Glebe Report

Nearly a decade after a project at 275 Carling Avenue was first proposed, construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Initially, Taggart floated the idea of a 24-storey condominium building, then 20, before its actual proposal came in at 18 storeys.

The City of Ottawa released the Draft Official Plan (OP) in November, with an aspiration to make Ottawa “the most livable mid-sized city in North America over the next century.” The plan will direct where we will absorb 400,000 people over the next 25 years, how we get around, urban design, economic development and public health as well as environmental, climate and energy resiliency.

“Irene’s Pub has been fortunate enough to be operating in the same space for over 30 years,” says Mike Estabrooks, general manager and bartender. “As a result, most of the day-to-day faces are very familiar to the pub, most on a first-name basis.

Currey Insurance and Investment has new digs in the Glebe, in a building owned by the company and now shared with tenants that include a pizzeria, a technology venture firm and a proposed cannabis store.

Three determined Glebe residents have scored at least a partial victory in a dispute over a planned pop-up bistro at Patterson Creek. Wendy Myers, Jane Bower and Magda Kubasiewicz took on the National Capital Commission (NCC) at an Ontario Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) hearing.

When the urge strikes, we get creative: “Gotta see a man about a horse;” “Gotta make a phone call;” “Doing one’s business;” “Nature’s calling.” No matter what we call it, we all need them. Toilets are essential for all; sooner or later, everyone’s gotta go.

Its 9 a.m. on a Sunday. I hear my business phone ring. Curious, I listen to the message. The caller explains that they are concerned about a recent home renovation project – there are noticeable cracks in the drywall and several broken kitchen tiles.

I have an adult son with Asperger’s. I have been reflecting on how the social isolation that he experiences is similar in a way to the social isolation we all have been experiencing.

One silver lining to our socially distanced world during the past year is bigger crowds for meetings and consultations online. While I miss gathering face-to-face as a community, hosting events online has made them more accessible to more people in our community.

March 13 marked the one-year anniversary of the day we closed the doors at GNAG due to COVID-19. Operating through a pandemic has been a hum- bling and frightening experience with more sleepless nights than I care to count.

Why is it that the answer to so many of our problems – be it housing unafford- ability, food deserts or economic decline – consistently seems to involve giving developers more land and more flexibility when it comes to the municipal rules we set?

Here we are one year after COVID-19 changed our day- to-day way of life. Abbotsford Seniors Centre is no exception. Last March, we were planning our usual spring registration when we realized we had to shut down with little or no warning. Everyone had to deal with the growing reality of the severity of the virus and, in our case, its effect on seniors in community.

“The purpose of life is to live it.” (Eleanor Roosevelt) By Martha Tobin My COVID career change was not so much a leap of faith as it was a good hard shove out of one career and into another. The day schools closed last March was the beginning of the end of my long career […]

Brittany Belanger, a student at the University of Ottawa, realized that many of the people she interacted with every day did not understand how life- style choices affect the planet. To help change that, she launched an organization called Earthub in January 2019.

I chose (virtual) travel as the Christmas present for my family. We embarked on our trip on a cold day in January. The destination was Ravenna, a beautiful, cultured and elegant city located a few kilometers from the Adriatic Sea. In Ravenna, we met our host, Silvia Giogoli, an experienced, licenced tour guide who helps visitors from all over the world and leads them through culinary experiences.

Glebe resident Louis J. Cabri can look back on the many awards for his mineralogy research and fieldwork. But just as gratifying is his recent work on a just-published, richly illustrated book about his wife Mimi’s remarkable South African family, the De Meillons.

Here is a summary of some of the books I have read so far this year, in the order in which I read them. I mostly like mystery novels and hope you can find something that appeals in these book reviews.

Kerry Smith lives in the Glebe and was copy editor of the Glebe Report for four years. He has also worked in corporate communications, studied for a BA and Master of Divinity and taught applied ethics of care. He brings his diverse experience to bear in his new book, The Well-being First Economy: The Alternative to Patriarchal Values Destroying Us.

This month our long-time film reviewer Lois Siegel brings us The Dig, a recent UK release set in England just before the Second World War, and new reviewer Kate Roberts gives us her take on the recent American movie Palm Springs, a variation of the Groundhog Day theme, a perfect pandemic film.

Paul Green has reviewed films for the Glebe Report for almost 11 years, since April 2010. He brought his insights and knowledge to bear particularly on foreign-language films, with emphasis on French films, and rendered them with grace and eloquence. Here are his farewell thoughts.

I bring the steaming mug up to warm my cheek. The nutty smell of rooibos tea reminds me of the red earth of South Africa where I grew up. I sit at my white kitchen counter and stare out the windows at the white backyard and pale white sky. Heavy, sticky snow started falling at midnight last night and is at least 15 cm thick on the ground now.

On March 4, the Ontario Legislature debated my motion on Voula’s Law, calling on the Ford government to clarify to care-home operators that they cannot use trespass notices to ban family members who speak out about their loved ones’ living conditions. I’m delighted to say that the motion passed unanimously.

Vaccines continue to be our priority as a government, and we remain on track to vaccinate every Canadian who wants a shot by September. In positive news, all residents of long-term care in Ottawa were vaccinated at the beginning of February, and vaccinations are ongoing for retirement residents, long-term-care home staff, essential caregivers, higher-risk health-care providers and seniors over 80.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson speaks on the year 2020, its accomplishments and challenges, and looks to hopes for the new year. He also reports on reform of Ottawa police services, and concrete action being taken on racism in Ottawa.

Three years ago, I was introduced to some life-changing lessons about the vulnerability of sustainable food supplies. Shelley Spruit, local heritage grain farmer-entrepreneur and seed steward from Against the Grain Farms in Winchester, was speaking about climate uncertainties and other challenges faced by farmers and food growers. My eyes opened to the importance of open-source, open-pollinated seeds.

No matter the weather, someone somewhere can describe it. Beginning in October, we can borrow from the Japanese kogarashi to describe the win- ter’s first wind. From there, we head to Finland, using the word kaamos to describe the longing for sunshine one feels on long polar nights.

A special environmental fair – Ecology 2021 – will be held in the Glebe, practising strict COVID precautions. The Sunday coincides with the summer solstice! The fair will be held in the lovely park north of Patterson Creek between Queen Elizabeth Drive and O’Connor Street. Long-time community activist and fair organizer Ima Keener explained the event’s key goal.

Fundraising at Glebe Cooperative Nursery School (GCNS) has tradition- ally been anchored by three big annual events – a Halloween dance, a holiday toy silent auction and the Spring Fling. The arrival of COVID-19 brought a swift end last March to all in-person events.

It’s easy to talk. At a very young age, we all learn to talk. But do we know how to listen? Listening has to be learned, practised and recognized as an essential tool in everyday communication.

Maybe you are taking time off to stay home with the kids during spring break, or perhaps it’s your turn to entertain the kids on a PD day. You know what that means? You have to keep them busy! The Good Morning Creative Arts Preschool (GMCAP) has you covered. Here are a few crafting ideas.

Without racial diversity in the film industry, the same white-centric narratives are told over and over again, with the few portrayals of people of colour often being reduced to harmful stereotypes and underdeveloped side characters.

“With online shopping, same day deliveries and prime days, big-box corporations have made it the easiest thing in the world to mindlessly and carelessly purchase their products, and it’s only making it that much more difficult for small local businesses to survive.”