Jan - OSCA

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THE
OSCAR
The Ottawa South Community Association Review
l
The Community Voice
YEAR 42, No.1
New Patients Welcome
Emergency patients seen promptly!
Implant and Prosthetic, Family and Cosmetic,
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Dr. Nasrin Saba DDS
Phone: 613.241.1010
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Ottawa, ON, KIS 3X7 Fax: 613.241.0808
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JANUARY 2014
Hopewell PS
Me to We
BLIZZARD!
Story and photos on pg 18
Monthly membership $40
4 Month membership $130
PHOTO BY ANNIE WALKER
e
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with our programs has been,
what are your ideas
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www.oldottawasouth.ca
The Changing Geography of ODR Ice
By Don Cummer
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
knew a thing or two about flooding an
outdoor rink (ODR). As far as I know,
he wrote the first song ever composed
to describe the transformation of
packed snow into a smooth skating
surface.
The song was composed centuries
ago, but the process of water freezing on a surface has not changed. The
lyrics (lifted from the Book of Isaiah)
still apply:
Ev’ry valley shall be exalted,
And ev’ry mountain and hill made
low,
The crooked straight,
And the rough places plain.
What the song describes, of course,
is how, at the beginning of the creation of an ODR, the surface is very
rough indeed – a rugged geography of
highpoints and lowpoints, mountains
and valleys.
In the early stages, after the first
thin coating has frozen the packed
snow, with all the ice chunks, bootprints, and the scars of the hose itself,
the surface looks like a satellite map
of a vast Himalaya of mountains
and valleys, crooked lines and rough
places.
But watch what happens on each
subsequent flooding. The valleys rise.
The rough places plain. After a couple
of coats, the surface is no longer the
Himalayas. It’s more a satellite image
of northern Ontario with its myriad of
lakes.
A few more coats, and you have an
archipelago in a flat ocean – a Philippines of ice – and with another flooding, the Seychelles.
This year, the “boys of Old Ottawa
South team” (bOOSt) managed this
transformation in less than 24 hours.
The Himalayas were flooded at 1 p.m.
on Wednesday, December 11th. By
the time the kids were off to school
Thursday morning, the mist rose on a
surface fit for skating.
The call went out for the next phase
of the rink-building process: get out
there on the ice and try it out. Grind
those last remaining mountain tops
with skates, sticks and pucks.
Thursday night is bOOSt night
on the Windsor Park rink. After the
game, the boys headed back to their
usual watering hole while Chris Rupar
stayed behind to give the rink another
Continued on pg 15
A Celebration of Life commemorating
Sunnyside branch’s Librarian, Hélène Merritt.
Friday, January 10th at Southminster United Church.
Set up at 6 p.m. Program starts at 6:30 p.m.
(see page 7 for more information)
Page 2
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
THE OSCAR
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Page 3
JANUARY 2014
THE
OSCAR
260 Sunnyside Ave, Ottawa Ontario, K1S 0R7
www.OldOttawaSouth.ca/oscar
[email protected]
Editor: Brendan McCoy
[email protected]
Layout and Design Editor: Bess Fraser
Copy Editor: Michael Thibault
Distribution Manager: Larry Ostler
[email protected]
Business Manager: Susanne Ledbetter
[email protected]
Advertising Manager: Gayle Weitzman
[email protected]
OSCAR is printed by Winchester Print
613-327-9080
613-730-1058
(not classy ads)
Volunteer Proofreaders: Lida Towstiak, Maura Giuliani, Mary
Low, Scott Valentine, Roger Williams
The OSCAR is a community paper paid for entirely by advertising.
It is published by the Old Ottawa South Community Association Inc.
(OSCA). Distribution is free to all Old Ottawa South homes and businesses and selected locations in Old Ottawa South, the Glebe and Billings Bridge. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily of The OSCAR or OSCA.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Contributions should be in electronic format sent by e-mail to oscar@
oldottawasouth.ca in either plain text or WORD format. The Editor has
the final say about style, format and content. The OSCAR Editorial Policy and Guidelines for Submissions are available on the OSCA Website.
Some articles may be posted on the OSCA Website. The OSCAR is
available online at www.oldottawasouth.ca.
FOR DISTRIBUTION INQUIRIES,
call: 613-327-9080 or email: [email protected]
The OSCAR thanks the following people who
brought us to your door this month:
ZONE A1: Kathy Krywicki (Coordinator), Mary Jo Lynch, Kim Barclay, Élie
Cantin Nantel, Wendy Robbins, Jim and Carrol Robb, Becky Sasaki, Kevin
and Stephanie Williams, Christy Griffin.
ZONE B1: Ross Imrie (Coordinator), the Gref- Innes family, the Fegan
family, the Montgomery family, Laurie Morrison, Susanne Ledbetter, Torin
and Konstantine Assal.
ZONE B2: Craig Piche (Coordinator), Pat Eakins, Hayley Atkinson, Leslie
Roston, Patrick Hinton, Lydia Oak, Sandra Garland, John Callan, Diana Carr.
ZONE C1: Laura Johnson (Coordinator), the Williams family, Josh
Rahaman, Jesper Lindeberg, the Dallin-O’Grady family, Declan and Darcy
McCoy, Bruce Grant, and the Woroniuk-Ryan family.
ZONE C2: Craig Piche (Coordinator), Alan McCullough, Charles and Phillip
Kijek, Kit Jenkin, Michel and Christina Bridgeman, Anne Coyle, Melissa
Johnson.
ZONE D1: Mary Hill (Coordinator), Emily Keys, Ekin Kiziltan, Gail
Stewart, Gabe Teramura, Oliver and Claire Waddington, the Sprott family.
ZONE D2: Janet Drysdale (Coordinator), the Adriaanse family, Gaia
Chernushenko, Jacqueline Littlewood, the Rand family, Aidan and Willem
Ray, the Stewart family, and Mary Hill.
ZONE E1: Brian Tansey(Coordinator), Karen Wolfe and Curt Labond, Norah
Hutchinson, Steve Adamson, the Sanger/O’Neil family, Robert Trotter.
ZONE E2: Mary-Ann and Jim Kent, Glen Elder and Lorraine Stewart, the
Hunter family, the Brodkin-Haas family, Allan Paul, Christina Bradley,
Caroline Calvert, Larry Ostler, Chris Berry and Frida Kolster Berry.
ZONE F1: Carol and Ferg O’Connor (Coordinator), Jenny O’Brien, the Stern
family, Ellen Bailie, Paloma and Liliana Ruiz, Peter Kemp, Malachi Winter,
the Goutte family (Joshua, Leo and Alina), Walter and Robbie Engert.
ZONE F2: Pierre Guevremont (Coordinator), Paulette Theriault,
Ryan Zurakowski, Susan McMaster, Paige Raymond, Judy and Pierre
Chamberland, Valerie Dancause, Mary Johnston.
ZONE G: Bernie Zeisig(Coordinator), Claudia and Estelle BourlonAlbarracin, David Lum, Cindy MacLoghlin, Hannah and Emily Blackwell,
Robin and Luke Eriksson.
Echo Drive: Alex Bissel.
Bank Street-Ottawa South: Joan-Foster Jones, Tom Lawson, Paula Archer.
Bank Street-Glebe: Larry Ostler.
NEXT DEADLINE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 17
The OSCAR is published eleven times per year. Upcoming deadlines:
January 17 (February issue); February 14 (March issue); March 14
(April issue); April 11 (May issue); May 16 (June issue); June 13
(July/August issue); August 8 (September issue).
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
The Old Firehall
Ottawa South Community Centre
260 Sunnyside Ave, Ottawa Ontario, K1S 0R7
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PHONE
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MONDAY TO FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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WHAT’S THAT NUMBER?
Ottawa South Community Centre - The Old Firehall
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Rob Campbell ([email protected])
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Centretown Community Health Centre
CARLETON UNIVERSITY
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Main Number(24 hrs) for all departments
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CORRECTION
The article on page 26 of the December OSCAR said that the number of
parking spots at the old Lansdowne Park was 6000. It was actually 2200.
The OSCAR regrets this error.
WHAT’S INSIDE
OSCA
LETTERS
PLANNING AND TRAFFIC
POLITICAL
TRAVEL
FILM REVIEWS
4-5
6
8-10
12-15
20-21
24
LIBRARY
CLASSY ADS
32-33
34
Page 4
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
CHRISTY’S CORNER
Winter Round-Up
Fun at Breakfast with Santa.
By Christy Savage
Special Events
Admittedly, there are the odd occasions when I sit down to write my
OSCAR article and find myself drawing a blank. This was one of them,
so I decided to have a look at what
I wrote last year and it was a fitting
subject- Special Events. So, following along with that theme, I think I’ll
talk a little bit about what we have
been doing over the past few months
here at OSCA, and what we have
planned for the months ahead.
In November, we launched the
PHOTOS BY DARCY MIDDAUGH
Holiday season with OSCA’s “Shop
Your Local Talent Craft Fair”. This
was my second experience with this
event, and it was wonderful to see
the Firehall come to life once again,
with the extensive and varied number of vendors and their wares. That,
coupled with the steady flow of the
crowd coming to taste the delectable
treats and shop, really kick-started
the Holidays. Thank you to Brenda
Lee, who organizes this event and
continues to make it successful for
our community and local artists.
Thanks also to Julia Morency, who
is always front and centre, working
closely with Brenda to assist and
ensure everything runs smoothly.
Christmas got underway with the
movie “White Christmas” at the
Mayfair. This was my first experience
with this event, and while I wasn’t
quite sure what Brenda meant when
she said we could sing along, it became pretty evident when people all
around me were quietly singing these
classics to themselves. Somehow, I
expected the words to come up on
the screen and a little white dot to
bounce from word to word in front of
me and guide me in my singing. That
didn’t happen, and may explain the
quietly festive and homey feeling that
little pockets of singers in the audience created. It was lovely and felt
like I was at home with my parents
or grandparents singing along and
remembering Christmases past. In the
80’s when I was growing up and living in England, with such a minimal
number of TV channels to choose
from, I somehow managed to watch
a lot of black and white movies from
the 40’s and colour musicals from the
50’s. Danny Kaye is a favourite, and
I was shocked to find myself singing
along to most of the songs and knowing the choruses at the very least.
The Mayfair was filled with young
children, teens, twenty and thirty
somethings, those of us in middle
age and those who are golden. And
it was truly amazing to experience
it. Thank you again to Brenda Lee
and Julia Morency for all your hard
work. Thank you also to Life of Pie,
Quinn’s and Stella Luna, for offering
discounted/free items to those who
attended the movie.
On December 15th, OSCA hosted
our second annual “Breakfast with
Santa”. This was a simple event with
no advertising, outside promotion or
sales of items, and no entrance fee
asked. It is our way to open our doors
and invite the community to gather
together, enjoy a pancake breakfast
and a short visit from Santa. It’s also
a way for us to support our local Ottawa Food Bank. This year, we also
asked for donations for our neighbours ‘Empathy House’. Thank you
to all who came and donated items.
Thank you also to Colleen Forer
of Yummy Cookies, for the festive
cookies that the first 200 children
were able to decorate. And thank you
to all those who volunteered to make
this a success: Regis Alcorn, Jeannine and her son Derek Beauregard,
Roz and her daughter Lara Bialowas,
Daphne Dumbrille, Baalqis Hassan,
Linda Hancock, Darcy Middaugh and
Marty Pemberton. Special thanks go
to Jeff Jenkins for going above and
beyond and being a good sport about
being jolly.
Stay tuned for future events: In
March, OSCA will hold a ‘Volunteer
Banquet’ to honour those of you who
tirelessly contribute your time and
energy to OSCA throughout the year.
In the Spring, we’ll be hosting our
annual spring party; last year was
‘Back to the 80’s’ and this year is already being planned. We can’t wait to
tell you the theme, but you’ll have to
stay tuned. We’ll be putting our heads
together to plan a few other events
and will keep you posted!
Empathy House
As you may be aware, Empathy
House, located in Old Ottawa South,
published an article in the December
OSCAR inviting those of you who
wanted to give locally, to drop off
donations. OSCA wanted to assist,
and we were able to set up a donation
box at the Firehall for those of you
who found it easier to drop off items.
Thank you to all, we were so overwhelmed with donations that we had
to empty the donation box and drop
off items to Empathy House every
4-5 days.
Windsor Rink
The rink at Windsor is up and running. Many of you may not know
that this is operated as a joint venture
between the City and OSCA. However, the real work happens at the rink
every day and night when our rink
attendants and volunteers clean it and
flood it. This is not an easy task and
without the more than 20 volunteers
and the few staff we are able to hire
with a grant from the City, the rink
would not be able to operate.
Please feel free to use the rink and
enjoy what makes Canada special,
skating, hockey and the great outdoors. The rink is open to the public
on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
from 12:00pm-6:00pm, and during
the week from 6:00pm-9:00pm.
We ask that you respect the rink
and the space, and that if there is a
large group of you playing shinny
hockey, for example, it would be
greatly appreciated if you could assist
the rink attendants to clear the ice
afterwards. That’s a tough job for
one person to do after a large group
has used the ice and can make for a
late evening and late flooding for the
volunteers who flood no matter what
the weather (as long as it’s cold!).
A warm thank you goes out to
all the volunteers, who live in the
community and offer their time in
the spirit of keeping this wonderful
service available to all. Thank you
also to our staff who monitor the rink
during its hours of operation. Finally,
a big thank you goes out to Reg
Charette for coordinating the rink this
Continued on pg 5
THE OSCAR
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Page 5
JANUARY 2014
OSCA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
OSCA’s Priority Areas
By Linda Hancock
Happy New Year to all - may 2014 be
a fantastic year for all in Old Ottawa
South!
In late November, the Board, along
with our senior staff and volunteers,
met to discuss OSCA’s future. We
had a productive meeting and you
will soon see the results in the form
of our Strategic Plan.
In this column, I will share the
Priority Areas that were confirmed
at our session. As I have mentioned
in previous columns, we are thrilled
to be starting the year with an almost
full Board of Directors who are ready
to work hard in these areas. We still
need to build some of our Committees so that we can be as effective
and efficient as possible. If you have
expertise to share or an interest in
working in any of the following areas
at the committee level, please let us
know.
Communication – in our Vision
Survey we were told that what OSCA
should focus on is a comprehensive
communications strategy that builds
on the success of the OSCAR and our
Website and explores social media
strategies. This has been discussed by
the Board at length. We have made
the decision to establish a core com-
Continued from pg 4
year and bOOSt for filling up many
nights in our volunteer schedule.
Old Ottawa South Cookbook- From
our Table to Yours
Well, the day finally arrived. The
cookbook gals, as I refer to them,
began collecting recipes from the
community in the summer of 2012.
The cookbook, in all its glory, finally
arrived just before the holidays. But
even though it arrived before the holidays doesn’t mean it isn’t a great gift
(for others or yourself) at any time of
the year.
This keepsake contains recipes
from families old and new in OOS,
from former residents who reminisced
about meals they shared with neighbours and friends, and of course from
our local businesses. There’s something in the book for everyone, and
it’s wonderfully reminiscent of the
good old days when local cookbooks
were the norm, as was the feeling of
community; front porches; children
playing together; neighbours supporting one another; knowing people
on the main street; and… well now,
doesn’t that sound like Old Ottawa
South. And, what makes this cook-
mittee that takes this function on in a
proactive and ongoing basis.
Partnership with the City of Ottawa – in previous columns I have
informed you of the challenges that
OSCA faces with respect to our partnership with the City of Ottawa. Our
discussions in this area will continue
on into the New Year. We are confident that we will be able to negotiate an agreement that reflects a true
partnership moving forward.
Planning and Zoning – this has
long been an area of concern for
those living in desirable neighbourhoods and Old Ottawa South is no
exception. We have made the decision to set up a new committee that
focuses solely on planning & zoning
issues. In the past, this area was part
of the mandate of the OSWatch Committee. Recently, a great deal of work
has fallen on a small group of people
and we are hoping that others will
come forward to assist in this important area.
Community Resource Plan – we
are lucky to live in such a wonderful and diverse community. The
Board has recognized that if we were
to leverage available community
resources, achieving our goals will be
book really special is that OSCA
has funded all costs for production,
leaving all proceeds from sales to go
to Southminster’s ‘Out of the Cold’
Saturday supper program and St Margaret Mary’s Sunday supper program.
Some local businesses are selling the
cookbooks, and of course, you can always purchase one at the Firehall for
$25 each. Thank you to the Cookbook
organizers for their hard work and a
job well done.
OSCA Program Evaluation- please
participate
OSCA wants to hear from you!!!
For those of you who participate in
activities at the Firehall, we would
like to hear your thoughts and opinions. We’d love to hear how you
enjoyed your programs, what room
we have to improve, and moreover,
we’d love to hear your ideas for future
programs, workshops, lecture series
etc. Please go to oldottawasouth.ca
and follow the links for our online
evaluation. We will keep the link open
for the entire month of January.
If you haven’t participated in programs at the Firehall, there’s a section
of the survey for you also. We’d love
to hear what you would love to see
offered at the Firehall.
OSCA is Now Hiring Summer Camp Coordinators. Only candidates with at least one year senior counsellor or coordinating roles
will be considered. Please email your CV and a cover letter to
[email protected] no later than Friday, January 10th.
so much more attainable. Our plan is
to build a community resource plan
to assist us in all of our priority areas.
Program – our programs are well
known and well used by our community. We will continue to work to
review and expand our offerings to
meet the needs and interests of our
residents. If you have registered for
programs, you may have experienced
problems with our e-registration
system. A top priority of the Program
Committee will be dealing with the
inherent issues in that system.
Governance – this is an area that
requires some attention. Now that
we have a clear sense of our priority areas, we need to review how
we operate – the old adage “form
follows function” comes to mind. We
have established a Governance Task
Group to review all of this. As is the
case with other charities and not for
profit organizations, we must redo
our Constitution and Bylaws to be
consistent with a new format that will
soon be announced provincially (and
has already taken effect nationally).
Traffic and Parking – last but
not least, we must continue the great
work that has been done in the area
of traffic and parking. With Lansd-
owne officially opening in 2014, we
are still quite concerned about the
issues that will come re: traffic and
parking. We have worked in partnership with our neighbouring community associations so that we can have
a stronger voice. We will also continue to work on the priorities that were
set as a result of our very successful
Traffic Survey that was completed
last year.
In order to get to work on all of
these areas, we have now established
5 Core Committees – Communication, Planning & Zoning, Special
Events, Program, Traffic & Parking.
The remaining priority areas will be
the responsibility of the Executive
Committee and/or Task Groups of the
Board.
Again, a Happy New Year to all!
If this is the year for you to get more
involved in your community, please
do get in touch.
Thanks to OSCAR’s
many volunteer writers
and distributors for
helping get the news
to you!
The OSCAR is a self-supporting newspaper,
paid for entirely by advertising, and reliant on
volunteer contributors and distributors.
Thanks to the Dairy Queen for
contributing to our community through
its support of the many
OSCAR volunteers.
Dairy Queen, 1272 Bank Street
738-7146
Page 6
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The OSCAR welcomes letters on subjects of interest to the community or in response to previous articles. All letters must disclose the name of the writer, as well as the address and phone
number. Letters may be edited for length, clarity, and libelous statements. The opinions of the writers are not necessarily those of the newspaper or its editor. Email your letters to oscar@
oldottawasouth.ca
The passing of librarian Hélène
Merritt
Dear Editor,
A few years ago, Hélène Merritt
was featured in an OSCAR article
about the Sunnyside library’s
children’s section. These excerpts
from that article illustrate her skill,
warmth and joie de vivre.
It’s crowded in the basement space
allotted to children’s books. At least
25 kids under six are on the floor,
listening to librarian Hélène Merritt
read dinosaur books, interspersed
with action play, including dancing
the Hokey-Pokey.
“Let’s have some fun,” coaxes
Hélêne, “if you’re happy and you
know it, clap your hands.” The
children jump, clap and roll over on
the floor. Parents and care-givers
participate or chat together on the
side-lines.
Hélène didn’t intend to be a
children’s librarian when she
graduated from Western. “I liked
library work because it was an
overview of everything. But it didn’t
occur to me to take courses in
children’s library. I didn’t know then
that it was so much fun. It’s a perfect
fit.”
