Christopher Whan

A group of protesters stood up at an Ottawa city council meeting on Wednesday wearing shirts emblazoned with the message “Resign Rick” after embattled Coun. Rick Chiarelli arrived for council’s budget vote. Later, the protesters went out to the lobby to hold up a banner and chant, calling for Chiarelli to go and for the City of Ottawa to improve its workplace harassment policies. Veronique Prevost, who started a petition this Sunday calling for Chiarelli’s resignation, participated in the prot

The City of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency as water levels along the Ottawa River are expected to rise above the flood levels in 2017 that were “devastating” to many communities bordering the river, Mayor Jim Watson announced on Thursday afternoon. The municipality issued a plea for help to the provincial and federal governments after assessing new weather and river level forecasts for this coming weekend. Ralph Goodale, federal minister for public safety and emergency prepardnessO, c

Ottawa police have released the names of the three deceased victims in Friday’s bus crash at Westboro bus station. According to police, 56-year-old Bruce Thomlinson, 57-year-old Judy Booth, and 65-year-old Anja Van Beek have been identified as the three passengers who died as a result of the collision. “The identification of those who died is a difficult and important process and I want to offer the condolences of the Ottawa Police and our entire community,” said Chief Charles Bordeleau in a r

Ottawa fire Chief Kim Ayotte took up the job in August 2018 and was soon put to work as tornadoes tore through the capital a little over a month later. He would then lead the department through the tragic crash at Westboro station and floods that forced heavy evacuations in the city earlier this year.

For Liam McGee, it all started with a bit of leg and back pain and a visit to the doctor and ended with an unexpected outcome. McGee was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer with no known cure. “It was a shock,” said McGee. “Being told you have an incurable cancer is like hearing a death sentence.” First diagnosed in 2012, McGee went through chemotherapy treatment and a stem cell transplant. McGee entered remission soon after, but his cancer returned in 2015 and he is stil

First in a series of tweets and then in a statement on Tuesday, Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard voiced the frustration he’s felt at city hall over his first 10 months on the job. In his tweets Tuesday morning, Menard says the mayor “despises him” for wanting to make policy changes and “openly goes after you personally trying to label you as a hypocrite.” He goes on to list other issues he says he has faced, such as being barred from serving on committees — the mayor has final say, with recomme

Thousands of people from across the National Capital Region made their way downtown on Friday to call for governments to do more when it comes to climate change. The strike in Ottawa is one of many happening across the country including Montreal, Toronto and Halifax. The movement gained inspiration from 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has made waves across the world calling out governments for not doing enough to curb climate change. Thunberg was in Montreal on Friday to take

An Ottawa mom who started a social media group to connect with other new parents after having her first child now has a growing group of new friends. Brianna Chapman says she decided to found the Facebook group Dope Moms of Ottawa to combat the isolation she felt even before her baby was born. “When I found out I was pregnant, it kind of really started to hit home for me that I was gonna be alone on maternity leave,” Chapman said. Becoming a new parent can bring about feelings of loneliness,

College Ward Coun. Rick Chiarelli released a statement on Thursday in defense of recent allegations of sexual misconduct towards female employees and perspective employees. In the statement, Chiarelli says he finds the suggestion that his request for medical leave – heard at the last city council meeting – is disingenuous or opportunistic to be “troubling.” Council tabled the request to a later date citing a need for further information. “This situation has reached a level of seriousness, and

A second day of delays hit Ottawa’s Confederation Line on Wednesday morning, prompting OC Transpo to call in reinforcement buses. According to OC Transpo, the delay was caused by a door malfunction on a train travelling along the line. The initial call for service came in at 8:15 a.m. Later that morning, OC Transpo brought in bus service to alleviate the bottleneck at Tunney’s Pasture station. Passengers on the trains were asked to disembark and instead hop on a bus to get downtown. Some comm