Two Mississauga teens killed in the Ottawa Valley, the city of Ottawa eyes a new tax to support the ByWard Market and Ottawa receives funding for a new community housing project.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories in the Ottawa area this week.
The victims of a double homicide in Pembroke, Ont. on Monday have been identified as two 16-year-olds from the Greater Toronto Area.
Noah Nathaniel Annis and Alando Omario Davidson, both from Mississauga, died from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds, Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Friday.
The shooting happened shortly before 3 a.m. at a home on Mackay Street. Police found two people with life-threatening injuries. One died in hospital. Some time later, another person was found dead nearby on Dunlop Street.
Police say investigators believe the victims were targeted.
There is still no word on any possible suspects in the shooting.
“All avenues are being exhausted with this investigation,” Mike Mahon of the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP said on Friday.
“While we can tell you that we are definitely looking for the persons or people responsible for these murders, we cannot release any specific information that could jeopardize the investigation.”
A 41-year-old Renfrew County man was killed in a holiday weekend shooting in Renfrew.
Ontario Provincial Police say officers were called to a home on Vimy Boulevard in Renfrew at around 10:30 p.m. on May 19.
A man was found with gunshot wounds at the scene, and was pronounced dead at hospital.
The victim has been identified as Jonathan Logan, 41, of Renfrew County.
The suspect in the shooting has yet to be found.
Investigators believe the victim was also targeted.
Ontario Provincial Police said the teams investigating the homicides in Pembroke and Renfrew are in contact.
“While we cannot speculate on any potential connections, the team investigating the Pembroke double homicide is in communication with the team investigating the Renfrew homicide,” OPP said in a news release earlier this week.
The Ottawa International Airport is not included in Canada’s expansion of a trusted-traveller program coming to six other airports next month.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Tuesday the updated program will speed up NEXUS and trusted-traveller lines by eliminating the time-consuming elements of getting processed at security.
“This includes being able to keep laptops, large electronics and compliant liquids and gels in their carry-on,” he said.
The program is launching next month at the Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Winnipeg airports. However, Ottawa’s airport did not make the cut.
“We are extremely disappointed at having been left off the list and are trying to get information concerning the criteria for inclusion,” Krista Kealey, the airport’s vice-president of communications and public affairs, said in an email.
“It doesn’t make sense for Canada’s Capital Airport to have a lesser customer experience for travellers who are considered trusted as Nexus members. All Tier 1 airports should have the same level of service to reduce confusion among passengers.”
The city of Ottawa is looking into a special tax to fund future projects in the ByWard Market as part of a new strategy to revitalize the tourist area.
A report for the finance and corporate services committee meeting on June 6 outlines eight recommendations to help revive the market area, including dissolving the ByWard Market BIA and creating a new municipal corporation.
One of the recommendations would direct staff to explore a “special area levy to support the mandate of the ByWard Market District Authority.”
“Ongoing stakeholder engagement with business and property owners within the ByWard Market precinct has indicated notional support for a new special area levy that would provide a stable, predictable revenue stream for ByWard Market District Authority strategic initiatives of broad community benefit,” staff said in the report.
“City staff has modelled various revenue scenarios and will share this information and lead this discussion with the ByWard Market District Authority Board. Any decision to pursue a special area levy would be subject to the approval of Committee and Council.”
No details about the proposed levy were included in the report, but Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante says the city will explore several options for the new tax to support the ByWard Market.
“We could do a citywide levy, which would obviously be less expensive – it would be something like $10-20 on your tax bill every year. We could do a ward levy, which would just be for Ward 12. We could do one just for the businesses,” Plante told CTV News Ottawa.
“All options are on the table, and again we just want everyone to get onboard with solutions for the ByWard Market because the health and vitality of the ByWard Market means we have a healthy and vital capital city.”
The other recommendations in the report include:
- New public spaces: Confirm funding from upper levels of government for the William Street and ByWard Market Square street renewal and the creation of the York Street plaza
- 70 Clarence Street: Staff recommend the city confirm funding for the redevelopment of the 70 Clarence Street municipal parking garage. The ByWard Market Public Realm Plan proposed turning the aging parking garage into a public space
- Approve $200,000 in one-time funding for the ByWard Market District Authority transition costs
- Approve $100,000 in one-time capital funding to “leverage other potential funding partnerships” to enhance the Parkdale Market for its 100th anniversary celebration in 2024
The Ontario government is giving Ottawa $24.1 million to support a community housing project on the former CFB Rockcliffe site.
Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark announced on Wednesday that the funding would support an Ottawa Community Housing building on Mikinak Road. The new development will provide 271 homes for seniors, families, Indigenous people and people with disabilities. More than 20 per cent of the homes would be accessible.
The provincial funding comes weeks after Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and city councillors raised issue with the amount of housing and homelessness funding the city was getting from the province.
The 2023 Ontario budget announced an additional $202 million per year in funding for supportive housing and homelessness projects in municipalities across the province. The city received an increase of $845,100 over 2022 funding, which Sutcliffe said was disproportionately small.