The children’s librarian role is part
teacher, says Hélène, but it’s also
part social worker, because “children
can find solace in stories.”
We have lost a lovely librarian.
Tracy Morey
(Editor’s Note: Hélène Merritt was a
long-time contributor to the OSCAR,
and will be deeply missed by us.
Brendan McCoy, OSCAR Editor)
SodaStream Boycott
Dear Editor,
I am writing about the article in the
December OSCAR titled “Boycotting
SodaStream......” I am shocked to
see such a highly-charged controversial article in the “friendly” OSCAR
Holiday Shopping Between the Bridges Winners
By Tammy Giuliani
some local fare and holiday treats:
On December 5th, Old Ottawa South
residents strolled the neighbourhood
in support of local business searching
for eclectic gifts, fantastic sales and
one time offers during the Holiday
Shopping Between the Bridges event.
Six lucky winners of the Holiday
Shopping draw will be enjoying
Stephanie Young hit the jackpot
with a specialty Gift Basket valued at
over $180 from Hair Republic.
Brenda Bedford will be making
the wee ones jump for joy with a $50
Gift Card from 3 Little Monkeys and
an adorable Twilight Ladybug projector from Boomerang Kids.
Sybil Stymiest will be celebrating
the season with a $50 Gift Card from
The Garden of Light along with a
basket of posh treats for spoiled pets
from WAG.
Cindy Vervaeke will be relishing
some gourmet fare with a $50 Gift
Card from Stella Luna Gelato Café
alongside a seasonal treat basket
from Framed.
newspaper.
I too am Jewish and a long-time
OOS resident like the author but I
see boycotting Israel as a simplistic
reaction to a country, which though
far from perfect, is nevertheless the
only democracy in the Middle East.
Yes, the situation is highly complex
but the problems between Israel and
the Palestinians will not be solved as
long as Hamas has the stated goal of
“wiping Israel off the map”.
I personally would appreciate if
your newspaper would refrain from
publishing such inflammatory articles
in the future, which I don’t believe
should be part of a community newspaper.
Jacki Langsner
Lisa Fuley will be living the good
life with her funky Mahalo ukulele and carrying case from the Ottawa
Folklore Centre and two decadent
dessert pies from Life of Pie.
Jana Rand will be cooking up a
storm with the Community Cookbook “From Our Table to Yours”
and enjoying a $25 Gift Card from
Clothes Secret.
Congratulations
Irena Bell!
Irena Bell of Old Ottawa South
received a certificate of recognition from CHIN radio (97.9
FM), which is celebrating its
tenth anniversary in Ottawa.
Irena is one of the original six
producers at this multiethnic
radio station. Her Ukrainian
program has been on air since
CHIN started in Ottawa in
2003.
In photo - Francesco DiCandia, general manager of CHIN
Ottawa, Irena Bell, and Jim
Watson, Mayor of Ottawa.
PHOTO BY KEITH BELL
THE OSCAR
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Page 7
JANUARY 2014
REMEMBRANCE
Remembering Hélène Merritt
By Kate Jaimet
Our neighbourhood felt a little smaller and a little sadder in December,
after the death of our beloved children’s librarian, Hélène Merritt. For
more than 25 years, Hélène shared
her love of reading, her generosity of
spirit, her kindness and her laughter
with everyone who frequented the
Sunnyside library.
Parents and children searching for
a book on a special topic, or a hardto-find work by a favourite author,
knew they could turn to Hélène for
help. Nezahat Turegun remembers
how she visited the library with
her young son more than a decade
ago, when they were newcomers to
Canada who barely spoke English.
“My son started liking Raffi so
much. He was in and out, trying to
get everything that was by Raffi. One
day, he said he wanted the Christmas
album. It was July,” she recalled.
The seasonal material had all been
stored away in a special overflow
area, but Hélène didn’t refuse the
young boy. Instead, she took him to
the overflow area and got him the
album. Ms. Turegun says her son,
now in university, still remembers
that gesture.
“He wrote on his Facebook page:
She was my favourite librarian. She
gave me the love of reading.”
Hélène’s way of putting others before herself extended to her
librarian colleagues. Donna Clark, a
librarian who originally worked with
the old City of Kanata, remembered
first meeting Hélène at a meeting
of the Children’s Advisory Group
during the amalgamation of the City
of Ottawa. The meeting was taking
place at a downtown branch, and Ms.
Clark and her Kanata colleagues arrived late after being stuck in traffic.
“We arrived late and all the chairs
were taken,” Ms. Clark recalled.
“She immediately arose and said:
‘We should give our chairs to our
guests.’ She gave us her chair, and
she sat on the floor.”
Hélène lived downtown, alone
except for her much-loved dog. Her
colleagues became concerned for her
well-being when she failed to arrive at work on Monday, December
2nd. It was unlike Hélène to be late
without phoning in, let alone miss a
day of work. After staff at the library
were unable to contact her at home,
they got in touch with her mother. In
the early morning hours of December
3rd, Ottawa Police issued a missing
persons bulletin, saying that she had
last been seen on November 30th,
and that her car had been found near
the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau on December 2nd. Friends hoped
against hope that Hélène would be
found and the mystery explained,
but in the evening of December 5th,
police issued a brief advisory informing the public that her body had been
recovered from the Ottawa River.
Foul play was not suspected.
In the days that followed, many
of those who knew Hélène as the
woman in the Children’s section with
the smiling face and twinkling eyes,
found themselves gravitating toward
the library to share their grief and
memories with each other.
Librarian Frank Dimech said that
A Celebration of the Life of
Our Children’s Librarian
Come join us for a Celebration
of Life commemorating our
Sunnyside branch’s Children’s
Librarian, Hélène Merritt, on
Friday, January 10th, hosted
by the Southminster United
Church, in their hall, at 15
Aylmer Avenue. Everyone
is welcome, bring the whole
family. There will be stories,
music and laughter.
We ask people attending be so
kind as to bring a light snack to
share. Coffee, tea and juice will
be provided.
Set up at 6 p.m.; Program
starts at 6:30 p.m.
Anyone interested in helping
set up, presenting a Memory/
Story about Hélène or any
other assistance, please contact
Yvonne at the Sunnyside
branch library, 613-730-1082,
ext. 33 / yvonne.vanlith@
biblioottawalibrary.ca
The family would appreciate
Hélène’s smile and twinkling eyes
were always a comfort to him.
“If you went into a room and heard
her laughing, you would immediately
feel better.”
Yvonne van Lith, Co-ordinator of
the Sunnyside library, said she was
always impressed with Hélène’s
depth of knowledge. Not only did
Hélène write book reviews for the
OSCAR and keep up the library’s
blog, she also ran three motherdaughter book clubs.
“Up in our staff lounge, we have
one of those big, comfy chairs, and
you can picture her curled up in it,
reading. That’s what she did on her
breaks.” Ms. van Lith said. “She was
such a warm and well-read person.”
A book of condolences and a table
of Hélène’s favourite books have
been set up inside the library as a
donations to the Canadian
Mental Health Association or
the Ottawa Humane Society.
The Ottawa Public Library
welcomes donations of
material from individuals or
groups and it is asked, please,
that they meet our selection
criteria policy or you can
make a monetary donation for
the Library to select books in
Hélène’s honor. Donation forms
are available at the Sunnyside
branch at the Cards & Accounts,
Adult Services Information and
Children’s Services Information
Desks.
small tribute. Ms. van Lith said that
her colleagues will hold a celebration
of Hélène’s life on January 10th at
Southminster United Church.
Page 8
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
PLANNING
House Conversions, Planning and the Meaning of the City: An Interview
with City of Ottawa Planner Tim J. Moerman
By Janine Debanné
At the sight of formerly modest
detached houses becoming subsumed
within large “additions” punctured
with fields of bedroom windows,
many of us felt offended by the term
“house conversions” being applied
to them. The City agreed with Glebe,
Sandy Hill and OOS citizen outcry
regarding these projects. The sudden emergence this past year of large
Converted Dwelling projects on residential streets was of such concern
that Council, prompted by Councillors David Chernushenko of Capital
Ward, and Mathieu Fleury of Rideau
Vanier, swiftly approved a motion
in April of this year for an interim
control bylaw, resulting in a moratorium on such permits. (And when a
counselor avails him or herself of this
tool, it is at the cost of future opportunities of being able to do so.
In other words, the interim control
bylaw is reserved for pretty serious
issues). The interim control bylaw
bought time for a careful examination of the zoning bylaw so that the
right amendments could be made.
The conversions study fell to City
of Ottawa Planner Tim J. Moerman,
who answers questions here about
the house conversion zoning amendment recently made public on the
City of Ottawa conversions website.
Tim is an Ottawa native who worked
for several years in Moncton New
Brunswick, and returned to Ottawa
in 2010 joining the City of Ottawa.
His planning degree is from McGill
University.
Tim J. Moerman (TM): I appreciate the opportunity to get information
about the conversion amendment out
into the public view. We’ve had a lot
of response and participation. The attendance at the public meeting at City
Hall in September was phenomenal,
and we took lots of notes. I felt gratified that people came to tell us what
they felt the roots of the problem
were, and to share solutions. We’re
now approaching the home stretch
where we’ve made recommendations.
The deadline for comments is January 10th and we encourage people to
comment. We’re expecting to submit
a report to Planning Committee on
March 25th.
Janine Debanné (JD):Can you
remind us here what was formerly
considered a “house conversion”?
TM: A house conversion in this
context is when you modify an existing dwelling (usually a one- or twounit dwelling) to house three or more
units. The current zoning also has a
use called “Converted Dwelling”—
that’s a building that’s modified so as
to house four or more units.
JD: The new bylaw deletes the
term “Converted Dwelling” from its
list of definitions, and places this now
defunct category under the broader
definition of “Low-rise Apartment
Dwellings.” Can you briefly explain
why you made this change?
TM: When we were looking at how
we could amend the zoning regarding converted dwellings we saw two
implicit (and mutually exclusive)
strategies. In the first, we continued
to make a distinction between buildings that were built with several units
at the outset and those built as one
dwelling and then altered to house
more. In the second, we asked “why
are we even making a distinction
between modified older buildings and
new ones? Three units are three units,
and the same rules should apply regardless of what it used to be.”
We decided on the second strategy.
In the amended zoning, there will be
no such thing as a Converted Dwelling: if it has four units, it’s a “Lowrise Apartment Dwelling” whether
converted or purpose-built, and it has
to meet the zoning standards for a
Low-rise Apartment Dwelling. And if
you’re making a Three-unit Dwelling or for that matter a duplex, you’ll
have to meet the zoning for those
uses.
Most significantly, under old rules,
when you converted, you were subjected to the zoning rules that applied
to the old use, not the new use.
JD: Can you give an example?
TM: Let’s say there
was a zone where you
could have a detached
house on a nine-meter
wide lot, but where a
Low-rise Apartment
Dwelling required at
minimum a twelve-meter
wide lot. Under the old
rules, you could convert
that house into four units
on that nine-meter lot
even though if you tore it
down, you would not be
allowed to build a new
four unit building there.
In the amended bylaw
that’s not possible. Any
advantages accrued
simply by something
being converted are now
gone. And in practice,
the zoning controls will
be much more stringent
than what currently
applies to “Converted
Dwellings.”
JD: The term “Converted Dwelling” as a
permissible use is found
all over the bylaw text.
What happens with that?
TM: That line “Converted Dwellings” gets
removed from the list.
It ceases to exist in the
zoning bylaw.
JD: That will bring us back to the
spirit of the R3 definition, then.
TM: Yes. Historically, the intent of the permissible “Converted
Dwelling” use in the R3 zone (and
elsewhere, for that matter) was that
if there was a big old house that no
one wanted to live in as a single,
and someone wanted to preserve the
building and cut it up on the inside to
make apartments, there were provisions that were intended to make it
easier to do that than tear down and
build new. That is part of what the
special rules for conversions were
about, including the right to a fourunit Converted Dwelling in R3. But
we saw applications of the bylaw that
did not follow the spirit of the intent,
where the house was unrecognizable.
JD: Effectively, there can be no
more four-unit buildings in R3 zones.
TM: In R3 zones the only use that
allowed four units no longer exists.
New? Three units. Converted? Three
units. We heard them loud and clear,
and we agreed. We got rid of that
right to an extra unit.
JD: You got rid of the extra unit,
but can you still get twenty-four
bedrooms in?
TM: The conversion amendment is
one of the things we are doing. There
is also infill 2, that is limiting the size
of the building. The number of bedrooms by implication will be smaller.
The Planning Act does not empower
us to limit the number of bedrooms
or occupants in a building. Our main
tool to control scale and density is the
building envelope. Infill 2 is making
sure that what will be built will be
within a smaller envelope. But no,
we cannot directly regulate the number of bedrooms.
JD: Does the bylaw amendment
address the question of number of
dwellers per square foot?
TM: That is not in the powers that
are given to us in Ontario. We’d
always like to have more tools in our
toolbox, but in practice, to misquote
Donald Rumsfeld, you go to work
with the legislation you have, not
the legislation you wish you had.
Eliminating these special rules for
conversions should go a long way to
addressing people’s concerns.
JD: Some of the recent house conversions in OOS would not have been
possible under the revised bylaw. Can
you briefly explain what would make
these projects impossible today?
TM: In the case of 167 Aylmer, and
I use this example only because it is
known to people and it is often referred to, the R3 zone will no longer
Continued on pg 9
THE OSCAR
l
Page 9
JANUARY 2014
PLANNING
- CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
allow four units--so a conversion to
four units simply wouldn’t have been
a permitted use. Furthermore, even if
you wanted to convert to a Three-unit
Dwelling, it would be subject to the
zoning rules for Three-unit Dwelling.
In that particular zone, a Three-unit
Dwelling requires a minimum of a
twelve-meter wide lot; and as it happens, that particular lot is less than
twelve meters wide. So under the
new rules, even a three unit would
not have been allowed on that lot, as
it is less than twelve meters wide. A
duplex is all that could be built there
under the amended bylaw.
JD:These projects are built now,
and from an urban pattern point of
view, the damage is done, especially
for adjacent houses and affected
blocks. From an operations point of
view, some questions are still to be
answered. We’ve seen that their rents
are very high in comparison with
other apartments ($3150 for a fivebedroom unit, monthly, in one case).
Should these not succeed, can you
say anything about what their future
might hold?
TM: Housing is expensive and
there are people who look for space
in desirable neighborhoods. The
student population will always be a
presence. Multi-unit dwellings could
also be interesting for older people.
We do have an aging population.
With modifications to the interior,
you might have older people who
live with roommates like they did
when they were twenty, to get over
social isolation, and to live centrally
in a walkable neighborhood. Housing
is something we need, and it’s good
to have a variety of kinds.
JD: That’s an interesting thought.
TM: I’m not unsympathetic to
people’s concerns about what has
been going on. My view has always
been that intensification not only has
to, but will happen. There are unstoppable forces. The question is do we
open the right doors and windows so
that it happens in a way with which
we are happy. Intensification has to
be more gradual. There’s a difference
between “bigger” and “way bigger.”
JD: The “Converted Dwelling” was
quite flawed in not facing up to its
identity as a small apartment building. The amendment deals with that
problem, correct?
TM: Yes. A lot of people commented on the issue of green space. The
amendment requires that for every
dwelling unit up to 8 units, you need
to provide fifteen square meters of
ground level amenity space for every
dwelling unit, effectively re-instating
backyards. This will signal to some-
one who is planning to do something
on a lot to be more sensitive about
not knocking down trees. It will also
ensure more continuity with detached
houses and duplexes, which have
yards, where people garden, and
children play. In current zoning the
amenity space for Low-rise Apartment Dwellings is not required to
be at grade, so you get jumps from
grade level amenity to balconies. And
I think and hope that that will open
up housing options for people in that
dead zone between the house and the
apartment building.
JD: Is the amendment likely to be
appealed?
TM: It can still get appealed at the
OMB. This just means that everything you do, you have to have a
good reason for it. I have to be confident that the OMB will support us.
Good planning is our job and what
we’re there to defend. The OMB is
there to keep municipalities honest.
JD: So we can hope that there’s
been a real change for our neighborhoods?
TM: Yes, absolutely, this is a substantial change to the rules. Between
the Conversions Amendment, Infill
1 and Infill 2, I think people will see
very different outcomes and I think
they will be happy with what they
see.
JD: Can you describe your utopia?
TM: My hope, and what drove me
into planning, is that our cities need
be places that people are happy to be
in, and where people don’t feel stuck
in a painfully imperfect world. That’s
the hope. Recognizing we’ll never
quite get there, we try to get as close
to that as we can. Seeing people set
aside their doubts, and coming out
to be heard, was really encouraging.
We want and need to hear from the
public. There’s always stuff we don’t
know. We don’t necessarily see the
details in the day to day. And planning is a collaborative process. A city
is a thing that we are in together.
Thank you to Tim Moerman for
sharing his thoughts with the community of OOS.
And remember that comments on
the house conversions bylaw amendment may be submitted until January 10th via email (conversions@
ottawa.ca), letter (Ottawa City Hall,
110 Laurier West, fourth floor) or fax
613-580-2459.
Janine Debanné teaches architecture
at the Azrieli School of Architecture
and Urbanism at Carleton University, and resides in Old Ottawa South.
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Page 10
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
TRAFFIC
Traffic News (and All That Jazz)
By Winnie
Pietrykowski
There have been two recent
public meetings on traffic,
one on November 27th in
Old Ottawa South and the
other on December 9th in
the Glebe. The November
meeting covered the results
of the 2013 Riverdale and
Area Traffic Study, while the
December meeting focused
on the Transportation Monitoring Plan, a key outcome
of the Lansdowne Transportation Advisory Committee
(LTAC).
Riverdale & Area Traffic
Study
The Riverdale Study
includes the Riverdale
Avenue corridor between
Bank Street and Echo Drive
(up to Avenue Road) and
several adjacent side streets.
Since the first Open House
in May 2013, City staff assessed various traffic calming
improvements recommended
by residents verbally and in
writing for potential application. Elements of the June
OOS Traffic Study specific
to the Riverdale Study were
also submitted for the City’s
consideration. The purpose
of the second Open House
on November 27th was to
present to residents the draft
recommendations from the
Riverdale Study.
Kyle Carson city manager
for the Study advised that the
presentation boards are up at
the following link: http://ottawa.ca/en/riverdale-avenuearea-traffic-managementstudy
Essentially, the City’s preferred recommendation and
that of two OSCA representa-
tives working with the City
St. Giles Presbyterian Church resentatives from the Glebe
included: one speed bump on on Bank Street and First Ave- and Old Ottawa South.
Sunnyside Avenue (location
nue. Over the past 18 months
It had snowed Monday,
to be determined), two speed community representatives,
traffic was slow, it was hard
bumps on Riverdale Avinvited experts and City staff to walk and a large crowd
enue, one between Bank &
have been meeting as part of
was not expected. Residents
Cameron, the other between
the Lansdowne Transportastarted to arrive around 6:55
Cameron and Belmont. There tion Advisory Committee
p.m. At first it was just 5 or
will be ladder crosswalks at
(LTAC) to discuss anticipated 6 at a time, then maybe 10 or
Riverdale & Sunnyside and
traffic and parking challenges a dozen. Shortly after 7:00
at Riverdale & Cameron.
that a redeveloped Lansdp.m. a continuous stream
Also at Cameron there will
owne Park will bring.
of an estimated 200 people
be bulb-outs to improve peOne of the key outcomes
flowed into the hall, all in
destrian crossing and to emof LTAC is a Transportavarious stages of pulling off
phasize stop signs. There will tion Monitoring Plan which
gloves, hats, scarves, opening
be new maximum
coats, folding
40 km/r speed signs
them over chairs
installed on Camor railings,
eron & Belmont and
claiming the few
A copy of the Lansdowne
new parking signs
remaining seats,
Transportation
Monitoring
Plan
(with no changes as
shuffling to the
to duration) along
sides of the hall,
plus Appendices can be found at
Riverdale Avenue.
standing in rows
www.oldottawasouth.ca
Remember, this is
at the back,
your Traffic Study.
looking for
Appendix F provides the list of
Comments to Kyle
related material
recommendations from OOS
Carson, will be very
to read and exmuch appreciated.
changing greetand a table prepared by the
Please submit your
ings as everyone
City on the status of these
comments by e-mail
positioned
to cityofottawaareatthemselves in an
recommendations.
rafficmanagement@
already overottawa.ca on or
crowded basebefore January 17.
ment hall.
