather than risk...
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Man turns whimsical mowing job into a cause
When Genevieve Herzog was working on the front lines during the COVID -19 pandemic as an occupational therapist, she would often walk through an overgrown stretch of Ottawa's hydro corridor. So her husband, Mike Herzog, cut a small path through the...
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A ROARING RACE WEEKEND
Marathon runners make their way past Parliament Hill during the early kilometres of their race on Sunday. From a 100-year-old man's grit to a running club that's all about community, participants in this year's event showcased a range of race rhymes...
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POLITICIANS SEEK TO EASE FOOD COSTS, BUT ARE BATTLING MARKET FORCES
OTTAWA Call it the coriander conundrum. Like with parsley, carrots, dill and most other members of the apiaceae family of edible plants, the retail price of coriander has been growing like a weed. While the prices of many items on grocery store...
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FACING A CRISIS
Ottawa's last two supervised consumption sites will close by June 13. What this means for the communities these sites served and for people like Joey Macrae-chiaralli — who has a history of homelessness and drug use — is unknown.
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Ottawa artist's joyful clay world resonates as call for inclusion
For Benjamin Lachapelle, gloomy weather is just another reason to reach for his colourful assortment of air-dry clays. “A lot of these figurines (are) incredible animals which inspire me,” Lachapelle said while holding a tray full of little handmade...
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Canadian military refused to release this F-35 photo
Somewhere, maybe locked in a vault at Department of National Defence headquarters, is one of the rarest recent photos involving the Canadian Forces. In February, RCAF commander Lt.-gen. Jamie Speiser-blanchet travelled to Lockheed Martin's Texas...
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Ottawans have caught the Hyrox bug. What's behind this new obsession?
Imagine running for one kilometre and doing one functional workout. Sounds doable, right? Now imagine repeating that eight times over. One-kilometre runs in between eight functional workouts including skiergs (which simulate cross-country skiing),...
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Pandemic-era stem cell treatment shows promise
In January 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Sharon Charlebois spent three weeks at the Civic hospital battling a life-threatening case of COVID-19. The Kanata woman had not been feeling well after Christmas and tested positive for the coronavirus...
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DOES THE NFB HAVE A PROBLEM?
In a windowless office in National Film Board headquarters, Eric Pouliot flicked on an ultraviolet light to reveal a series of dots painted in invisible ink on a puppet's head. Turning to his keyboard, the veteran technical director hit play on a...
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