City’s legal battle with Orgaworld still festers, committee told
Ottawa Citizen

By Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen, October 8, 2015

The city and Orgaworld remain locked in litigation, Ottawa’s audit committee heard Thursday. And until the legal wrangling is exhausted, it’s unlikely the city will be able to reopen a contract that is costing millions of dollars more than it should.

The legal saga between the city and the organic waste company that manages the green bin program will continue at least into the second quarter of 2016 because an application to appeal is still before the courts,

Ottawa Centre candidate Paul Dewar touts NDP's proposed urban tree strategy
Metro News

By Michael Woods, Ottawa Metro News, October 7, 2015

The federal government needs to be more involved in planting and protecting urban trees, Ottawa Centre NDP candidate Paul Dewar said Wednesday.

Speaking on Wellington Street at the site of a recently-removed diseased elm tree, Dewar touted the NDP’s proposed urban tree strategy, which would mandate the federal government to work with cities to increase urban tree coverage. He said he would work to ensure Ottawa Centre receives targeted attention.

“Other G7 countries have prioritized the expansion and protection of urban tree coverage,” Dewar said. “Yet Canada has no strategy to protect and maintain urban forests in the face of accelerating development and spreading biological threats.”

Coun. McKenney calls for more trees in 'complete streets' designs
Ottawa & Reg

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, October 7, 2015

A "complete street" policy received the transportation committee's approval Wednesday, but one councillor wants a pledge for more trees.

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney pushed staff to commit to at least include trees in project scopes.

In its simplest form, a complete street gives opportunity for all road users to have an equally comfortable travelling experience. That includes pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and motorists.

Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson wants to charge more for street parking

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, October 7, 2015

The city is facing a budget crunch and should be charging people more money for on-street parking permits, Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson says.

Wilkinson questions why the city wants to charge so little for permits, particularly in the summer, when motorists are actually “renting” city property to park their vehicles.

Tarantula found crossing road on Ottawa residential street - Ottawa - CBC News

By CBC News Ottawa, October 7, 2015

Anne Beck and her daughter Julia were driving along a residential street in the Ottawa community of Carp on Monday afternoon, returning home from a neighbourhood bakery, when Julia spotted a tarantula crossing the road.

No, no, Anne Beck said, thinking it was probably a Halloween decoration that blew off someone's porch.No such luck.

‘Complete streets’ plan for all road users wins near-complete praise
Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, October 6, 2015

People who walk, cycle or take public transit will no longer be left out of the formula traffic engineers use to design and reconstruct Ottawa’s roads.

But while many cheered the transportation committee’s endorsement Wednesday of a new roadmap for implementing the city’s two-year-old “complete streets” policy, some remain concerned that the plan sees trees as an afterthought.

Ministry of Environment identifies ‘mineral oil’ as material in east end spills
Ottawa Citizen

By Vito Pilieci, Ottawa Citizen, October 7, 2015

The provincial Ministry of the Environment has identified a type of mineral oil as being the substance involved in strange spill in the city’s east end Tuesday.

But the source and exact type of the material remains a mystery.The spill, which occurred Tuesday at around 3:20 p.m., involved two large spills of what was initially classified as a “petroleum based product,” one on Cyrville Road and another along Star Top Road, prompting HAZMAT crews to respond to contain the material.

Ottawa cops want $6,300 for cyclist collision data
Metro News

By Steve Rennie, Ottawa Metro News, October 6, 2015

Data doesn’t come cheap, especially when it comes to the Ottawa Police Service.

The cops want $6,300 in exchange for records showing the location, time and date of collisions between cyclists and motor vehicles.

In July, Metro filed a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for “all records related to collisions between motor vehicles and cyclists in the city from January 2014 to July 27, 2015. Please include the location of the collisions, the tame and date of the collisions, any information that describes what happened, and whether any charges were laid.”

Meet the Ottawa-Vanier Liberal candidate: Mauril Bélanger

By Ottawa Community News, October 6, 2015

In 20 years of representing Ottawa-Vanier in Parliament, Mauril Bélanger says he’s never been bored. He was first elected in February 1995 in a byelection, and has been re-elected every time since. He lives in the riding and was a stockbroker before he jumped into the political arena, serving as a staffer to Jean-Luc Pépin and later Peter Clark, before running for office himself.

Meet the Ottawa-Vanier Green candidate: Nira Dookeran

By Ottawa Community News, October 6, 2015

Nira Dookeran has been a high school ESL teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for the past 15 years.Born in Winnipeg, Dookeran moved to Ottawa 23 years ago after studying in Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree in philosophy and French from the University of Winnipeg in 1984 and later earned her Master’s in Philosophy from the University of Toronto, before going on to complete a Bachelor of Education.

The 53-year-old lived in the riding for a number of years, having been a resident of Vanier, Beacon Hill and Manor Park, but had to move in 2007 to be closer to her son’s school, as he has Asperger’s.

Meet the Ottawa-Vanier NDP candidate: Emilie Taman

By Ottawa Community News, October 6, 2015

Justice issues are always top of mind for Emilie Taman, who most recently worked as a federal prosecutor.

The 38-year-old mother of three moved to Ottawa in 2005 for a judicial clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada after she finished law school. She then worked as legal counsel at the Supreme Court, eventually moving on to become a federal prosecutor.

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