For more informaSome resition, please contact:
provides a range of data
dents arrived with placards
from baseline parking &
reading “Keep buses on arteKyle Carson
traffic counts, targets against
rial routes only,” others stood
Coordinator, Area Traffic
which to measure changes in shoulder-to-shoulder on a
Management
transportation behaviour and side balcony, leaning over
Planning and Growth Man- usage, and best practices for
the railing, some waving to
agement
a data collection framework
neighbours and friends from
110 Laurier Avenue West
for both day-to-day activities the Glebe, Dow’s Lake, Old
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1
and special events.
Ottawa East and Old Ot613-580-2424, ext. 16874
December 9th was the pub- tawa South. As it turned out
Fax: 613-580-2578
lic’s opportunity to comment residents were eager to find
E-mail: kyle.carson@oton the Plan itself and LTAC’s out the status of their traffic
tawa.ca
progress to date. A consultant recommendations and how
from McCormick Rankin
they were being integrated
Lansdowne Traffic and
was scheduled to start the
into the Monitoring Report.
Parking Issues
meeting by presenting the
The McCormick Rankin
On December 9th a public
Transportation Monitoring
consultant made a valiant
meeting, chaired by David
Report, followed by comeffort to see her presentaChernushenko, was held at
ments from community reption to the end, but it became
clear that the Monitoring
Report was not addressing the traffic concerns that
the audience came to hear.
A particularly vocal group
of residents were from
Lakeside Avenue between
Bronson & the QED. What
was once a relatively quiet
residential Avenue, Lakeside is now identified as a
preferred conduit for shuttle
buses headed to main events
at Lansdowne.
A 3-year pilot agreement
with the NCC to use the
QED also calls for a 2-way
shuttle service for concerts
or other large events (not
CFL games) on Sunnyside,
Fifth Avenue, Bronson and
Bank. Event ticket prices
will include transit service.
Brian Mitchell from the
Glebe Community Association outlined the efforts
of residents to propose
minimum traffic-calming
measures and how these
measures were attempts to
mitigate an anticipated 50%
increase in the volume of
vehicles once Lansdowne
opens. As a result of a settlement with the Ontario Municipal Board over 2 years
ago, the City must consult
with residents about traffic
issues related to Lansdowne.
Unfortunately very few of
the recommendations made
by the affected communities
have found their way into
action plans for 2014.
Of the 20 priority measures
that the GCA developed,
only two have been accepted;
of the 45 regarding day-today traffic issues only 7 have
been accepted; and of the
17 regarding special events
and traffic monitoring only 2
have been accepted.
A key concern reflected in
the OOS recommendations
is pedestrian safety at highvolume intersections such
as Sunnyside and Aylmer at
Bank. Although six suggestions are under consideration,
no commitment has been
made.
Speaking on behalf of Old
Ottawa South and Old Ottawa East, I reinforced Brian
Mitchell’s comments that
most of the measures recommended by residents can be
implemented in the next six
months, but it is going to
take political leadership on
the part of the Mayor and
City Council to give City officials the authority to consult
in good faith with community representatives. It’s
time to prepare for success
and design an action plan
that will mitigate the impacts
of increased traffic on our
already congested streets and
intersections.
The meeting came to a
close at 9:30 p.m., allowing
half an hour extra for the numerous residents who wanted
to pose questions or comment on the Transportation
Monitoring Plan itself. David
Chernushenko closed the
meeting advising residents
that he will be following up
on the evening’s proceedings
and to stay in touch by visiting his website at: capitalward.ca
THE OSCAR
l
Page 11
JANUARY 2014
OOS HISTORY
Wanted: Ottawa Life Stories
By John C. Walsh
Starting in late January, a group of
fourth-year and Master’s students
from Carleton University’s Department of History will be exploring
Ottawa’s neighbourhoods with digital
recorders in hand listening to people
share their stories of growing up in
Ottawa. Our goal is to interview 2025 people, ideally those who grew up
in the city anytime between 1945 and
1990. We are interested in hearing
your memories of what your everyday lives were like, especially the
stories about your local neighbourhood (friends, school, church, parks,
corner stores, barber shops, etc.).
To that end, we will also be asking
you to sketch maps of your neighbourhoods and to use these maps to
help us follow your stories. And if
you have any other visual culture to
share with us (such as photographs),
we would love to hear stories about
those images as well.
Of most interest to us as scholars
is how you remember your childhood
and youth. What did (and does) your
neighbourhood mean to you? How do
we know our neighbourhoods? What
Local Builder
Gives Globally
Cathy and John (from
local builder Sandy Hill
Construction-winner of
the Renovator of the Year
Award from the Greater
Ottawa Home Builders
Association) in a remote
area of south India. They
have been doing work in
southern India through
a charity called Canadians Sharing Locally and
does it mean to be from somewhere?
One of the goals of our research is
to demonstrate how histories and
memories of neighbourhoods are woven into the fabric of our contemporary selves. We think a better appreciation of these place memories can
and ought to inform debates over the
future direction of urban planning,
something that is of acute importance
here in Ottawa. The study of “place
memories” is also a topic galvanizing
much scholarly interest across the humanities and social sciences. A third
set of goals is a better understanding
of the social histories and historical
geographies of childhood, topics that
remain understudied today but about
which we think there is much scholarly and popular interest.
But most of all, we are excited to
hear your stories about growing up
in the city, about going to school,
making (and, alas, sometimes losing)
friends, exploring your neighbourhoods, doing your chores, going to
the movies, getting a soda or popsicle
at the corner store, and all those moments that, for some reason, continue
to reside in your memories. We shall
come to you to conduct the inter-
Globally. Here they are
presenting rainjackets
donated by the charity.
The area is very cold
and damp, especially in
the winter, and many of
these tribal children were
already sneezing and
coughing. These are the
first rainjackets these kids
have ever seen.
views or we are happy to host you
here at the university. And if winter
co-operates, perhaps we might even
go for a walk around the streets and
through the parks of your Ottawa.
There are lots of ways to participate
in this project and to share your stories with us.
Students will be producing a wide
range of projects from these interviews. This includes research essays
and research blogs, but it will also
take some other forms of storytelling
that we hope will give your stories
a life beyond the classroom. Indeed,
an important part of this research
project is to create a digital archive
here at Carleton University that will
allow others to also hear your stories through the Internet. We will of
course also be providing you with
your own copy of the interview so
that you may share it with family and
friends as well. It is not required that
you consent to this kind of archiving
of your interviews, but we hope
you will consider it. (And we will
be providing you with a copy of the
interview whether you wish to have it
archived or not.)
This round of interviews and stu-
dent research is the start of a larger
and longer project that will grow and
evolve in the coming years. Among
other things, we hope that Public History students at Carleton will devise
new ways to curate and display the
stories you share with us. Are you interested in participating?
Do you have questions? Do you wish
to know more about the Ottawa Life
Stories project? Please feel free to
contact me via email (john_walsh@
carleton.ca) or telephone (613-5202600 ext. 2821) or follow us on
Twitter (@Ott_Life). Please note: the
Carleton University Research Ethics
Board (CUREB) has approved this
project. Should you wish to contact the CUREB and its chair, Andy
Adler, you may reach them at 613520-2517 or via email at ethics@
carleton.ca.
Thank you for your interest in our
project!
John Walsh has been a professor
in the Department of History at
Carleton University since 2003.
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THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
MP’S REPORT
NDP Successfully Campaigns to Stop Pay to Pay Fees
By Paul Dewar
With pay-to-pay fees many
phone companies, banks and
Internet service providers
found a new way to gouge
Canadians. But thanks to
pressure from the NDP and
people all across the country,
the recent Throne Speech
included a plan to end this
cash grab.
Two in three Canadians
live from paycheque to paycheque and are barely making ends meet. This hasn’t
stopped some companies
from charging additional fees
to customers who want to
continue receiving monthly
statements in the mail.
Pay-to-pay fees unfairly
target Canadians who don’t
have Internet access or who
don’t feel comfortable carrying out their transactions
online and forces them to pay
a two-dollar fee – just to get
their bill.
Some companies claim
that the new fee is intended
to help the environment by
reducing paper.
However, if these institutions were truly concerned
about going green, a discount
to customers who use online
billing would have been
more appropriate than a
penalty to those who can’t
make the transition.
Canadians were rightly
outraged by this blatant
cash grab and my colleagues and I received
thousands of letters, emails and phone calls. As
part of the NDP’s practical
solutions to make life more
affordable for Canadians, we
called on the Conservatives
to end the rip-offs and prohibit companies from charging pay-to-pay fees. New
Democrats also launched a
national campaign to eliminate these extra charges.
In the past year, our efforts
combined with the more
than 10,000 Canadians who
air and public health.
Since 2003, more than $19
billion has been invested in
Ontario’s transmission and
distribution networks and
more than $21 billion has
been invested in cleaner
generation.
In early December, Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan
(LTEP), Achieving Balance
was announced. It encourages conservation and lays
out a plan for clean, reliable
and affordable energy for
Ontarians, where and when
they need it.
online to contribute their
thoughts and ideas.
The 2013 LTEP balances
five principles that will
guide future energy decisions: cost-effectiveness,
reliability, clean energy,
community engagement,
and an emphasis on conservation and demand management before building new
generation. Highlights of the
plan include:
signed our petitions calling
for an end to pay-to-pay fees
were successful – the Conservatives finally listened.
Their recent Throne Speech
included a plan to adopt the
NDP call to prohibit companies from charging clients for
paper bills.
My colleagues and I look
forward to the government’s
full implementation of the
plan to stop pay-to-pay fees.
MPP’S REPORT
Building a Coal-Free Ontario
By Yasir Naqvi, MPP
der Bay Generating Station
will stop burning coal, and
will be converted to use
Ontario is one step closer to
advanced biomass, a fuel
being the first place in North
for electricity generation.
America to eliminate coal as
a source of electricity genera- This is the last major step in
tion. This is the single largest the Ontario Government’s
plan to eliminate coal-fired
greenhouse gas reduction
electricity.
initiative in North America,
According to an indepenand will help us all to breathe
dent study, Ontario’s coala little easier, and enjoy a
fired power plants cost the
cleaner environment.
Our government has closed people of Ontario an estimated $4.4 billion per year
Ontario’s coal-burning
Lambton and Atikokan facili- in health, environmental, and
financial damages. The costs
ties ahead of schedule, and
to society arising from air
will soon shut the Nanticoke
pollution include increased
Generating Station – the
hospital admissions, lost prolargest coal plant in North
ductivity from sick days, and
America. These early closures will save the province’s even premature death.
We are fulfilling our comelectricity customers about
mitment
to phase out coal$95 million through reduced
fired
electricity
in Ontario
operating and maintenance
by also introducing Bill 138,
costs.
the Ending Coal for Cleaner
Over the next year, ThunAir Act. It will ensure
the public health and
climate change benYasir Naqvi, MPP efits
of eliminating
Ottawa Centre
coal use for electricity
generation in Ontario
would be protected by
legislation.
The Ending Coal
for Cleaner Air Act, if
passed, would guarantee that once coal
facilities stop operating by the end of 2014,
coal-burning generation on the electricity
Community Office
grid will never happen
109 Catherine Street
again. Moving from
Ottawa ON K2P 0P4
T: 613-722-6414 | F: 613-722-6703
regulation to [email protected]
lation signals how
www.yasirnaqvimpp.ca
fb facebook.com/yasirnaqvimpp
important ending coal
tw @yasir_naqvi
use is to protect clean
Here to help you!
“The new plan
reflects input received from thousands of people
across the province. ...to gather
public feedback
on energy issues
in advance of the
LTEP.”
The new plan reflects input
received from thousands of
people across the province.
Consultations were held in
12 different communities, including one in Ottawa in August, 2013, to gather public
feedback on energy issues in
advance of the LTEP. Many
individuals and organizations
participated in person and
• Decreasing the need for
new supply by implementing conservation programs
and standards to offset
most growth in electricity
demand over the next 20
years;
• Lowering costs for consumers. Compared to the
2010 LTEP, residential
customers can expect to
pay about $520 less over
the next five years and
$3,800 less to 2030;
• Making new financing
tools available to consumers starting in 2015,
including programs to
incent energy efficient
retrofits to residential
properties; and
• Extending the phasing-in
of wind, solar and bioenergy for three more years
than estimated in the 2010
LTEP, with 10,700 megawatts online by 2021. By
2025 about half of Ontario’s installed generating
capacity will come from
renewable sources.
As part of the LTEP, we
will continue to invest in
nuclear power through the
refurbishment of reactors at
Darlington and Bruce. We
will not proceed with plans
to build two new nuclear
reactors in Ontario, saving
taxpayers $15 billion.
Compared to the previous
plan, Achieving Balance is
expected to reduce projected
cost increases by $16 billion
in the near term (2013-2017),
and $70 billion to 2030.
These cost reductions will
be realized even as Ontario
keeps its commitment to
phase out the last of its coalfired generation by the end of
2014.
We are working together to
help people in their everyday
lives while being stewards
of our natural environment
to protect our children, our
grandchildren, and our community.
Protecting the environment while providing clean,
reliable and affordable power
is part of the Ontario government’s plan to invest
in people, build modern
infrastructure, and support
a dynamic and innovative
business climate across our
province.
THE OSCAR
l
Page 13
JANUARY 2014
MAYOR’S REPORT
Reflecting on Three Years in Office
By Mayor Jim Watson
It is hard to believe that it has been
just over three years since our Council began its term. The time has flown
by as my Council colleagues and I
have tried our best to work together
in a calm and professional manner to
move Ottawa forward on a number
of fronts. As we begin the last year of
our term, it is worth looking back on
what we have accomplished so far.
I campaigned in 2010 on a promise
to limit any annual tax rate increase
to a maximum of 2.5%. I am proud
to say that we beat that target in each
successive year: 2.45% in 2011,
2.39% in 2012, 2.09% in 2013, and
just 1.9% for 2014.
While controlling taxes, it is also
important that we make the necessary
investments in the future of our city.
We must constantly upgrade roads,
sidewalks, sewers and water mains
and at the same time provide the
services that everyone demands each
and every day – police, fire, paramedics, libraries, parks and recreation
facilities and programming, public
transit, fresh water, waste removal
and recycling, and much more. We
have found a balance to do just this
and also maintain Ottawa’s strong
credit ratings.
Over the past three years we have
had projects of all sizes get off the
ground that taken together are beginning to transform our City for the
better.
We managed to freeze recreation
fees for four years to benefit young
and old across the city and we have
invested in libraries across Ottawa.
Brand new recreation facilities have
been completed in Kanata and Orleans and another is under construction in Barrhaven to better service
our growing communities. In addition, the new Sensplex East will open
in the fall of 2014 to bolster our city’s
rink capacity for teams and skaters of
all ages. On the larger scale, Lansdowne Park will open in the summer
of 2014 replacing 26 acres of asphalt
with a new urban park and mixed-use
facility the city can be proud of.
We have invested $340 million in
road, sidewalk, bike lane, sewer and
watermain infrastructure through our
Ottawa on the Move program. This
work has been disruptive for some
but it is short-term pain for long-term
gain and the more than 400 projects
that are part of it will help bring our
infrastructure and entire transportation system up to the level needed before the opening of our Light Rapid
Transit system (LRT).
The LRT is the single most important infrastructure project in our
City since the digging of the Rideau
Canal. After years of delay and false
starts the mammoth $2.1 billion
13km project is now under construction with a fixed-price contract
and a route that will transform the
way people move around our city.
We have secured a world-class
consortium of companies to do the
work and I know we are all looking
forward to the Confederation Line’s
completion in 2018.
Lastly, we have taken several
proactive steps over the last three
years to improve the accountability
of city council. We have appointed an
Integrity Commissioner and implemented a Council Code of Conduct,
set up both lobbyist and gift registries, and made it so that Council
expenses are posted online. This
package of integrity measures has
made us more accountable as elected
officials and made us a leader in the
province and Canada with regards to
transparency at the municipal level.
Most importantly, we did it because
we wanted to, not because of scandal.
I am proud of what this council has
accomplished in our first three years
of this term and I look forward to
another great year in 2014.
COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Ottawa Can Do More to Prevent Urban Isolation
By David Chernushenko
Speaking to a neighbour while shovelling snow, I learned of her plans to
retire in Toronto. Thanks to our harsh
winters, Ottawa just isn’t a place for
seniors, she said. “They feel isolated.
It’s not healthy.”
I was tempted to rhyme off my
usual lines in defence of the city and
season I love: “It’s not that bad. Winter is just a state of mind. You’ve got
to get outside and embrace it …” But
I had a feeling that if I were 20 years
older, perhaps with mobility challenges, I might not be so enthused
about winter.
Just that day, I had been slipsliding my way home from my Bank
Street bus stop. It’s just three blocks,
but it felt plenty long even for me, fit
and active at 50.
What must it be like for somebody
older, less fit, living alone or reliant
on an assistive device? How likely
would I have been to venture out that
day to run errands, attend a fitness
class, meet friends at the local cafe?
Not very! I would have needed someone to drive me. If no such someone
was available, if the wait for Para
Transpo were lengthy, if I couldn’t
afford a taxi, or if I just didn’t feel up
to making those calls, I would likely
have stayed home, perhaps alone.
Long and lonely winters are the
reality for many amongst us, and the
number of people facing such challenges will only grow as our population ages.
Yes, there are ways to connect
virtually with friends and family.
Between Facebook, email, Skype and
the good old telephone, can you ever
really feel alone? We’ve never been
more connected and in touch with
our “friends.”
Yet several studies have identified
a growing sense of isolation among
people of all ages, but notably the
less mobile. It would seem that being virtually connected is not much
better than being outright alone. A
true friend is more than a photo on
Facebook, or somebody who “likes”
your status update. It’s someone who
drops by for tea or invites you out to
a film. It’s someone who rushes over
when your basement floods or offers
you a lift to church and back.
Sure, connecting with far-flung
relatives via the Internet is a lot better
than seeing them every few years
when you fly to Victoria or Hong
Kong. But, in our quest to reduce
isolation as part of building healthy
communities and citizens, we can’t
expect technology to provide all the
solutions.
Addressing this issue benefits us all
through improved physical and mental health, and the kind of societal
health that is generated when people
know each other, watch out for each
other and share experiences and goals
through frequent, often informal
personal contact. “Looking out for
each other” is an older way of putting
it. “Eyes on the street” is a newer
way of describing the phenomenon
of citizens who are literally on the
sidewalks, sitting on a bench or gazing down from a balcony, from where
they meet people, see what’s going
on, and care enough to take action
when required.
What can I do — in concert with
the communities I represent, other
councillors and city staff — to not
just reduce isolation, but build connections as well?
•
Increase spaces where people can
meet others spontaneously and
look out over the bustle of daily
life: small plazas and parks, more
benches, etc.
•
Build for success: Studies all
over the world conclude that
tall residential buildings tend to
promote isolation, whereas lowrise buildings promote greater
interaction.
•
Promote comfortable indoor
gathering spaces and activities
for all ages, within community
centres, shopping centres, etc.
•
Work to improve snow clearing
on our sidewalks, especially the
windrows — those hard-packed
ridges left by competing road and
sidewalk plows. Is there a place
again for manual shovels?
•
Increase the number of bus shelters, both OC Transpo ones or
informal shelters made available
near shops and office buildings.
•
Review the bus route “optimization” that saw some important
routes reduced or eliminated, and
test the efficacy of boosting bus
ridership by increasing frequency
of service on select routes.
Ottawa is always going to have its
cold and dark months, and its weeks
of treacherous travel conditions. But
that doesn’t mean we should settle
for being a “bad place to retire.”
Maybe we should automatically consider that whenever we make transportation and planning decisions.
Pantry update: The future of The
Pantry is generating some emails and
calls from Old Ottawa South, even
though it’s in the Glebe Community
Centre. In the spirit of promoting
connections, as of mid-December, I
had facilitated two meetings of affected parties to explore ways to keep
The Pantry operating in some form.
All parties appear open to compromise, and we’ll keep working on a
solution.
