The Ottawa Senators have a new owner, council approves a new garbage policy and federal workers ‘dissatisfied’ with the return-to-office plan.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories in Ottawa this week.
A group led by Toronto businessman Michael Andlauer will be the new owner of the Ottawa Senators.
Senators Sports and Entertainment announced this week that it has entered into an agreement to sell 90 per cent of the club to an entity controlled by Andlauer. Anna and Olivia Melnyk, through the Melnyk Estate, will retain a 10 per cent interest in the club, according to the Senators.
Andlauer’s group includes Farm Boy partner and special advisor Jeff York and the Malhotra family, owners of Claridge Homes.
“My family and I are very excited to be a part of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club,” Andlauer said in a statement released by the Senators.
“I believe that the Senators’ fanbase is one of the most passionate in the league and I’m excited to take the franchise’s success both on and off the ice to the next level.”
The NHL’s board of governors must approve the sale.
A group led by Toronto businessman Michael Andlauer will be the new owners of the Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa city council trashed the idea of bag tags for household garbage, voting instead to place a hard cap on the amount of waste residents can place at the curb.
The new policy will limit households to three garbage bins/items every two weeks, and residents will not be able to purchase bag tags for extra garbage.
City staff say enforcement of the new limits will be gradual with a heavy emphasis on education, followed by garbage collectors placing a notice sticker on extra bags. Eventually, anything other than three garbage containers would not be collected.
The city looked at short-term solutions to increase waste diversion rates and extend the life of the Trail Road Landfill, which is expected to be full by 2036-2038.
The cost of a new landfill ranges between $300 million and $450 million, and could take up to 15 years to be fully operational. Council has also directed staff to bring forward a report looking at technologies to deal with Ottawa’s garbage, including waste-to-energy incineration.
Medium and long-term solutions for Ottawa’s garbage will be discussed in the fall when the Solid Waste Master Plan is tabled.
A woman is being treated for life-threatening injuries after being struck by a dump truck while cycling in Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood.
Emergency crews responded to the collision involving a cyclist at the intersection of Rochester Street and Gladstone Avenue just before 7:45 a.m. Friday.
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster issued a statement on Twitter, saying, “horrified to hear this, but not surprised.”
“Cycling on Gladstone can be super dangerous. We need safe bike infrastructure on this road. It’s in the Transportation Master Plan, but I want to see it accelerated.”
The Transportation Master Plan includes a feasibility study to look at adding cycling lanes on Gladstone Avenue from Percy Street to the Corso Italia Station, and options to the west.
Ottawa police are investigating a collision involving a cyclist and a dump truck at Gladstone Avenue and Rochester Street. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
Federal public servants are feeling “dissatisfied” and say productivity is down since the federal government implemented a return-to-office plan for tens of thousands of public servants six months ago, according to a new union survey.
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada kicked off National Public Service Week by unveiling the results of a survey of its 72,000 members on the return-to-office policies implemented this year.
“Six months into the implementation of a one-size-fits-all return to office order, our members report that the policy has undermined their productivity, increased their cost of living, forced them to waste time in traffic – and it hasn’t improved collaboration,” PIPSC President Jennifer Carr said in a statement.
PIPSC says 70 per cent of respondents reported being dissatisfied with how the return-to-office policies were implemented, with workers raising concerns about the commuting time and cost, work-life balance and environmental impacts.
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said productivity has gotten worse, while PIPSC members say 80 per cent of meetings are happening virtually.
A federal office tower in Ottawa. Aug. 2, 2021. (Jackie Perez / CTV News Ottawa)
Ottawa dermatologists say they are seeing a “tremendous increase” in skin cancer cases, after 20 per cent of people attending a free pop up-skin check clinic were diagnosed with cancer.
A group of dermatologists volunteered their time to host the clinic at the Ottawa Derm Centre as part of a fundraiser for the Mohs Skin Cancer Surgery expansion campaign at the Ottawa Hospital.
Doctors diagnosed more than 60 cancer cases during the clinic.
“We have seen a tremendous increase in skin cancer recently, partially because of the pandemic,” said Dr. Mark Kirchhof, head of dermatology for the Ottawa Hospital. “People have obviously missed some of their medical appointments.”
The wait list for skin cancer surgery is currently six to eight months, according to doctors.
Dermatologists hosted a free skin check clinic at the Ottawa Derm Centre on Sunday. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)