Councillor David Chernushenko,
613-580-2487, [email protected], www.capitalward.ca
Page 14
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
OCDSB TRUSTEE’S REPORT
Capital Priorities Process Consultation and School
Boards’ New Housing Taxes
By Rob Campbell
Capital Priorities Process
Consultation
Should we invest more in older
schools in the downtown core?
How about expanding populations
in portables outside of it? At what
point does learning in a portable
equal learning in older dysfunctional
space? And, how does one determine
and rank needs across the District?
In the (shocking) absence of any particular built or learning environment
standard across the District, how do
we deal with the inequities of new
buildings with light, air-conditioning,
disability access, purposed-built
daycare or community space, and so
forth, and our older stock? Should
these concerns even play a role?
In early January, the Board of
Trustees likely will approve a
package of OCDSB capital priority
process ideas to go out for public
consultation. We have had several internal discussions and it will be time
very soon to hear what you think. It
is critical that citizens engage with
this one, not only as it will be a pretty
quick consultation turnaround, but
as it holds the potential to determine
capital project selection and ranking
across all of our schools for years to
come, be they renovation, retrofit,
refurbishment, new addition, new
replacement or greenfields build
projects.
Trustees (and certainly Board staff)
are interested in effectively placing
capital priority project determination
beyond parochial politics, and into
the hands of a more or less impartial
and trusted process. However, for
Trustees, and for communities, to
trust in the magic hand of a hands-off
process, it is crucial that that process be credible to Trustees and to
their communities, fully value what
citizens and educators believe should
be offered by a classroom and by a
school.
I believe that too much attention
has been paid to portables numbers
over the years. One problem is that
they are easy to count and other sorts
of inadequate space are difficult to
define objectively. The key, for me, is
what we define as inadequate space,
be it older inadequate space or newer
inadequate space. One has to ask, I
think, why we say that portables are
inadequate space. Is it walking distance to washroom? Square metres?
Lighting? Time lost putting on a coat
and boots (though enclosed walkways can deal with this). A sense
of being external and undervalued?
How does that compare with basement space in an older schools? Lack
of light? Inadequate washrooms or
heat/cold control problems in older
schools, and so forth? How many
projected years of asking students
and staff to deal with inadequate
space, whatever its nature, is too
many years and deserves a capital
spending response? How should
these considerations and others get
factored into the capital priority criteria setting we will be embarking on
as a result of this process review and
delegation?
School Boards’ New Housing Taxes
Little known to most citizens, all
Ontario School Boards do maintain
a restricted right to levy an indirect
form of consumer tax based on new
development, be it new suburban
homes or new infill developments.
This money may be used only for
new land acquisition and its servicing, if an area is a demonstrated
growth area.
An equity problem here however,
as I see it, is that we have always
levied this education development
charge (or EDC) on developments in
every part of Ottawa, knowing that
the likelihood we could ever use it
anywhere else than the suburbs was
very low. Years ago, the Province
allowed School Boards to charge for
new buildings as well as replacement ones, major refurbishment and
additions, based on EDCs, but this
has not been the case now for some
years. Then, there was a benefit to
all parts of the city, but when EDCs
changed, we did not. We have been
advocating for a return to that EDC
flex, but it is not clear that the
Province will ever agree as municipalities generally are opposed
to any other entity levying development charges but them.
We are then, as a School Board,
likely always going to be collecting development charges from
everywhere in Ottawa in order to
support new school lands acquisition in ever sprawling suburbs.
It is in effect, and I don’t think
there is a way of escaping this, a
small subsidy for urban sprawl
and a further disincentive for
usually smaller scale neighbour-
Locations in
New Edinburgh,
Old Ottawa South
& Ottawa West
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hood intensification developments.
Sprawl affects not just cities, but
school board capital budgets as well.
Older schools may lose students, perhaps get put up for consolidation or
have weak learning support numbers,
and the thirst for new school dollars can never be slaked as development continues to move inexorably
outwards. All this leading to a huge
inefficiency in our spending over all,
many needs unmet as resources go to
service ever newer communities, and
adding to a constant accommodation
review upset.
School Boards have the power to
differentially levy EDCs by geography or by housing type, if they
wish, though we have never availed
ourselves of this option before. While
urban planning is not a School Board
mandate issue, one does wonder
whether School Boards are fully on
deck with modern urban planning
concerns as well. And, as one of the
very largest municipalities anywhere
in Ontario geographically, dwarfing
the homogenously urban Toronto
Board that way, and yet also quite
unlike homogenously rural Boards,
this is perhaps more of a question for
us than most other Boards in Ontario.
Though I do see several pros and
cons to the status quo, and also to a
change in this area, I think that it is
time that we at least discussed this
openly. Such an opportunity should
arise sometime in the next couple of
months as we review and debate our
next multi-year EDC bylaw.
Have a comment or question? Mail
me at [email protected]
For OCDSB policies, upcoming
Board of Trustees meeting
background docs, and other material,
please visit www.ocdsb.ca.
Hopewell Avenue
Public School
Kindergarten Registration
Period is Jan 27 – 31
at the School Office
THE OSCAR
l
Page 15
JANUARY 2014
OCSB TRUSTEE’S REPORT
Putting Students First
By Kathy Ablett, Trustee
The beginning of a new year offers everyone a “fresh start’; time
to reflect on past commitments and
move forward with renewed energy
and resolve. Our Catholic schools
provide a rich environment that supports and promotes Student Success
for each and every student, Staff
Development for all employees, and
careful Stewardship of Resources.
This is a system that takes pride in
student achievement and is consistently researching ways to share best
practices.
Junior and Senior Kindergarten
Programs – 2014-2015
Simone Oliver, Superintendent
of Student Success Elementary,
updated the Board on a number of
issues related to junior and senior
kindergarten. As of September 2014,
all Ottawa Catholic School Board
elementary schools will have full-day
kindergarten. Also all Board kindergarten classes will be French immersion classes with 50% of the children’s instruction in French. Come
and be part of something great!
The official registration for kindergarten is January 20-24, 2014 at all
elementary schools, and registration
is also available anytime.
QUEST Conference
Julian Hanlon, Director of Education, and Denise Andre, Deputy
Director of Education, shared with
the Board some of the highlights of
the 2013 QUEST conference presentation.
The QUEST conference is held
annually and is co-sponsored by the
Ministry of Education and the York
Region School Board. This year’s
conference was held November 2023 in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The
focus of the conference was “ReImagining Public Education: Innovative and High-Performing Global
Practice that Sustains Improvement.”
High-performing jurisdictions from
around the world were invited to
present at the conference, including
Finland, Singapore, England, Calgary
and California.
Ontario’s education system is
considered to be one of the best in
the world. Within this context, four
boards regarded as high-performing,
were invited to share their journeys,
to reflect upon their successes, challenges and plans for the future. The
Ottawa Catholic School Board was
invited to present as one of the province’s highly successful districts.
Our journey was presented as “A
Learning Organization – Building an
organization that learns at all levels.” The foundation of the Board’s
QUEST presentation was “if/then”
statements:
If we learn and grow together,
within collaborative spaces;
If we use learning tools to support
and monitor our growth over time;
If we intentionally establish professional learning communities where
“learning is the work”; and,
If we reflect and consolidate the
learning:
THEN the system will learn and
grow.
The Board also met recently
with Ministry officials who wished
to learn more about our Leadership Journey Program as one of the
outstanding boards in the province.
We currently have over 750 staff
involved in leadership education.
If, at any time, I can be of assistance
to you please do not hesitate to call
me at 526-9512.
EVALUATE OSCA
Continued from page 1
OUTDOOR
RINK ICE
www.oldottawasouth.ca
coat of water. No one could recall a
time when we could start a skating
season at Windsor Park as early
as December 12, but we were all
agreed: it looks like it’s going to be
a good, long season.
Don Cummer has contributed to
OSCAR many times over the years
– for almost as long as he and his
buddies have been flooding the
Windsor Park rinks.
Top - Mark Conley flooding.
PHOTOS BY DON CUMMER
Brokerage
Welcomes:
Warren Newberry
Sales Representative
Glebe Comm / Res Property
Traditional Main Street Zoning
Dan Moloughney, B.Eng.
www.
Broker of Record
OttawaUrbanRealty
613.233.2323
send your ideas
throuhout January
to the website
.com
NOW
OPEN
Kevin DoDDs
Gallery
& stuDio
Art Works
Art Lessons
Framing
Home Décor
613 286 8512
1101 Bank Street
(next to Stella Luna)
Page 16
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
SCOUTS
17th Southminster Venturer Scouts Repair Footbridge
17th Southminster Venturers help repair a neighbourhood footbridge.
PHOTO BY CHRIS BONYUN (VENTURER ADVISOR)
L-R: Matthew Thurm, Daniel Drapeau, Nicholas Bonyun, Siobhan Romaniuk, Alex Thurm, Colin Greenwood, Guy Souliere (OSCA), Stuart Smith (Venturer
Advisor).
repair the footbridge under Bronson
crushed-stone ramps at either end of
While finishing the ramps some
By Matthew Thurm
Venturers checked and replaced
Bridge. The Venturers were accomthe bridge. The ground was frozen
panied by their two advisors and Guy so they had to use a heavy pick to
the hockey sticks on the side of the
Early Sunday morning November 3,
Souliere, an OSCA Board Member.
break the ground, and then scoop
bridge, while others cleared oversix members of the 17th Southmingrown brush from around the bridge.
Their
first
task
was
to
remove
the
up
the
crushed
stone
with
shovels.
ster Venturer Scouts headed out to
After clearing away the old ramps
After four hours of hard work, but
with smiles on their faces, the Venthey set to work digging holes for
turers packed up and headed home
the wood that would make up the
retaining walls, using wood that was
knowing that they left the bridge
better than they had found it, with the
left over from the community garden at Brewer Park. They brought
very modest cost of $41.16 donated
large heavy stones up from the river
by OSCA.
bed to support the wood. Once the
Special thanks to Southminster
walls were completed they rebuilt
the ramps with a mix of old crushed
United Church, who provide ongoing
stone and some new stone graciously support to the 17th Scouts of all ages.
donated by Michael Oster.
The Hockey Stick Foot Bridge, located under George Dunbar
Bridge, was built in 1999. OSCA’s environmental group ECOS
got the green light from the Regional Municipality of Ottawa
Carleton. I arranged the funding from the Millennium Bureau,
Government of Canada. The construction was initiated by
Craig Turner and ECOS/OSCA, and was executed by the 17th
Southminster Scout Troop, who were paid to do the work. Over
the period of 13 years there has been considerable use of, and
wear and tear to, the bridge and it was in a great need of repair.
By Mike Lacelles
Need eager high school volunteers
for your event?
Contact [email protected] with when, where, what and how to sign
up and I will have your volunteer event read over the P.A. and posted on
Glebe CI’s Volunteer Notice Board.
THE OSCAR
l
Page 17
JANUARY 2014
FAITH NEWS
Church as Community
By Hanns F. Skoutajan
It wasn’t until my parents and I had
come to Canada and taken up residence in the small wartime village
of Batawa, that we began attending
church on a regular basis. The Protestants, all the non-Catholics in the
community, gathered each Sunday
in the lounge room of the recreation
hall.
Several families arrived early to
arrange the couches and easy chairs
into a worship space. It was without
a doubt the most comfortable church
I ever attended. Mother brought her
potted ferns to enhance the worship
centre, and then seated herself at the
piano to await the arrival of the minister from a nearby village. Even today whenever I hear Handel’s Largo,
mother’s favourite, I am transported
to my teen years of worship in that
recreation hall.
We were a small group who knew
each other. Our parents worked for
the same employer. We shopped at
the small village grocery store. We
attended movies and danced at that
same hall, and attended the same
school.
After leaving home for college I
began attending regularly in large
and beautiful city churches with
choirs and a pipe organ and excellent preachers. Nevertheless, I never
forgot our little congregation “back
home”. We were more than a community, but a family.
Today many of those beautiful
downtown churches have ebbed
dramatically in attendance and are
faced with financial problems such as
heating and maintenance of large and
old buildings. Problems which have
suggested amalgamation for many
urban churches.
Southminster United Church in Old
Ottawa South is one of those beautiful worship centres. Perched above
the Rideau Canal on Bank Street,
it is an imposing structure. I recall
being on a canal cruise and as we
approached the bridge the tour guide
said it was a very popular place for
weddings, that, indeed, you would
have to book the sanctuary three
years before your marriage. I had a
mind to tell the tour group that it was
indeed very beautiful and that I on
occasion have conducted worship
there, but I kept my mouth shut.
Southminster is gifted with a
wonderful organist and choir director
who has instituted a very well attended music program on Wednesday
noon hours and at other times, which
include music from modern jazz to
ancient chant, harp, organ, percussion
and choirs. Music is such an important element of worship. Many of the
churches in town have adapted their
“chancel” into a stage where a variety
of performances can take place.
The Apostle Paul doesn’t deal with
numbers in his letters to the churches
in Corinth, Ephasus or Rome, rather
he asserts that the people of The Way
had no distinction between male
or female, slave or free. They were
communities of faith with all their
problems and tensions.
The most important task for our
churches is to create communities,
to give to all who enter these doors a
sense of belonging. The church must
be a caring community. Undoubtedly
smallness is an asset in this task.
We may yearn for the good old
days when we brought chairs into the
aisles to accommodate the overflow
and long to hear the walls resound
with the sounds of praise. I dare not
disparage these memories and hopes.
Nevertheless I recall those thirty or
forty friends who gathered each Sun-
We are so thankful for the generosity of our
community of Old Ottawa South! You have overwhelmed us with your warm wishes and your
generous gifts!! All our needs have been met
from the Wish List!!
The clients, staff and Board of Directors are
so grateful for you giving locally to Empathy
House!!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!
Happy 2014!
day at the recreation hall, who knew
each other as neighbours and friends.
Having now retired from the
preaching ministry I sense the loss.
Writing a weekly blog, Spirit Quest,
has compensated somewhat for this
void.
We may not bring back those glorious days of yore, but there is nothing
to prevent us from building and being
a community of faith and friends.
Hanns F Skoutajan, is a retired
minister of the United Church. Born
in Czechoslovakia he and his parents
immigrated Canada shortly before
the Second World War. Besides
preaching he has published two
books: The Road to Peace: Memories
and Reflections Along the Way,
and Uprooted and Transplanted: A
Sudeten Odyssey From Tragedy to
Freedom which has been turned into
a documentary film called Hitler’s
German Foes. Collection of his
writings may be found at MYQUEST
and SKOUTAJAN’S PAGE.
Area Worship Services
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church
58 Grosvenor Avenue
(at Sunnyside)
Sunday Worship Services at
9:00 am and 11:00 am
Children’s program offered during worship services.
St Margaret Mary’s Parish
7 Fairbairn (corner of Sunnyside)
Tuesday Evening at 7:00 pm
Friday Daytime at 9:00 am
Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am
and 11:30 am
Trinity Anglican Church
1230 Bank St (at Cameron Ave)
Sundays: Holy Eucharist at 8:00
am and 10:00 am
with Church School & Choir.
Southminster United Church
15 Aylmer Avenue (at Bank &
the Canal)
Sunday Worship & Kids’
Church: 10:30 am
OSCAR DELIVERERS NEEDED - Please contact Distribution Manager Larry Ostler
1) The block including the south side of Hopewell, west side of Grosvenor, north side of Glen, east side of Leonard (48 papers).
2) The block including the north side of Chesley, west side of Harvard, south side of Raleigh and east sides of Wendover and
Warrington, and the triangle including the north side of Raleigh, west side of Harvard and the east side of Warrington (a total of
26 papers).
email [email protected] or phone 613-327-9080
Page 18
THE OSCAR
HOPEWELL PUBLIC SCHOOL
Hopewell Public School’s Fourth Annual Blizzard Bazaar
By Shealyn Visser
On Thursday, December 12, 2013,
Hopewell Public School hosted their
fourth annual Blizzard Bazaar. The
event is spearheaded by the school’s
philanthropist club, the Me to We
group, which boasts over 90 students
in grades 6-8. This very popular
school-wide event acts as a fundraiser
for the group’s chosen charities. This
year the proceeds went to Legacy of
Hope (www.legacyofhope.ca) and
Tabitha Foundation (www.tabitha.ca).
The Me to We students were the main
organizers behind the various events
of the evening, which included a cake
walk, bake sale, kids’ activities, crafts
created by different classes, raffle, silent
auction and more!
PHOTOS BY ANNIE WALKER
This is the face
JA
of change.
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OUSE
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0 TO 7:30
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l
JANUARY 2014
THE OSCAR
l
Page 19
JANUARY 2014
FITNESS
Embrace resistance
By Angie Arnold
We all know that engaging in regular
exercise is one of the most important
lifestyle choices we can make. That’s
why “get fit” and “lose weight” consistently top the list of most common
New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, they are just as commonly broken
by mid-February.
That’s not because we’re lazy. On
the contrary: it’s often because we
overreach. Adopting “go hard or go
home” as our guiding principle, we
design tough fitness regimes that
prove to be unsustainable.
Maximize your workouts
The Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Michael
Roizen, who founded the “RealAge”
health assessment and co-wrote the
“YOU” manuals, reports that “All
of my patients knew they should exercise before they saw me—yet less
than 5 percent knew what that meant
or how little they needed to do for
maximum health benefits.”
So he wrote The RealAge Workout:
Maximum Health, Minimum Work
to explain how a walking routine
combined with resistance training
can “roll back the years” by improving overall health. If you’re a fan of
Oprah or Dr. Oz, you’ll recall his
popular segments on their programs.
Dr. Roizen shares this simple
prescription for fighting the potentially disastrous effects of poor
aging: “Walk for 30 minutes at least
four times a week and do at least
two resistance-training routines
and you’ll slash your risk for heart
attacks, strokes, diabetes, arthritis,
cancer, obesity, and dementia.”
That’s 30 minutes of daily effort
to gain the maximum age-reduction
benefits. A half-hour walk is a perfect
start: but what about the resistance
training?
What is resistance training?
Resistance training is the newest
phrase to describe weight training or
strength training. The method is in
the name—with weight machines,
free weights, resistance bands, or
calisthenics, the body works to
overcome a resistance. In doing so,
muscle fibres break down and then
repair and grow stronger so they’re
better able to face that resistance in
the future.
There are several ways that routine
resistance training can reduce what
Dr. Roizen calls your biological, or
“real,” age.
Strong body
From age 30 to 70 we can lose
more than 25% of our type 2 muscle
fibres—our strength fibres. Put another way, we can expect to lose five
pounds of muscle every decade after
we reach 30.
“From age 30 to 70
we can lose more
than 25% of our type
2 muscle fibres—our
strength fibres. Put
another way, we can
expect to lose five
pounds of muscle
every decade after
we reach 30.”
That gradual loss of muscle mass
means you will become weaker
over time. In addition to limiting
your participation in strenuous
physical activity, you’ll find that
even functional tasks—such as
carrying the groceries or shovelling the walkway—become more
difficult.
Resistance exercise slows down
the loss of muscle mass and increases your muscle-to-fat ratio. With increased strength and
stamina, you’ll not only look better,
you’ll be better able to maintain
your active lifestyle.
less susceptible to osteoporosis—a
disease characterized by low bone
mass and deterioration of bone tissue. According to the World Health
Organization, more than 70% of
women over 50 have osteoporosis or
osteopenia, a condition where bone
mineral density is lower than normal.
In young women, resistance exercise aids in the development of a
greater peak bone mass, which can
keep growing until around age 30. In
post-menopausal women, that training slows bone loss, which means
delaying the risk of fracture. And in
older women, it helps lower risk of
falls, thanks to better strength and
balance.
Strong metabolism
Muscle tissue is metabolically
active and burns more calories
than other body tissue, even at rest.
Regular resistance training results in
a 15% boost in your basal metabolic
rate—the number of calories you
burn just by being alive. For every
pound of muscle you put on, your
body uses about 50 extra calories a
day.
By kicking your metabolism into
higher gear, resistance exercise helps
you achieve and maintain a healthy
weight. That’s an important part of
overall good health as we age.
Insist on resistance
When making your 2014 resolutions, remember that it takes just
30 minutes a day to build a strong
body, strong bones, and a strong
metabolism. Add regular resistance
training to a walking routine, and
you’ll either be rolling back the years
or taking important steps towards
maintaining a healthy, youthful body
as you age.
Angie Arnold is the owner of the
OOS location of Curves, specialists
in 30-minute workouts. She holds
certifications from the Cleveland
Clinic in nutrition, exercise, and
behaviour modification.
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1 week fitness membership must begin prior to February 28, 2014.
© 2014 Curves International, Inc.
Page 20
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
TRAVEL
Seven Beaches in Seven Days
photo on left: Johnny starting his seashell collection at Esquimalt Lagoon.
photo on right: George found a shore crab at Bamberton Provincial Park.
PHOTOS BY PAIGE RAYMOND KOVACH
By Paige Raymond Kovach
Growing up on the southern tip of
Vancouver Island, we went to the
beach whenever we felt like it. High
tide, low tide, we had fun whenever
we went. Alas I never learned to read
a tide chart. This was evident on our
most recent trip to Victoria in November.
Tides are much different in No-
vember than they are in the spring
and early summer when we often
visit. In November low tides often
occur in total darkness, which ruled
out tide pool gazing at Botanical
Beach.
My children love the tide pools
at Botanical Beach, like TVs of the
ocean. Best viewed at low tide when
the limestone tide pools are exposed,
and that happened at 6 a.m. and
midnight in the week we were there.
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Botanical Beach is also famous for
rogue waves that crash at the shore’s
edge, very dangerous in the dark
with curious children. Plus it takes a
couple of hours to drive there from
my Mother’s house.
A good alternative to midnight tide
pool gazing is the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sydney, very close
to the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal
and Victoria International Airport.
This not-for-profit aquarium is home
to bioluminescent jellyfish, a giant pacific octopus, a spiny dogfish
shark, and a touch pool of squishy
sea anemone, prickly sea urchin, and
spiny sea cucumbers.
After a great visit inside, we
escaped to Island View Beach, just
off the Pat Bay Highway in Central
Saanich. The grey sand beach edges
the peninsula. My middle son made
new friends building an addition to
a beach fort. My daughter and her
auntie posed for photos wearing delicate seaweed necklaces. My nephews
and brother kicked back west coast
style. My mom and eldest searched
for shells and flat skipping rocks.
The beach is just across the bay from
Sidney Spit Provincial Park. On a
clear day, you can see some of the
“We were driving
up the Malahat to
visit Auntie Friede’s
candy store in Ladysmith...”
southern Gulf Islands.
It also rains a fair bit in Victoria in the late fall. This is great
when you see salmon spawning at
Goldstream Park, the smell isn’t as
strong, but tends to shorten beach
combing times.
On Monday it was pouring rain.
We were driving up the Malahat
to visit Auntie Friede’s candy
store in Ladysmith, so I thought it
would be great to stretch our legs
at Bamberton Provincial Park. The
kids remembered the shore crabs
the last time we were there in June
a couple of years ago. The beach
was literally crawling with green
and purple shore crabs then. I
taught them to turn the crabs over
to see that the males have lighthouses, while the females have
honey beehives.
I thought I had properly read
our tide charts this time. No, the
tide was at its highest point, it was
pouring rain, but we managed to
find three or four crabs.
We spent Saturday morning seeing old friends again at Witty’s Lagoon in Metchosin. It was where
I hung out as a teenager. The soft
gray sandy beach is an almost endless prairie of sand flats perfect for
skim boarding in the warmer season.
When my children were younger we
spent a whole day hunting creatures
in the seaweed hiding saltwater.
There is also a great abundance of
beach fort building materials. We always take the last trail with
the smallest parking lot and about
100 steep steps down to the beach. I
thought the tide was going out when
we arrived. The children started
building a fort from the skeleton of
one abandoned by others. Turns out
the tide was climbing to the highest
point and threatening to cover the
bottom step of the stairs so we cut
our visit short.
But the tide isn’t always high.
Sometimes the best beaches are the
least complicated.
Take the Esquimalt Lagoon.
There’s no fuss getting there, just
a short jaunt from Fort Rod Hill. A
busy road cuts the park in half, and
you can park and step out on the
beach in seconds. It’s a simple gray
sand beach, a perfect spot for a picnic
lunch and to stretch airplane-weary
legs. Look out into the water -- you
may see a harbour seal. Across the
bay is Naden, the Canadian Navy
base. It’s a great place to begin collecting stones, shells, seaweed, and
visit with friendly dogs. On the other
side of the road is a bird sanctuary
where families of geese, gulls, and
swans live. Albert Head Beach is another safe
bet, albeit tucked away so that only
locals really know about it. Heading towards Metchosin, pass the
gravel pit and turn down Farnhill
Road, then right on Delgada Road.
It winds down through mossy forest
to the small cobble stone beach. You
may see a blue heron, a swan family, ducks, super long kelp, and other
great beach treasures.
Our week on the west coast passed
too quickly and we went to the beach
to say goodbye to Victoria at Clover
Point. My brother and I used to fly
kites there and saw fearless folks
paraglide off the cliff. The world’s
tallest Totem Pole is nearby. It was a
clear day and we had an unfettered
view of Mount Baker, one of the
tallest peaks in the Cascade mountain range. It is also a great place to
climb over rocks when the tide is out,
which it was.
If you go beachcombing in Victoria:
Botanical Beach Provincial Park www.juandefucamarinetrail.com
Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre www.oceandiscovery.ca
Island View Park and Campground,
Albert Head Lagoon, Witty’s Lagoon
- www.crd.bc.ca
Bamberton Provincial Park - www.
env.gov.bc.ca
Esquimalt Lagoon - www.colwood.ca
Clover Point - www.victoriabcparks.
com
THE OSCAR
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Page 21
JANUARY 2014
TRAVEL
A Belated Return to Gaspé
Percé Rock
By Joe Scanlon
It had been more than 50 years since
I last toured the Gaspe.
Much of it has not lost the charm it
had then.
And it’s really not all that far from
Ottawa.
You can get there and back in
less than a week as long as you are
prepared to spend one day driving en
route to the Gaspe and one day driving back.
The rest of your time you can take
a more leisurely drive as you pass
through one charming village after
another. (Even if wanted to rush
through you couldn’t as the speed
limit – which is often checked –
varies from 90 to 50 and changes
frequently.)
On the advice of friends, we decided to circumnavigate the Gaspe
Peninsula heading across from Mont
Joli to the north shore of the Bay of
Chaleur, passing through towns like
New Richmond, New Carlisle, Perce
and Gaspe before coming all the way
around to head back west along the
south shore of the St. Lawrence.
There were a few disappointments
but some lovely surprises and on the
whole the trip was well worth it.
The nicest surprise was Cap-desRosiers.
We debated whether it was worth
heading towards the tip of the Gaspe
through Forillon National Park or
whether it would be better to cut
across the road that allows you to
bypass the park.
At first after spending what seemed
like a lot of time driving along a
forest-lined road, we thought we had
made a bad decision. Then suddenly
we came across Cap-des-Rosiers, its
lighthouse and its lovely homes. It
was from there, historians tell us that
the French sighted the British fleet
and General Wolfe heading towards
Quebec City in 1759.
After that, the few hours were not
all that satisfying.
Much of the road is up and down
hill inland and some of the road is
under construction. The speed limit
keeps varying and sometimes even
the 90 limit allowable seemed a bit
high on the curving roads.
But the last section as we headed
westbound towards Matane was just
as I remembered it from more than
50 years ago, a road following the
PHOTO BY AMATERIA 1121
curving river and around every bend
was another small, attractive town.
We finally stopped at a motel in
one of those towns. It was clean,
not too expensive (a little more than
$100 a night) and had a small dining
room where the food was excellent.
I ordered salad and it appeared to me
the chef prepared it while I waited for
it was very fresh and very good, as
was the house dressing.
After reaching Matane, we decided to take the ferry across to
Baie Comeau. That was probably
“After reaching
Matane, we decided to take the
ferry across to Baie
Comeau. That was
probably a mistake.”
a mistake. The south shore is more
attractive than the North Shore as
far as Rimouski or Rivière-du-Loup.
However it allowed us to see a rare
phenomenon – a cafeteria where the
line kept getting longer and where
the cafeteria closed before the last
customers were served.
We did not – as advised – have a
reservation on the ferry. As it happened we were first in the waiting
line and made it with room to spare
but that might have been different
later in the season.
However it was worth crossing to the North shore for a stop
in Tadoussac where – though we
stayed at a small motel – allowed us
to dine at the Tadoussac Hotel. The
old wooden hotel dining room was
large, well-staffed, service was very
good and the food excellent and well
presented. Dinner for two with wine
was less than $100 and well worth it.
Often we find the plate loaded with
more food than anyone but a glutton
would want. The hotel servings were
just right. The waitress even kept my
water glass full, something which I
find rarely happens.
We travelled in June before most
school terms had ended so traffic was
not that bad most of the way and accommodation was readily available.
We did not make reservations anyC
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
St. Jean Baptiste traffic on the north
where along the way and never got
shore as we neared Montreal. There
caught short. We did of course luck
out with the weather: we had nothing the driving became scary with some
drivers determined to cut in and out.
but sunshine for the entire trip, even
arrived home just before a thunder
We escaped by taking Highway 640
to 50 and 15 and on towards first
and lightning forecast came true.
Lachute and then across the OtIncidentally not every Gaspe community has a motel or hotel and some tawa River to Hawkesbury and over
don’t have a service station. It’s not a through Vankleek Hill to highway
bad idea to fill up when your tank is
417. There was a lot of traffic headhalf empty and probably wise to stop ing the other way but little in our
direction and that route allowed us to
a couple of hours before sundown
take a brief look at the largely abanjust in case.
Since we returned along the north
doned Mirabel airport (we did see
shore we passed the shrine at Ste.
planes from FedEx and Purolator).
All in all a worthwhile trip and one
Anne de Beaupre and had a chance
I suspect that would be even nicer
to look at Montmorency Falls. We
this autumn especially when the trees
also took advantage of a reciprocal
arrangement to eat breakfast at the
are showing their fall colours.
Royal Quebec Golf Club.
As it happened we returned home
GMSACareGRWinter14b.pdf
8:23 PM
on June 24th
which means we 1hit 12/11/13
the
Page 22
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
GARDEN CLUB
Make Artful Flower Arrangements
By Carole Love and Colin
Ashford
Diana Carr, an OOS Garden Club
member and one of the “2 Flower
Girls” (www.2flowergirls.com), a
flower-arranging business that creates
fresh and original flower arrangements for weddings, birthdays, etc.,
has a passion for all things floral. She
studied floral design in London, England and for her every arrangement is
a labour of love.
Diana Carr started her presentation
by showing members the supplies
that she had brought: Oasis floral
foam; wire to bolster soft-stemmed
material; secateurs; packets of floral
plant food; floral tape; ribbon; skewers and bamboo sticks to help keep
flowers upright. As filler, she had
ruscus leaves to lend a whimsical air
to arrangements, sprays of beautiful pittosporum, and lily grass to
add interest. As for containers, her
advice was imagination and making
use of things at home. Silvery tin
cans can showcase red roses; white
plastic containers can focus attention
on flowers and be light and easy to
transport; glass vases with flowers on
a stem and a few lily grass leaves can
grace a dining table. Additionally,
a silver bowl with a domed display
of white carnations would create
the illusion of a mass of whipping
cream. Diana noted that floral foam
is soaked before use and may take
twenty-four hours to fully moisten;
re-use is unwise as foam can acquire
germs. Cut-plant-food crystals can
be put into the water to help arrangements last longer; arrangements also
last longer if watered initially and the
water is refreshed as necessary so it
remains crystal clear. It is also helpful to cut stem ends when the water is
replaced.
The first arrangement Diana
demonstrated had bright red gerbera
blooms amongst stalks of green
horsetails in a square glass container.
(Wire was inserted into the heavy
gerbera blossoms for support and
then wrapped around the weak stems
and a skewer used to create a hole in
the foam for stems.) A white ribbon
tied around the container completed
under the water and tied the bouquet,
taking care that the string did not bite
into the stems. Finally she trimmed
the stems, noting that a tied bouquet
should be balanced so it can stand by
itself. Diana had readied two square
glass vases, the smaller inside the
larger, filled with red cranberries and
a little water. To complete the table
arrangement, she placed the tied
bouquet in the vase, tucking greenery around the container edge to add
interest and stability.
The final arrangement Diana
PHOTOS BY ELEANOR ROSE
the arrangement.
Diana was of the opinion that
flower arrangers need to be flexible
and ready to substitute. For example,
calla lilies were unavailable that
evening so Diana placed stems of
rose-like yellow lisianthus among
horsetails and added a few pompom
chrysanthemums blooms to create a
random effect.
Bright red roses in tight formation in a cellophane-tape grid atop a
square glass vase formed a precise
display. Three such containers, the
same or different sizes, could form a
centrepiece.
Diana next demonstrated a tied
bouquet of flowers of different
heights. Starting with a tall chrysanthemum in the middle, she held
the bouquet in her hand and added
snapdragon flowers, seeded eucalyptus berries, pittosporum and ruscus
greenery, reducing the height as she
went along. The result was a free
form, somewhat wild effect: viewed
from the top, it was balanced overall
and as it was rotated, it looked pleasing. She clipped leaves that might dip
showed featured aluminum-foil
loaf trays filled with ruscus and
linked with large paper clips. Fun
items were added: hot peppers and
key limes on skewers; bunches of
grapes sprayed with gold; then small
green mums and pittosporum leaves
sprayed gold. The result, a low
display with splashes of red and gold
amidst the greenery, was ready to
highlight a dining table.
The next meeting of the Old Ottawa South Garden Club will be on
Tuesday 14 January at 7.00 pm at
the Old Ottawa South Community
Centre (The Firehall), 260 Sunnyside
Avenue. Josie Pazdzior will take
members on an armchair tour of four
gardens in Great Britain, and will
comment on the plants and garden
elements that she found of particular
interest. Gardens will include Kew
and the Edinburgh Royal Botanic
gardens.
THE OSCAR
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Page 23
JANUARY 2014
ABBOTSFORD AT THE GLEBE CENTRE
The 38th Annual Bazaar was a Great Success!
By Pat Goyeche
Our volunteers gave their
time and the wonderful local
merchants their unique goods
and services. Scotiabank
generously sponsored the
event and provided a gang
of enthusiastic employees
who expertly counted, and
accounted for, our profits.
Ottawa Police Services
kept us safe and secure
during the event. Chartwell
Retirement Residences,
Kettlemans, Lord Lansdowne, Starbucks in the Glebe
and McKeens Metro kept our
volunteers fed and ready for
the onslaught of customers.
We are truly surrounded by
an army of caring community
folk... thank you!
We also count on our greater community of merchants
in Old Ottawa South and The
Glebe who donated desirable
items and gift certificates to
our Merchants’ Silent Auction.
As many of you will know
this annual bazaar is a labour
of love for the members, volunteers, friends, family mem-
bers and staff at Abbotsford.
The repeated success of the
event is one hundred percent
thanks to the help and hard
work of all these folks. We
have had “elves” working
in the depths of Abbotsford
since the spring – sorting,
polishing, pricing and packing our treasures.
Abbotsford is the community side of The Glebe
Centre. All of our volunteers,
clients and members come
from the surrounding neighbourhoods and use Abbotsford and its services to keep
fit, keep connected, keep
creative and keep on living in
their own homes.
Abbotsford at The Glebe
Centre receives about fifty
percent of its funding from
the government. This means
that client fees and fundraising events are essential to
keeping the programs going.
The New Year will bring
new resolutions and growth
opportunities to Abbotsford.
Growth is what we hope to
achieve in the New Year so
expect new programs to keep
you fit and challenged.
Some highlights to look for
SOUTHMINSTER
Tales of Winter
By Paige
Raymond Kovach
Southside children loved
to hear and create tales of
winter in November and
December.
The children in the
School Age Recreation
Program wrote, designed
and starred in their own
play called the Magical
Christmas. Santa and his
elves need help delivering
presents so they sprinkle
magic dust on farmyard
sheep to help Rudolph pull
the sleigh. Mayhem ensues
when Santa mysteriously
gets lost so the elves, Rudolph, and the sheep have
to find him to save Christmas. Thankfully Santa was
just taking a nap in the
barn. Parents and children
in the Kinders program
were treated to a staging of
the play in mid-December.
Children in the Nursery
School wanted to know
how different animals
spend the winter. Talk
eventually turned to bears
and the two classes decided
to hold a Teddy Bear Picnic. The children all wore
their PJs and brought along
their favourite bear to share
the morning at Southside.
To celebrate the children in
Sharon’s class ate porridge
with honey and raisins,
while the children in Cindy
and Krystal’s class had
honey on toast and oranges.
The Senior Kinders
group explored wildlife
across the globe. First
they learned about tigers
on the African savannah,
painted a mural depicting
their habitat, and in true
Halloween spirit, some
tigers even wore costumes.
Then they moved on to
the ocean. After looking
through resource books
for inspiration, they made
sea creatures to decorate the windows of their
classroom. Now they are
interested in going back in
time to discover dinosaurs.
in the 2014 Winter Program
Guide includes a new Muscle
Toning Level 2 to round out
your fitness week. This class
offers another opportunity to
help you retain the strength,
balance and flexibility you
need to live a safe and
healthy life.
Our new Chair Yoga is
tailored to participants who
have limited mobility or who
want a gentle yoga class.
In this class poses are done
seated in a chair and standing using a chair for support.
Each class will include a
combination of stretching and breathing exercises
designed to relieve stress and
increase mobility, flexibility
and balance.
We have yet another new
experience for those who
want to explore different and
complimentary ways to keep
fit. This term we will have
a four-week introduction
to a modified Yang Tai-Chi
set and exercises specially
adapted to accommodate
health restrictions. Performed
either standing or sitting, the
aim is to regain your health.
We are offering an Art
Stayed tuned to find out
what they find!
Southside would like
to extend a further thanks
to all those who donated
generously to the mitten, hat and glove drive
for York Street Public
School. Your generosity
helped keep some York
Street students warmer
for winter play. Eric
Welch, a primary teacher
there, distributed the
warm accessories to York
Street Public School students before the holidays.
If you are looking for
a creative and dynamic
program for your grade 1 to
3 child, please contact the
Southside Office. There are
still spaces available in the
School Age Recreation Program for this school year,
www.southsidepreschool.ca
or 613-730-5819.
Southside reopens on
January 6, 2014. We look
forward to hearing about
your holidays then.
See “The OSCAR” online at
www.oldottawasouth.ca
PHOTO BY PATRICIA GOYECHE
Class with Acrylics this term.
Patrice Stanley will be teaching technique to both beginners and those who have
been “dabbling” for years.
Everyone will grow and learn
this winter.
Finally we will be offering a Bridge Class for both
beginners and “rusty” bridge
players who need go back
to the basics and regain
their confidence and finesse.
Bridge is food for the brain!
We at Abbotsford look
forward to the New Year
with great anticipation and
look back at our year and the
Annual 2013 Bazaar with
great affection. Pick up your
Winter Program Guide at Abbotsford at The Glebe Centre
(950 Bank Street).
Southside’s After School Recreation performing their Magical
Christmas.
PHOTO BY LISA BOWKA
Page 24
THE OSCAR
FILM REVIEWS
Two Films with Golden Globe
Award nominated Performances
The Dallas Buyers Club
By Tony Wohlfarth
This month, we focus on two exceptional films - both in the “must
see” category in advance of the 2014
Oscar Award Ceremonies slated
for March 2, 2014. Both films had
their world premieres at the Toronto
l
JANUARY 2014
International Film Festival (TIFF) in
September.
The Dallas Buyers Club
In 1985, as AIDS ravaged through
the gay community, an electrician
by the name of Ron Woodroof becomes one of its victims. Woodroof
(played by Mathew McConaughey)
is a classic Texas cowboy, a died-inthe wool homophobe and petty thief
who refuses to accept his doctor’s
diagnosis that he has thirty days
to live. In hospital, Woodroof is
assigned to an AZT control group,
where he meets a transvestite by the
name of Rayon (played by Jared
Leto) who shares a similar fate. At
first, Woodroof steals AZT from the
hospital’s pharmacy and visits an
unlicensed Mexican doctor seeking
alternative treatments.
This unlikely duo overcome interpersonal differences and become
business partners to form the Dallas
Buyers Club. They share nothing
in common, save a healthy skepticism of drug trials. Yet they manage
to work together to organize AIDS
patients in Dallas to seek more effective medications in Mexico, Japan,
and Canada. Based on a true story,
the film is directed by Canadian JeanMarc Vallée.
McConaughey’s performance is
truly remarkable. Reportedly, the
44 year-old Texan lost 40 lbs. for
this role (one-quarter of his body
mass) and, at times, appears gaunt on
screen. Leto, a former musician, also
lost a lot of weight for this role. The
fact that Leto plays a bi-sexual role
contributes to the allure.
The larger theme of The Dallas
Buyers Club is a stunning critique of
the FDA and government’s response
to the AIDS epidemic. Strong performances by both actors attracted best
acting nominations for the Golden
Globe Awards (The award winners
will be announced on January 12,
2014.)
August: Osage County
An aging couple living comfortably
in rural Oklahoma opens August:
Osage County, the latest film role
starring the exceptionally talented
Meryl Streep.
Streep plays Violet Weston, an
aging family matriarch who loses
her husband in the opening scenes in
what appears to be a tragic accident.
As her three daughters arrive to help
search for and then mourn his passing, the table is set for a dark family
reunion full of intrigue, tension, and
drama. The highlight of which features an on-screen clash of legendary
proportions between Violet and her
daughter Barbara (Julia Roberts).
Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning play (of the same name) written
by Tracy Letts, the tension builds
towards a 20 minute family dinner
scene where Violet holds all the cards
and knows when to play them.
Filmed on location in Osage
County in Northern Oklahoma, the
cinematography captures both the
vastness and the scorching heat and
unstable weather found during the
summer in the rural plains states.
The film (directed by John Wells)
reveals a Meryl Streep we have
hitherto not seen in her long, celebrated career. Character flaws, from
smoking to alcohol and drug addictions abound as secrets and truths
are revealed. At age 64, Streep was
reportedly reluctant to take on this
role. The role she plays as Violet
goes from flawed to repugnant.
Streep delivers a remarkable performance, worthy of her 4th Oscar for
best actress in a leading role.
Robert’s performance is also
remarkable. She has been nominated
for a Golden Globe Awards as the
best supporting actress, and is the
odds-on favourite. This is the best
we have seen from Roberts, since
her 2001 Academy Award winning
performance in Erin Brockovich.
Wells turned to Tracy Letts to write
the screenplay, and the result is a
very strong script, which draws the
audience into the drama.
August: Osage County
The Dallas Buyers Club was
released on November 18 and is currently screening in first-run theatres
in Ottawa. The running time is 117
minutes. August: Osage County was
released on December 25 and is also
currently screening in Ottawa. The
running time is 121 minutes.
Tony Wohlfarth is an Ottawa-based
freelance film writer and critic. He
covered the Toronto International
Film Festival for The Oscar and can
be reached at tonywohlfarth@gmail.
com
THE OSCAR
l
Page 25
JANUARY 2014
COMPUTER TRICKS AND TIPS
Macintosh vs Windows Revisited
By Malcolm
and John Harding
‘Tis the season, apparently, for a
lot of people to be thinking about
replacing their older computers. At
this particular time there seem to be
a few more reasons than usual for
people to be thinking about making a
switch from Microsoft Windows to a
Macintosh and so we’re getting a lot
of questions on that subject.
Yes, people who have Macintoshes
do love their Macs. It’s borderline
fanatic and we can easily understand
it. The design of Mac machines is
always very distinctive and while we
think it’s a bit of a stretch to call a
computer “sexy,” we’d have to admit
that description probably comes
closer to a Mac than any of the competitors.
The Macintosh Operating System
(OS) has evolved pretty gradually
through the generations, in contrast
to Windows, which underwent a very
radical reinvention last year. Windows 8 (and now 8.1) has not turned
out to be the inscrutable and insurmountable bogeyman that everyone
feared a year ago, but it does come
with a learning curve, and that is not
everyone’s cup of tea. Actually, we
don’t think that the transition from
Windows XP to 8.1 is likely to be
harder than XP to Mac.
Your computer community is an
important factor in this decision. If
you can call a friend for a word of
advice about what has worked for
them, or what software or device to
buy, that is a very valuable resource.
If lots of your friends have Macs,
then there’s a better chance that you
will be more comfortable with one
too.
We have often mentioned here in
the past that the Mac owners have a
very legitimate right to be positively
smug about viruses. In a nutshell,
viruses are so rare as to be almost
a non-subject in the world of Mac.
This is not due to some sort of magic
invulnerability, but just simply the
fact that the creeps who create viruses want the biggest bang for their
time, and so they naturally target
Windows computers, at 90% of the
computer population, instead of the
Macs at about 8%.
Software and data compatibility are
no longer issues for someone who
is considering a switch. There might
Carleton University Picks Fight With
Gardeners, Arrests Students
By Grant MacNeil,
President, Graduate Students
Association-Carleton Students received a lesson in bullying
when senior management at Carleton
University cut the locks to Kitigànensag, the GSA-Carleton Community
Garden, and ordered it dismantled
without students’ knowledge. Senior
management then violated community
members’ freedom of expression by
arresting them for distributing ‘Save
the Garden’ leaflets.
The administration indicated the
garden needed to move, so the GSA
proposed a Memorandum of Understanding to outline the process.
Instead of responding to that proposal
and engaging good-faith discussions,
the senior management decided to
unilaterally break into the garden and
take it apart.
Kitigànensag, named by Algonquin
elders, has been a source of pride
for the whole Carleton community,
and especially for the many volunteers who built it and the gardeners
who harvested the first crop this past
summer. The garden is an excellent
example of students, staff and faculty
coming together to create something
sustainable, recreational, educational
and accessible to the whole community.
“The decision to rip up the garden
without notice and the arrest of peaceful protestors raises serious questions
about senior management’s approach
to the student experience and respect
for the Carleton community,” said
Justine De Jaegher, Vice-President Finance. “When students heard this was
happening, they came to the garden
in droves and managed to stop it. We
still can’t believe senior management
had the audacity to try this.”
Many members of the Carleton
community view the senior management’s handling of the community
garden and the subsequent arrests of
campus community members as consistent with an aggressive approach
to independent student-run campus
initiatives. Senior management is
also supporting the withholding of
student levy money to Carleton’s Ontario Public Interest Research Group
(OPIRG), funds to which the campus student organization is legally
entitled.
The garden is to be replaced by
a private, for-profit residence. The
Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body of the university,
has yet to approve the construction of
the proposed for-profit residence.
www.oldottawasouth.ca
still be a few publishers that don’t
offer a Mac version of their Windows
titles and vice versa, but this is now
pretty rare and there usually seems
to be a satisfactory alternative. The
other good news is that data created
on one platform can almost always
be used without difficulty on the
other.
Cost is probably the most important factor for most consumers. Macs
are considerably more expensive
and the difference can be up to two
to three times as much as Windows
computers with approximately equivalent specifications. Mac believers
would argue that their computers
have a better reliability record, and
most studies would agree that this is
marginally the case. A cheeky note
in a PC World review on this subject
counters that just because a Rolls
Royce might be the most reliable car
doesn’t mean that we all should rush
out and buy one.
C’mon, now; you didn’t seriously
expect us to make this decision for
you, did you?
Have a look at our blog, at www.
compuhomeottawa.wordpress.com
for an archive of our columns and
other tech-related articles. There is
a space right after each item for you
to make comments and suggestions,
and ask questions. You can even sign
up for automatic updates. We hope
you will have a look at our blog soon
or call us at 613-731-5954 to share
your opinions and suggest subjects
for future columns.
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Page 26
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
TASTY TIDBITS FROM TRILLIUM BAKERY
What’s the Buzz?
By Jocelyn LeRoy
Reflections on our Past Year
Dear readers and customers: Christmas is over. We’re supposed to be on
holidays. Since we’re not on a sunny
beach, let’s instead sink into a big
comfy chair, pull up a cozy blanket
and breathe out a long sigh. Relax.
Reflect.
A candle glows beside me. As I
watch the flickering flame, my mind
fills with visions of hundreds of
sugarplums dancing in the bakery
kitchen – the staggering quantities of
products we shaped, baked, decorated, sprinkled with rum, and sold.
Memories of rolling out pastry, rum
balls, baking tourtieres are all becoming a blur.
Trillium’s customers have heartwarming words of appreciation,
Christmas and New Year’s best wishes. And I remember quirky orders for
unique creations. Such as chicken pot
pie without the chicken, and a single
cake for 600 people, seven feet wide.
Really! It wouldn’t fit into the elevator. Thank goodness we asked for the
measurements before we committed
to preparation.
Trillium Recipé
Old-fashioned Split Pea Soup
Ingredients
5 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup split peas
1 carrot, diced
How does our past year compare to
all our others? Certainly December
2012 was a hoot, with us moving two
weeks before Christmas, building
a new flower shop and bakery, and
creating our sparkling glass-walled
dream kitchen. Our first year at
1181 Bank St. has been rewarding,
although some of our customers are
still wistful when recalling “their”
pleasant haven of cookies and sticky
buns. They tell us they miss the intimate (cramped) space and the warm
atmosphere (overheated by ovens).
But all should rest assured: the address may be different, but we’re still
totally Trillium. And we even brought
along the squeaky screen door; it’s
resting in our wide front window.
Keeping up with Trends
Now, I’m drifting back in time,
remembering all the things we’ve
done to stay on top of the health
trends. Vegetarian, vegan, high-carb,
low-carb, no carb. High-protein, lowprotein. Himalayan, Celtic, Dead Sea
Salt. No salt. Dairy-free, wheat-free,
and the big one: gluten-free. Check!
Honey was in, then out, then in. I
wonder if outside of Ottawa as many
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
½ tsp. salt
½ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup small pasta of your choice
Minced parsley
Pepper to taste
January Special
people pay as much attention and
spend as much time trying to apply
all the dietary adjustments to their
daily routines. Toronto or Seattle,
maybe. Yet, over the years, Trillium
has made many changes to make our
bread and goodies “legal” for our
customers with restricted diets.
Some of you have rebelled and
wanted cheese-bread and croissants
(naughty treats for sure) with bad
fats and sugars. Remember “White
Death?” Some of you have eaten
our Hikers’ Bread on – yes – hikes.
Campers have munched on our Black
Russian bread and have testified to
its ability to survive long canoe trips
and being squashed into backpacks.
Your trips make me long for sapphire
lakes… I’m dreaming now…
More Buzzwords
Fibre, organic, non-GMO, natural,
local. Trillium has always championed these. But dates grow in spots
more than 100 miles away from here.
Years ago, I opened a 50-lb box of
Iranian dates. As always, I poked
through the contents with a big strong
knife to loosen the clump. Ping! My
knife collided with a large darning
Directions
Combine the first five
ingredients in a large saucepan.
Bring to boil under low heat.
Simmer for 2 hours, stirring
occasionally.
Add pasta. Cover and simmer 15
minutes more.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
needle, dead centre. Nothing like this
has ever happened since.
We have shopped for organic
“backyard” apples and veggies from
local markets. Upper Canada Village
craftsmen have made us authentic
tin breadpans. And what could be
more local than the oven we found on
Bank St., having been tossed curbside by a nearby restaurateur. It’s still
going strong.
These days people are eating
quinoa. Some confess they’re getting
quinoa’d out. But it is the latest darling of popular high-protein grains.
My grandson ate it every day in Peru
last summer; it got him to the top of
Machu Picchu!
Diets. Un-diets. Sugar highs. Sugar
lows. Sugar blues (remember them?).
Wheatbelly. Grain brain. What will
the new trends be? Trillium will be
ready. We’ll be right on it. We’ll
make it, bake it, love it, keep it. For
34 years we’ve been baking buzzwords, and we’ll continue to do so.
So that’s it for my cozy-chair
reflections: we love you and good
night.
Serve in deep bowls and garnish
with parsley.
Makes four servings. Double
the recipe and freeze for another
meal. Excellent with Trillium’s
Mediterranean Loaf and Upper
Canada Old-fashioned breads.
THE OSCAR
l
Page 27
JANUARY 2014
SECOND THOUGHTS
Homeland Insecurity
By Richard Ostrofsky
Last month I wrote about the ‘striking continuities’ of Russian history,
the land my father’s family came
from, and where he grew up. This
month I want to do the same for the
United States, where I was born and
raised – and where I went to school
until I came to Canada as a young
adult, to escape the draft and the
Vietnam war. In US history, I can see
four themes that have been definitive
for the nation’s character. There is a
national sense of moral superiority,
a national sense of entitlement, and
a pervasive contempt for ‘egghead
intellectuals’ (like myself) who might
question these national myths. And
along with these three overt traits, as
we’ll see, there has been a subtext of
guilt and denial. As with Russia, the
roots of these national traits also go
back hundreds of years – almost to
the beginnings of English colonization in the New World (at Roanoke
Island, off the coast of what is now
North Carolina) in 1585. Let us consider them in turn.
Where the Spanish came to the
New World looking for gold at first,
and where the French came looking
for furs, the English came mostly
looking for land and for religious
freedom. The northern states especially came to see their society as
a shining “city upon a hill,” after a
sermon preached by John Winthrop
to the future colonists of Massachusets Bay, before their ship reached
its shores. Their new world was
supposed to be free from the sins
and vices of the old. It was a land of
opportunity where immigrants could
forget their past encumbrances and
make a fresh start. The hardships they
had endured as pioneers, made them
feel heroic. Forgetting their treatment
of the native peoples and the reliance
of Southern states on Negro slavery,
with their English political institutions, they could feel moral. There
was land and wealth for the taking,
and no room for doubts of their entitlement. There was a ‘manifest destiny’ to take possession of the whole
continent, of the whole hemisphere.
When they reached the Pacific ocean,
they saw no reason to stop.
With all this opportunity, there was
danger. On the frontier, the Indians
were dangerous. In the South, there
was the fear of slave revolts. Until the
mid 19th century, there was a fear of
European powers – of the Spanish,
the French and, above all, the British, still the pre-eminent naval power,
still in control of a very long northern
frontier, who just might seek to undo
the results of that recent War of Independence, and even the settlement
of 1812. As late as 1861, there was a
very real possibility that Britain, with
its appetite for cotton, might enter the
Civil War on the Confederate side.
With all the wealth just lying there
for anyone sufficiently bold, unscrupulous and hard-working, with all the
threats and the opportunities, there
was little need for artists and intellectuals. Though there were already
world-class thinkers in the US by
late 18th or early 19th century – Ben
Franklin, John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson, to mention just three outstanding examples – even these men
are more known for what they did
than for what they thought. In May of
1780, well before the War of Independence had ended, John Adams
explained the situation memorably: “I
must study Politicks and War that my
sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons
ought to study Mathematicks and
Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation,
Commerce and Agriculture, in order
to give their Children a right to study
Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.” The arts and pure thought
would arrive in due course. For at
least two generations, practical studies had to be of higher priority. Lesser
minds would put it more crudely: “If
you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?”
In these terms, the contempt for intellectuals is understandable. Why the
hostility? Here the economist Thomas
Sowell has argued that “American
anti-intellectualism can be traced to
the early Colonial era, and that wariness of the educated upper-classes is
understandable given that America
was built, in large part, by people
fleeing persecution and brutality at
the hands of the educated upper classes. . . From its colonial beginnings,
American society was a “decapitated”
society—largely lacking the topmost
social layers of European society.
Except for some younger sons, the
highest elites and the titled aristocracies had little reason to risk their lives
crossing the Atlantic and then face
the perils of pioneering. Most of the
white population of colonial America
arrived as indentured servants; most
of the black people were brought or
bred as slaves. Later waves of immigrants were disproportionately peasants and proletarians, even when they
came from the relatively advanced
countries of Western Europe. The rise
of American society to pre-eminence
as an economic, political and military power was thus the triumph of
the common man and a slap across
the face to the presumptions of the
arrogant, whether an elite of blood or
books.”
ceptance at the breast he has most utFinally, there is a subtext of guilt:
terly offended”. Having read Fiedler’s
guilt that cannot be expiated nor
essay, it is no longer possible to think
even consciously acknowleged by
of these classics with a straight face.
the mainstream culture. DespoliaI have just finished watching a fivetion of the continent, destruction of
hour series of documentaries, availthe aboriginal cultures, the history of
able on YouTube (search there for
slavery and racial discrimination, the
the series title, Counterintelligence),
ancient policy of gathering wealth
about the history of US surveillance
at home by exporting poverty and
and covert action programs under
drudgery to less fortunate nations,
the CIA and all its similar agencies.
keeping repressive regimes in power
to get the nation’s fuel, raw materials It doesn’t show much that I can’t
remember personally, from reading
and every other commodity on the
newspapers over the last fifty years,
most favorable terms possible – such
and reading between the lines as
evils scarcely figure in the country’s
needed. But in one concentrated dose,
politics, and are rarely even menthe impact of the whole series is chilltioned. But they will not go away;
ing, and the four traits described here
and in the unconscious, they linger.
are fully documented. In the long
In 1948, Leslie Fiedler published a
run they are clearly self-defeating,
devastating essay, Come Back to the
in the short run they are killing lots
Raft Ag’in, Huck Honey!, arguing
of people, and corrupting the whole
that the covert theme of American
world as they do so.
literature has been a dream of recipReading over this piece before I
rocated homoerotic love between a
send
it, it strikes me as excessively
white man and colored man. His three
bitter. There is, indeed, another side
great examples are the relationship
to the story that I want to acknowlof Natty Bumpo and Chingachgook
edge before I close. There has also
in The Last of the Mohicans, that
been plenty of evil in the rest of the
of Ishmael and Queequeg in Moby
world, and plenty of good from the
Dick, that of Huck and Nigger Jim
United States. True. But there is this
(“lying side by side on a raft born by
dark side too that the world should
the endless river toward an imposbe aware of, and that the US needs to
sible escape”) in Huckleberry Finn.
acknowledge and come to terms with
The heart of the American dream,
somehow.
Fiedler shows, is a regressive,
“implacable nostalgia for the infanRichard Ostrofsky’s Second
tile,” the (white) American dream of
Thoughts
bookstore was a hub of
boyhood, of “good clean fun” and
conversation
and contemplation in
“self-congratulatory buddy-buddiness. “Our dark-skinned beloved will Old Ottawa South for many years. He
continues to contribute to the OStake us in ... when we have been cut
CAR from afar and would welcome
off, or have cut ourselves off, from
all others, without rancor or the insult feedback or conversation about his
articles at [email protected].
of forgiveness. He will fold us in
Further essays and ruminations can
his arms saying, “Honey” ... he will
be found at www.secthoughts.com.
comfort us, as if our offence against
him were long ago remitted, were never truly real.
The white American, says
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Phone: 613-567-4808 Fax: 613-567-5261
www.sueravenphysio.com
Page 28
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
CARLETON SPORTS
Not Just Basketball: Carleton Athletes Do Well in Other Sports
By Joe Scanlon
With all the attention given to Carleton men’s basketball – which has
won the Canadian Interuniversity
Sport (CIS) men’s championship nine
times in the past 11 years – it’s easy
to overlook other Carleton sports.
Yet this fall Carleton produced a
Canadian champion in rowing, an
Ontario University Athletics (OUA)
championship in another sport and
a team which did well enough at the
OUA championships to qualify for
the Canadian championships.
The rowing champion is Matthew
Fournier.
The provincial champions are the
men’s water polo team.
The team that qualified for the CIS
championships is the women’s golf
team.
Rowing
Carleton rower Matthew Fournier
won the Canadian lightweight singles
championship in a meet in Montreal
– an achievement he hopes will give
him a chance to become a member of
Canada’s national team and – perhaps – to eventually qualify for the
Olympics.
Three members of the national
under-23 team – a team Fournier was
not selected for – were in the race he
won. He said his win was sweeter
because of that. “It felt good because
there were a lot of national team
people in the race, so I got to prove
I’m right up there with them and
I’m the same speed as some of the
national guys.”
Fournier’s skills do not come by
chance. The Carleton coach – and
Fournier’s long-time coach – is his
father, Ed Fournier.
Two other Carleton teams also
performed well.
The heavy men’s eight with Luc
Baudouin, Dane Petersen, Bruce
Laurich, Ian Smith, Luke Teeft, Mike
Sullivan, Devon Sutherland, Nick
Grondin and coxswain Matt Noel
won the B final as did the women’s
lightweight double of Alyssa Pastic
and Anna Currie.
Water Polo
Recently, Carleton men and
women – along with the University
of Toronto – have dominated Ontario
university water polo; and this year
was no different.
In the OUA championships at
Toronto, the men defeated McMaster
13-2, York 16-7 and Western 8-3 to
reach the gold medal final. In that
final they defeated Toronto 7-6.
Toronto actually led 2-0 after one
period and 4-2 after two but in the
third period Carleton – with goals
by Rodrigo Rojas, Dusan Boskovic
and Ognjen Gutovic – tied the score
at 5-5. In the fourth and final period, Louis-Philipe Brousseau gave
Carleton a 6-5 lead with 4:59 to go
but Emre Tali scored for Toronto one
minute later to tie it at six. Twentytwo seconds after that Boskovic got
his second goal for Carleton. Neither
team scored in the remaining three
and one-half minutes.
Boskovic was named the OUA
championship most valuable player.
Ravens’ netminder Benjamin Bouwer
was named most valuable goalie and
Carleton’s coach, Zoltan Csepregi
was named coach of the year. Both
Boskovic and Bouwer were also
named OUA all-stars.
The women also reached the gold
medal game by defeating Queen’s
13-7 and Ottawa 9-4 but playing in
Toronto they lost in the final 10-4 to
the University of Toronto. Carleton
and Toronto have shared the past
seven Ontario University Athletics
(OUA) women’s water polo championships with Carleton finishing second in 2011 but winning last season.
In the women’s final, Toronto took
a 2-1 lead in the first period, were up
5-3 after two and scored two unanswered goals in the third period to
take a 7-3 lead. Toronto’s Stephanie
Watson proved unstoppable: she
scored once in the second period,
once in the third twice in the fourth.
Meaghan Broddy scored two of Carleton’s four goals.
Women’s Golf
Carleton’s women’s golf team
finished fourth in the OUA championships – good enough to qualify
the team for the Canadian championships next spring in Winnipeg. Two
Carleton team members -- Samantha
Coates and Sheila McKeen – were
named second team all-stars. Coates
shot 82-77 (159) to finish fifth and
McKeen finished three shots behind
(162) to finish eighth. The team is
coached by Gail Blake, former associate director of athletics.
Major Sports on Hold
The major team sports – basketball
and hockey – both take a breather
from regular season competition over
the holidays but they all swing into
action again in January.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s team who ranked number one in Canada and are defending
CIS champions are still undefeated
this season against Canadian university opposition. They swept their
eight games against teams in the
OUA West then dumped # 2 – the
University of Ottawa – 94-73 before
a sell-out crowd of 1,600 at Carleton.
The men were named as November
team of the month in OUA athletics.
The Ravens are on the road in early
January but return for five games in
eight days including a return match
with Ottawa U – this one at the
Canadian Tire Centre – on Tuesday,
January 21st.
The ravens are led by two broth-
ers, Philip and Thomas Scrubb and
by Tyson Hinz, now in his fourth and
final season with the male Ravens.
Philip Scrubb is the team’s top scorer
– he averages 20.2 points per game.
Thomas Scrubb is the top rebounder
– 8.1 rebounds a game – and Hinz is
a three way threat. He is second high
in scoring – 14.2 a game, the team’s
best three-point shooter and second
only to Thomas Scrubb in rebounding. He is also third – behind the two
Scrubb’s – in assists, a rare achievement for someone who usually plays
under the basket.
The ravens host the CIS championships at the Canadian Tire Centre in
March, which guarantees them a spot
no matter how they finish in the regular season and OUA playoffs. But
when they have been host they have
always qualified on merit allowing
another Ontario team to be given the
slot reserved for the host team.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball team appeared in a building mode with seven
rookies in the line-up, an appearance
that should have been strengthened
when Tauralee Tenn, a graduate student with US university experience,
decided basketball was too demanding and when their only experienced
inside player, Lindsey Suprunchuk
was injured, was unable to finish
a game against Brock and has not
played since.
So much for appearances!
With one-third of the season over
the women are tied for first with the
University of Ottawa, after defeating
Ottawa 60-55 in the final game of the
fall regular season.
During their pre-season and regular
season schedule, they have had some
one-sided losses but they have also
defeated four top 10 teams -- # 2
Windsor, # 7 McGill, # 7 Brock (the
rankings shown are what the team
was ranked when they played Carleton) and # 8 Ottawa.
Two of the rookies – McKenzie
Sigurdson and Heather Lindsay –
have emerged as stars. Sigurdson is
the starting point guard which means
she runs the offence, a demanding
task for even an experienced player.
Lindsay at 6’3” having to take over
from the injured Suprunchuk is supposed to take care of rebounding.
She has done that: she is second in
rebounding to Lindsay Shotbolt and
is third in scoring behind Elizabeth
Roach, the team’s only senior and
Shotbolt, the team’s only other injured returnee. Lindsay led the team
in both scoring and rebounding in
the game against Ottawa and did the
same the week before in Carleton’s
61-46 win over Waterloo.
Men’s Hockey
The men’s hockey team is in sixth
place – just half way up or down
(whichever you prefer) in an 11-team
league. They have a number of new
players with Junior A experience
and it takes time for these players to
recognize that university hockey is
a much higher level of hockey than
Junior A. While the superstars – the
Bobby Orr’s and Sydney Crosby’s –
have moved on into pro hockey, the
players who remain – and decide to
go to university – are older and more
experienced that players coming out
of Junior A. Junior players average
around age 18. University players
average around 22 to 23. That is a
major difference as well in physical
development.
The men swing back into action
on Sunday, December 29th with a
home game against the University of
Toronto.
Women’s Hockey
The women’s hockey team continues to struggle. It opened the season
with a win but since then has had
10 straight losses three of them in
overtime. It is in last place in the
five team Réseau du sport étudiant
du Québec (RSEQ) women’s hockey
league, one point behind Concordia,
the only team it has defeated. In the
final regular season game before
the Christmas break, the women
scored two goals in the first couple of
minutes and added a third before the
University of Ottawa replied with
three straight goals and went on to
win in a shoot-out.
January Schedule
Women’s and Men’s Basketball
Friday and Saturday, January 17
and 18 – Ryerson and Toronto at
Carleton
Tuesday, January 21 – Carleton
plays Ottawa at Canadian Tire Centre
Friday, January 24 and 25 –
Queen’s and York at Carleton
(The women play at six p.m., the
men about eight p.m.)
Women’s Hockey
Saturday, January 11 – 2 p.m. –
McGill at Carleton
Saturday, January 18 – 2 p.m. McGill at Carleton
Sunday, January 19 – 2 p.m. – Concordia at Carleton
Men’s Hockey
Friday, January 3 – 7 p.m. – McGill
at Carleton
Saturday, January 4 – 7 p.m. – Ottawa at Carleton
Saturday, January 11 – 7 p.m. –
Royal Military College at Carleton
Friday, January 24 – 7 p.m. –
Queen’s at Carleton
Saturday, January 25 – 7 p.m. –
University of Ontario Institute of
Technology at Carleton
THE OSCAR
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Page 29
JANUARY 2014
CUSA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
A Holiday Message from the Carleton University
Students’ Association
By Alexander Golovko,
CUSA President
Carleton University is home to close
to 27,000 students and it is my pleasure as the President of the Carleton
University Students’ Association to
represent a significant portion of this
exceptional group for a second term
in a row.
The last eight months have been
a busy time for CUSA as we continue to work hard to deliver on a
better Carleton for all students and
the Carleton community. This year’s
executive team is a wonderful mix
of experience and leadership. The
executive is made up of myself,
Folarin Odunayo - Vice President
Finance, Gina Parker - Vice President
Student Issues, Reda Zarrug - Vice
President Student Services, Hayley
Dobson - Vice President Student Life
and Maher Jebara - Vice President
Internal. We are working tirelessly to
ensure that CUSA represents students
proudly to the greater Carleton community.
Our focus this year, is to reconnect
with the greater City of Ottawa community and show our city just what
amazing talents Carleton University
students have to offer!
CUSA is Taking the Lead on Affordable Education
This past month CUSA, in collaboration with Carleton University, have
created the CUSA Bursary Fund. The
Fund will help fund a minimum of
ten students every year for as long
as Carleton exists. Recipients of the
bursary must have demonstrated
financial need along with experience
working with the Carleton community. The $212,000 contribution
represents one of the largest student
led donations to a university financial
support fund. It is a demonstration
of CUSA’s continuing desire to be
leaders amongst student associations
across Canada and it shows our commitment to helping reduce the cost of
post-secondary education.
CUSA Is Helping Student Entrepreneurs
In the new year, under the leadership of Folarin Odunayo, Vice President Finance, CUSA will be launching a Start Up Incubator program
on our campus aiming to develop
and help local student entrepreneurs
achieve their goals in business. This
program will help drive the entrepreneurial spirit in the community and
build local talent. Old Ottawa South
is home to many great entrepreneurs
and innovators and we would love if
in the coming months some of them
would share their stories and experiences with future generations of
leaders, as well as help develop and
foster a unique and exciting environment of innovation for students and
the community at large.
CUSA Is Lobbying for Affordable
Transit
CUSA is working hard to make
education affordable for everyone
regardless of age. That is why we are
working to eliminate the current age
cap imposed on student bus passes.
As it stands right now, only students under the age of 19 qualify for
student bus passes. This means for
the thousands of part time students
who do not qualify for the U-Pass
are left stranded and are forced to
pay standard adult rates. As a result
of this policy, CUSA has partnered
together with all the other student associations across the City of Ottawa
to lobby our City Council to reverse
this decision. We have received sup-
port from many in the community,
including our own Councillor David
Chernushenko. As always, we need
and appreciate your support so please
contact myself or Gina Parker, Vice
President Student Issues, and more
importantly, get in touch with your
city councillor.
It is initiatives like these that
make me proud to say that I am the
President of the Carleton University Students’ Association but more
importantly that I am a member of
our community. We are a diverse and
hard working group that are always
striving to be active in the community so that we can highlight the
amazing work done by our students.
On behalf of CUSA I would like to
wish you a happy and safe holidays
and New Year! If you have questions,
comments or require more information please contact me at 613-5206688 ext 1603, pres@cusaonline.
ca.or @alexandrgolovko
THE CARLETON CORNER
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne
was at Carleton University on Dec. 5
to officially open the newly-renovated and expanded MacOdrum Library.
The Government of Ontario contributed $16 million to the $27-million
project. Premier Wynne was joined
by Minister of Labour Yasir Naqvi,
as well as Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson
for the official ceremony. The project,
which began two years ago, includes
34,700 square feet of renovations.
The west expansion is a two-storey
addition of 45,700 square feet, and
the east addition is five storeys totalling 28,500 square feet. The amount
of student seating has also doubled
and there are now 2,000 seats.
Recently, the library’s archives
and research collections (ARC)
obtained a prestigious new addition
donated by former prime minister
Joe Clark and his wife, Maureen
McTeer. Through hundreds of pages
of speeches, campaign materials, and
radio and television interviews, the
collections they donated will shed
new light on a variety of topics – including women’s rights, politics, and
major Canadian historical events like
the Charlottetown Accord. McTeer
and Clark, who received honorary
degrees from Carleton University in
2010, donated the collection in late
2013.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, Carleton
University celebrated the opening of
Carleton Entrepreneurs, a campuswide venture accelerator that will
help Carleton students and recent
graduates from all faculties and
program levels to launch and grow
successful businesses. The goal for
each venture in the accelerator is to
generate $1 million in three years
by creating six or more jobs in the
region. The Carleton Entrepreneurs
accelerator will help students and
recent graduates turn their ideas into
successful ventures by providing
them with training, knowledge, mentorship and support. It will achieve
this by helping these entrepreneurs
to:
•
•
•
•
Develop business models that are
stronger than their competitors’;
Reduce the risk of globalizing
their ventures early and rapidly;
Significantly reduce the time to
become profitable by taking advantage of the training, mentorship and networking opportunities available; and
Develop clear and compelling
value propositions and present
them effectively to attract the
resources they require
Premier Wynne at the grand opening of the newly renovated and expanded
MacOdrum Library at Carleton University. PHOTO BY THE PREMIER’S OFFICE
As part of its overall commitment
to sustainability Carleton is ensuring
that all new construction and major
renovations are assessed against the
Green Globes Rating system and will
achieve at minimum a rating of 3
out of 5. What is Green Globes? The
Green Globes system is an internationally recognized, third party,
certification and building environmental design and management tool.
It allows an evaluation against such
factors as: project management,
energy consumption, site use, space
and water optimization, and waste
management.
Carleton Corner is written by
Carleton University’s Department
of University Communications. As
your community university, Carleton
hosts many exciting events of interest to Old Ottawa South. For more
information about upcoming events,
please go to carleton.ca/events.
Page 30
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Resolutions to Live By
Provided by Linda M.
Hancock, Investors Group
Financial Services Inc.
This is the resolution time of year –
and we make all kinds of them, from
resolving to lose weight to taking up
a new hobby. And even though we
have the best of intentions, most of
our resolutions eventually fall by the
wayside. But here is a set of important resolutions for your consideration to make and keep – because,
taken together, they can give you a
financially secure life.
‘I resolve to be budget aware.’
Look critically at your income and
expenses. Set a realistic monthly budget that includes a specific amount
for savings.
‘I resolve to be debt aware.’ Stay
on top of your debt by using expensive credit cards sensibly and paying
high-interest and non-deductible debt
first.
‘I resolve to be life aware.’ Define
your life and goals in relation to your
income and set enough aside regularly to reach your goals.
‘I resolve to be RRSP aware.’ Make
the most of the best tax-deferred
savings builder for most Canadians –
start making contributions to investments held within an RRSP early
and make your maximum yearly
contributions. You’ll save on taxes
and maximize the growth potential of
your investments within an RRSP.
‘I resolve to be tax aware.’ Take
advantage of every applicable tax deduction and tax credit – including the
easily overlooked ones like moving
expenses, child-care expenses, tuition
fees, medical expenses and charitable
donations.
‘I resolve to be investment aware.’
Be a tax-efficient investor. Hold
investments earning tax-advantaged
investment income – those that return
dividends or capital gains – outside
your RRSP and highertaxed interest-earning
investments inside your
tax-deferred RRSP.
‘I resolve to be insurance aware.’ Your need
for income protection
and estate planning
will change as your life
changes – be sure your
insurance keeps pace.
‘I resolve to be asset
allocation aware.’ Sustain the steady, longterm growth of your
investments through a
solid portfolio asset allocation plan that includes
the right balance of assets from the three asset
categories – cash, fixed
income investments and
equities.
‘I resolve to be plan
aware.’ Take all these fi-
nancial security resolutions and wrap
them into a consolidated plan that
will become your essential framework for achieving all your financial
and life goals.
Oh, and one more easy-to-keep
resolution that will pay big, and continuing, dividends for you: Get the
expert help of a professional advisor to develop the financial plan that
works best for you.
This column, written and published
by Investors Group Financial Services Inc. (in Québec – a Financial
Services Firm), and Investors Group
Securities Inc. (in Québec, a firm in
Financial Planning) presents general
information only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any investments.
Contact your own advisor for specific
advice about your circumstances. For
more information on this topic please
contact Linda at Linda.Hancock@
Investorsgroup.com.
Are You Prepared for the
Unexpected?
By Bob Jamieson
account.
When you’re working to achieve
your financial objectives, you will encounter obstacles. Some of these can
be anticipated — for example, you
won’t be able to invest as much as
you want for retirement because you
have to pay for your mortgage. Other
challenges can’t be easily anticipated,
but you can still plan for them — and
you should. Obviously, the word “unexpected,”
by definition, implies an unlimited
number of possibilities. However, at
different stages of your life, you may
want to watch for some “expected”
unexpected developments. For example, during your working years, be
prepared for the following:
Investment Risk And
Market Volatility Extreme price swings
are unpredictable, and they can affect
your investment success. To defend
yourself against fluctuations in the
market, build a diversified portfolio containing quality investments.
While diversification, by itself, can’t
protect against loss or guarantee
profits, it can help reduce the effect of volatility on your portfolio.
And here’s one more thing you can
do to cope with the ups and downs
of investing: Maintain a long-term
perspective. By doing so, you won’t
be tempted to overreact to short-term
downturns.
Emergency Expenses - If you
needed a major car or home repair,
could you handle it? What about a
temporary job loss? These events are
costly — especially if you are forced
to dip into your long-term investments to pay for them. To help guard
against these threats, try to build an
emergency fund containing 3 to 6
months’ worth of living expenses,
or more, held in a liquid, low-risk
Long-Term Disability - One-third
of all people between the ages of
30 and 64 will become disabled at
some point, according to the Health
Insurance Association of America.
Disabilities can be economically
devastating. As part of your benefits
package, your employer may offer
some disability insurance, but you
may need to supplement it with private coverage.
Premature Death - None of us can
really predict our longevity. If something happens to you, would your
family be able to stay in your home?
Could your children still attend college? To protect these goals, you
need adequate life insurance.
As you approach retirement, and during your retirement years, you may
want to focus on these challenges:
Living Longer Than Expected - You
probably don’t think that “living
longer than expected” is necessarily
a bad thing. However, a longer-thananticipated life span also carries with
it the risk of outliving your money.
Consequently, you may want to consider investment solutions that can
provide you with an income stream
that you can’t outlive. Also, you’ll
need to be careful about how much
you withdraw each year from your
various retirement and investment
accounts. Need For Long-Term Care - If you
had to stay a few years in a nursing
home, the cost could mount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. These
expenses could jeopardize your financial security, so you’ll need to protect
yourself. You could “self-insure,” but
as that would be extremely costly, so
you may want to “transfer the risk”
to an insurance company. A financial
professional can help explain your
choices.
None of us can foresee all the events
in our lives. But in your role as an investor, you can at least take positive
steps to prepare for the unexpected
— and those steps should lead you
in the right direction as you move
toward your important goals. If you
would like to review how some of
these developments could affect you,
give me a call at 613-526-3030 and
I would be pleased to review your
situation.
Edward Jones: Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund
THE OSCAR
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Page 31
JANUARY 2014
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Your Investment Policy Statement
By Rick Sutherland, CLU,
CFP, FDS, R.F.P
Welcome to 2014! We thought we
would begin the year with a suggestion for a New Year’s Resolution.
Establish your personal Investment
Policy Statement, or IPS.
An IPS is a document that puts in
writing a number of parameters that
you and your investment professional will follow regarding how
your investment account is managed.
It gives you a direction on how to
invest your hard-earned dollars and
eliminates the temptation to rely on
“hot tips” or follow the recommendation of friends and relatives.
Your Investment Policy Statement
spells out the reasons why you are
investing. It outlines what you are
hoping to gain from your investing
endeavours and when those gains
should materialize. By reviewing
your IPS regularly, you can confirm
whether you are on track to meeting
your goals or whether you may have
to make some adjustments.
Your IPS acts like a rudder on a
ship. It guides you through both the
calm as well as the rough waters, and
it keeps you headed in the right direction. It helps you ignore the day-today market turbulence and to avoid
making emotional decisions that may
otherwise turn out to be mistakes.
Your Investment Policy Statement
need not be elaborate. A simple IPS
will allow you and your planner to
analyze your progress in an easily
understandable format. There may
also be a need for more than one IPS
for investments with different objectives.
Your IPS will reflect your commitment in terms of the dollars you are
www.edwardjones.com
WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Helping you make sense of
wealth management strategies
In your neighbourhood
Call or visit your local Edward Jones advisor to help you
determine the appropriate wealth management solutions
for your family:
•Wealth Preservation
•Business Succession Planning
•Charitable Giving
prepared to put aside on a regular
basis. This could be a monthly or
weekly contribution, whatever suits
you best.
Your Investment Policy Statement
may spell out an asset allocation
policy for your investment account.
“Your IPS will reflect
your commitment
in terms of the
dollars you are
prepared to put
aside on a regular
basis. This could
be a monthly or
weekly contribution,
whatever suits you
best.”
Rather than setting hard-and-fast
rules, you may want to set ranges for
different asset classes. It may look
something like this: 5-10% cash, 2030% fixed income, 60-75% equities.
Of course each of these asset classes
can be broken down into sub-categories, such as short- and long-term
fixed income and Canadian, US and
International equities.
Once you’ve established an asset allocation strategy, you and your
planner can make an estimate of
returns. Historical averages for your
chosen asset allocation will help in
choosing a projected rate of return.
You must be prepared at all times
for contingencies and be prepared to
make adjustments.
One area to be cautious is regarding your personal risk profile. Most
investors judge themselves as having
a very high tolerance for risk when
markets are going up, and as conservative investors when markets are
going down. Ask yourself what you
would do if you received a statement
and your investments were down
10%, 20%, or maybe even 30% or
more. Would you sell everything, do
nothing, or invest more? The answer
to this question gives great insight
into your risk profile.
It is not easy to draft an IPS. The
best course of action is to work with
your trusted financial planner. Reaching out for advice may be one of the
best decisions you can make when it
comes to developing your personal
IPS.
Rick Sutherland has been a resident of OOS since 1985 and has been
a regular contributor to OSCAR
since 1991. The foregoing is for
general information purposes and is
the opinion of the writer. This information is not intended to provide
personal advice including, without
limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice. Please
call or write to Rick Sutherland CLU,
CFP, FDS, R.F.P., to discuss your
particular circumstances or suggest
a topic for future articles at 613798-2421 or E-mail [email protected].
Rent, the epic Broadway rock-opera, will kickoff Sock ‘n’
Buskin’s 70th Anniversary Season on January 16. The show runs
January 16-18, 23-25, 8:00pm nightly in Kailash Mital Theatre in
Southam Hall at Carleton University. Tickets: $10 for Students/
Seniors, $15 General Admission. Tickets are available at the door
or through [email protected] (Please note: seating is
first-come first-served).
•Estate Planning
•Investment Management
•And more
Edward Jones, its employees and Edward Jones advisors are not estate planners and
cannot provide tax or legal advice. You should consult a qualified tax specialist or
lawyer for professional advice regarding your specific situation.
Bob Jamieson, CFP®
Financial Advisor
.
2211 Riverside Drive
Suite 100
Ottawa, ON K1H 7X5
613-526-3030
PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING
Are you uncertain about achieving your financial goals?
Call today for your free, confidential, second opinion.
RICK SUTHERLAND, CLU, CFP, FDS, R.F.P.
1276 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1Y 3A7
613-798-2421
email: [email protected]
web: www.invested-interest.ca
Mutual funds provided through FundEX Investments Inc.
MKT-7690-C-AD
Member – Canadian
Investor Protection Fund
Page 32
THE OSCAR
l
JANUARY 2014
SUNNYSIDE LIBRARY PROGRAMS
Sunnyside Branch
Ottawa Public Library
1049 Bank Street, Ottawa
613-730-1082,
Adult Services,
extension 22
Children’s Services,
extension 29
Children’s Programs
Babytime
For babies and their parents
or caregiver with stories,
rhymes, songs and games.
0-18 months. Drop In.
Tuesdays, 2:15 p.m. (30
min.)
January 14 to February 18
Toddlertime
For toddlers and a parent
or caregiver with stories,
rhymes, songs and games.
Ages 18-35 months.
Registration is Required.
Choose only one of the two
options below:
Tuesdays, 10:15 a.m. (30
min.)
Session 1: January 14 to
February 18
OR
Thursdays, 10:15 a.m. (30
min.)
Session 1: January 16 to
February 20
Family Storytime
Stories, rhymes and songs for
preschoolers and a parent or
caregiver. Ages 3-6. Drop In.
Mondays, 2:15 a.m. (30
min.)
January 13 to February 17
Family Storytime (Bilingual)
Stories, rhymes and songs for
preschoolers, toddlers and a
parent or caregiver. Drop In.
Contes, rimes et chansons
pour les enfants préscolaires,
les tout-petits et un parent ou
gardien..
Wednesdays 10:15 a.m. (30
min.) / mercredi 10h15
January 15 to February 19 /
le 15 janvier au 19 février
Children’s Book Clubs
Mother-Daughter Book Club
Ages 7-9
A place for girls and the
special women in their lives
to share books. Registration.
Mondays, 7:00 p.m. (60
min.): January 13, February 3
Mother-Daughter Book Club
Ages 10-12
A place for girls and the
special women in their lives
to share books. Registration.
Mondays, 7:00 p.m. (60
min.): January 20, February
10
Guysread
Share the love of books. For
boys and a significant adult.
Ages 8-12. Registration.
Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m. (60
min.): January 29, February
26
Children’s Special
Programs
Game on!
Roll the dice, pick a suit or
grab a nunchuk! Come play
cards, board games or Wii
with us! Ages 6-12. Drop in
anytime Friday afternoon to
play.
Friday, January 3, 1 p.m. - 6
p.m.
Teen Programs
TAG (Teen Advisory
Group) (Ongoing Event)
Sunnyside Teens--join our
new Teen Advisory Group
and have a say in which
programs, activities and
services will be offered to
youth and also help plan and
implement them. Ages 14-18.
To join, stop by the branch.
Look for Teen Programs
presented by Teens: such as
Peer Tutoring plus Drop in
Board Game & Card Game
nights. Meet once a month
on Saturdays at 1:30 p.m.:
January 11, February 8
TBC (Teen Book Club)
Love YA fiction? Come
check out Sunnyside’s latest
book club for Teens – you
pick the author, theme or
title, we all read a book and
meet to discuss what we
liked (or didn’t like). Usually
the first Friday of the month.
Ages 12-15. Registration.
Fridays, 4:00 pm (60 min.):
January 10, February 7
Exam Cram / Études
intensives
Need a spot to cram for
exams? Come to the library
and get your studying done.
We provide a quiet study
space between 10 am
and 6 pm in our Meeting
Room (downstairs, past the
Children’s Area), complete
with WiFi access.
Study hard and good luck on
your exams!
January 24-January 31, 10-6
Adult Programs
The Writing Workshop
An opportunity for writers of
fiction, non-fiction, poetry,
and experimental forms to
gather. Our emphasis will
be on developing worksin-progress for publication.
The workshop will provide
writers with encouragement
and constructive criticism
from their peers. Author/
Facilitator: Michael
F. Stewart: http://
michaelfstewart.com
Registration.
Mondays, 6:00 p.m. (120
min.): January 6, February
24, March 17, April 14, May
26, June 16
Ukrainian Conversation
Join our group led by a
fluent Ukrainian speaker.
Start off with a review of the
Ukrainian alphabet. All are
welcome. Registration.
Mondays, 7:00 pm (60 min.):
January 13, 27, February 10,
March 10, 24, April 7, 28,
May 5, June 2, 23
Conversations Among
Canadians
These weekly sessions are
an opportunity to convene or
participate in “conversations
among Canadians.” There
is much to be gained from
simply sharing information
with each other, and bringing
together our knowledge, our
personal experience and our
reflections. Talking together,
we might also challenge our
imaginations, generating
insights and developing ideas
to share with each other and
inspiring inventions and
innovations toward helpful
change in our world. Topics
will include the environment,
humanity, communication,
science and technology
and our changing brains.
Registration.
Wednesdays, 2:00 - 4:00 pm
(120 min.): January 29 - June
18
Science Café with Carleton
University
Explore science through
Carleton University’s popular
Science Cafés. Put on by
the university’s Faculty of
Science, cafés are held every
other Wednesday during the
fall and winter terms. Each
café begins at 6:30 p.m. with
a 20 minute talk by a scientist
followed by a 40 minute
open question and answer
period. Come and join us for
a lively discussion around
a scientific issue of the day.
Be prepared to be informed,
engaged and even amused, as
Carleton’s professors share
their scientific discoveries
with you. Drop in.
Wednesdays, 6:30 pm
(60 min.): January 8, 22,
February 12, 26, March 12,
26, April 9, 23
Conversation en français
Improve your spoken French
and meet new friends in a
relaxed setting. Intermediate
level required. Registration.
Thursdays, 6:00 pm (60
min.): January 9– June 26
OR Thursdays, 7:15 pm (60
min.): January 9– June 26
Passionate Pursuits
A new monthly program
highlighting the passionate
pursuits of adults. In January,
Navin Parekh will speak
to us about his work with
CanUgan. Volunteering
in Uganda, Navin noted
that disabled people had
no means of getting about.
Coming back to Ottawa,
he went to work on the
problem, arranging for the
manufacture, in Uganda, of
hand-pedaled tricycles and
supply of other assistive
devices. He has founded a
charity, CanUgan Disability
Support, and the whole idea
is spreading. In February,
Anne Joyce will speak about
her experiences volunteering
abroad. Registration.
Wednesday, 2:00 pm (60
min.): January 22: Navin
Parekh; February 19: Anne
Joyce
Adult Special Programs
Posture Perfect
Most of us don’t realize it
but posture is a window into
our health. Good posture
is associated with better
breathing, better digestion,
greater self-esteem and
a more energetic body.
Dr. Chandan Brar of the
Glebe Chiropractic Clinic
will share some insight on
posture, its connection to
health and what we can
do to start improving our
posture. Registration.
Thursday, January 9, 6:30 –
7:30 pm
Canvas Art Workshop
Participants will create a
canvas art frame involving
painting, stamping and
collage. Presented by Julie
Olivier who has been making
and selling cards and paper
art frames for the past 10
years, and has also been
teaching paper crafts for the
past 3 years. Registration.
Thursday, January 16, 6:30
-8:30 pm
Basic Digital Photo Editing
It is easy to take dozens or
hundreds of photos with
your digital camera. But then
what? Chris Taylor, President
of the Ottawa PC Users’
Group will help you discover
some easy ways of correcting
basic flaws so you will be
proud to display your photos.
Registration.
Thursday, January 23, 6:15 8:15 pm
Introduction to Wood Turning
Learn all about this craft
beginning with an overview
of the history of wood
turning beginning in
Egyptian times up to the
present, followed by an
explanation of the tools used,
aspects of wood, along with
some examples of what can
be created. Presented by
Lawrence Riley. Registration.
Thursday, January 30, 6:30
-8:00 pm
Physical Activity for
Cardiovascular Health
Physical inactivity is
an important risk factor
for the development of
cardiovascular disease,
i.e. heart attack or stroke.
Given that most of us are
sedentary for approximately
70% of the waking day,
many of us are at risk of
having a heart attack or
stroke. Being physically
active can help to regulate
blood pressure, blood sugar,
cholesterol and obesity,
all of which impact heart
health. Join us to learn more
about how physical activity
can benefit cardiovascular
health. Presented by
Graham Beaton, Doctor
of Naturopathic Medicine.
Registration.
Thursday, February 6, 7:00 –
8:00 pm
Nutrition Secrets
Is coffee good for you? Are
eggs bad for you? No, fat is
the real enemy...right? The
problem with ideal dietary
recommendations is that
there is no such thing as
the ideal person. You might
be surprised how industry
recommendations for certain
foods are dramatically
different than what research
shows. Presented by
Dr. Chandan Brar of the
Glebe Chiropractic Clinic.
Registration.
Thursday, February 13, 6:30
– 7:30 pm
The Beauty of South Africa
and Namibia
Discover Namibia’s
majestic sand dunes, and
the proud people who live
there, combine this with
the beauty of South Africa,
Nelson Mandela’s homeland
with world traveler, Carole
THE OSCAR
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Page 33
JANUARY 2014
SUNNYSIDE LIBRARY PROGRAMS
Gobeil. Registration.
Thursday, February 20, 6:30 – 8:00
pm
Clicking, Flicking and Tweeting:
Social Networking Controversy
The explosion of social networking
websites such as Flickr, Facebook,
blogging sites and Twitter has
raised more than privacy concerns.
Join Chris Taylor of the Ottawa PC
Users’ Group for a discussion on the
value of social media sites, as well
as cautions about using these tools
so that you don’t compromise your
computer, your job, your identity, or
worse. Registration.
Thursday, February 27, 6:15 – 8 :15
pm
Adult Book Clubs
Cercle de lecture
Partagez avec nous le plaisir des
livres dans une ambiance détendue.
Projet de critique littéraire pour
janvier, février et mars.
Les mardis, 18h30 (90 min.): 28
janvier, 25 février, 25 mars, 29 avril,
27 mai, 24 juin
European Book Club
The European Book Club is a
cooperation of the European Union
National Institutes for Culture
(EUNIC) in Ottawa: the Austrian
Cultural Forum, the Goethe Institute,
the Romanian Cultural Institute, the
Instituto Camoes of Portugal and the
Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
The EBC aims to promote European
authors and their works. A book title
from an EU country is selected for
discussion each month. Registration.
January title: In the Times of Fading
Light by Eugen Ruge (Germany)
Wednesdays, 6:00 pm (120 min.):
January 15, February 19, March 19,
April 16, May 21, June 18
Second Friday Adult Book Club
Meet new people and join in
stimulating discussions on selected
titles in a friendly and relaxed
atmosphere every second Friday of
the month. Newcomers are welcome.
Registration.
January title: The Book of Fame by
Lloyd Jones
Fridays, 2:00 pm (60 min.): January
10, February 14, March 14, April 11,
May 9, June 13
Mystery Book Club
Do you enjoy reading mysteries?
Share the enjoyment of good
mysteries in a relaxed atmosphere.
Join us for discussion every third
Friday of the month. Registration.
January title: The Incense Game by
Laura Joh Rowland
Fridays, 2:00 pm (60 min.): January
17, February 21, March 21, May 16,
June 20
Sunnyside Adult Book Club
Join in stimulating discussions
on selected titles in a friendly and
relaxed atmosphere on the last Friday
of the month. Registration.
January title: Requiem by Frances
Itani
Fridays, 2:00 pm (60 min.): January
31, February 28, March 28, April 25,
May 30
BOOK REVIEW
The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey
Reviewed by Bess Fraser
Hélène Merritt, late children’s
librarian at the Sunnyside Library,
recommended a book to me last
summer.
It was beautiful and I loved it. I
believe it could be called historical
fiction, written from the perspective
of a woman pioneer. The description
of the woods, surrounding nature
and animal habitat is magical. Ivey’s
writing style is poetic and dreamlike, as I read the book I could not
tell if the story could have been true
or not, it was captivating. The tale
about setting up a farm, preparing
the land and home with her husband
seems accurate to the time.
Parallel to this is the fairy tale running throughout the story, troubling
but tempting at the same time.
I have read few books with such
vivid descriptions of nature and
loved them as much. When I am
not spending time outside, I at least
like to read about the forest, sky and
animals.
AROUND TOWN
Ukrainian Craft Group. Will
meet Jan.17, Feb.21, March 14 at
Abbotsford House, 950 Bank St., 1-3
pm, to knit the Ukrainian way and
make pysanky (Easter eggs). Englishlanguage instruction, everyone
welcome.
Rent, the epic Broadway rock-opera,
will kick off Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s 70th
Anniversary Season on January 16,
2014. The show runs January 16-18,
23-25, 8:00pm nightly in Kailash
Mital Theatre in Southam Hall at
Carleton University. Tickets: $10
for Students/Seniors, $15 General
Admission. Tickets are available at
the door or through snbreservations@
gmail.com (Please note: seating is
first-come first-served).
New mixed-media paintings by
Helene Lacelle, Dec.10 - Jan.31, at
Carmen’s Veranda, 1169 Bank St.
“The Sky Is NOT Falling ::: Sure
there is a wild jungle of debris
over our heads, way up in the
sky, everything that goes up will
eventually come back down. Will
the sky one day fall on our heads,
yes - no - maybe? My skies stay up,
stay pretty, stay and never ever come
down...
Hopewell Avenue Public School
Kindergarten Registration
Period is Jan 27 – 31
at the School Office.
OSCAR DELIVERERS NEEDED - Please contact Distribution Manager Larry Ostler
1) The block including the south side of Hopewell, west side of Grosvenor, north side of Glen, east side of Leonard (48 papers).
2) The block including the north side of Chesley, west side of Harvard, south side of Raleigh and east sides of Wendover and
Warrington, and the triangle including the north side of Raleigh, west side of Harvard and the east side of Warrington (a total of
26 papers).
email [email protected] or phone 613-327-9080
Page 34
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
CLASSY ADS
CLASSY ADS are free for Old Ottawa South residents (except for businesses or for business activity) and must be submitted by email to [email protected] by
the deadline. Your name and contact information (phone number or email address) must be included. Only your contact info will appear unless you specify otherwise. The
editor retains the right to edit or exclude submissions. The OSCAR takes no responsibility for items, services or accuracy. For business advertising inquiries, call 613-7301058 or email [email protected].
For Sale
House For Sale. Three stories
with a finished basement
and third floor, on Bellwood
Ave between Sunnyside
and Belmont. It has three
bedrooms and two full
bathrooms and a mature
garden ready to bloom in the
spring. We are flexible on a
closing date. Call 613-9152421 for more information.
----------------------------------Wanted
Looking for a piano teacher
in Old Ottawa South,
beginning September 2014.
Call 613-940-4441.
Childcare
Childcare/ Nanny-share
Available in Old Ottawa
South. We have a highly
experienced, bilingual
caregiver who works out
of our home in Old Ottawa
South-Rideau Gardens. She
cares for our 3-year-old
son. Hours are from 8am
to 5pm. Activities include
playgroups, museums,
swimming, crafts, library and
trips to local parks. We are
interested in finding another
family would like to share
our caregiver in our home.
If you are interested contct:
[email protected] or
613-237-1378.
For Rent
Three-bedroom apartment.
Available January 1. Ground
floor of a bungalow with
bright and spacious living
room, fully loaded kitchen
and laundry facilities onsite, basement and exterior
storage, laneway parking,
and private fenced-in
backyard. Located in a quiet
area near Bank & Heron,
walking distance to buses,
transitway (Heron station) &
O-train (Confederation), and
close to Billings Bridge Mall.
Rent is $1,300 including heat
and water. Please reply by
BEAM or call Moe at 613296-3443.
--------------------------------House for Rent. 3 bedroom
house for rent in OOS.
2 bathrooms, kitchen,
living room, dining room,
finished basement. Fridge,
stove, washer & dryer.
5 minutes walk from
Carleton U. Available Jan
$1900+utilities. No smokers
please. 613-730-0206
--------------------------------Light-filled 2 bedroom
apartment on the top floor
of a duplex for rent in Old
Ottawa South. This well
maintained unit includes a
private south facing balcony
overlooking a treed yard,
eat-in kitchen, hardwood
floors. Approx. 1000 sq. ft.
No smoking please. $1500 +
utilities + parking. Available
immediately. Please e-mail:
[email protected]
or call 613-914-6573 for
more information.
MARKETPLACE
GIBBON’S PAINTING & DECORATING
Local House Painter - Bonded
With 20 years experience
Customer satisfaction
ALWAYS GUARANTEED
For a free estimate please
call Rory 322-0109
Ask about my $25 referral rebate
Book now for your painting needs
Music
Therapy
RELIABLE QUALITY CARE
Therapeutic use of Music
 Autism & Dementia
 Intellectual Challenges
 Stress Relief & Healing
 Emotional struggles
Retired RPN
. Relief for Family Caregiver
. Private Duty
. Palliative Care Provider
www.DeepSoulSinging.com
Telephone: 613-829-1556
EXTRA-MILE RENOVATIONS
Beautiful Decks, Fences,
Gates & Porches.
Quality Bathrooms & Kitchens.
We also do trim work, plumbing,
electric, installation
of doors & fixtures.
Local Renovator.
Creative Solutions. References.
Please call for an estimate
613-297-8079
M.Moynahan
Home: 613-730-4957
AVAILABLE: English
tutoring for
Academic Purposes
ESL teacher based in OOS
available for help with academic
writing
(proof-reading for grammar,
punctuation; critical feedback on
content, etc.) from
high school to university levels.
For more details, please call
613-237-7894 or
email [email protected]
ADVERTISE in the OSCAR
THE OSCAR
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Page 35
JANUARY 2014
LOCAL NEWS
100 Years Young in Old Ottawa South
By Lida Malinowski
O Viola ... won’t you dance with me.
We’ll cut that rug, and drink lots of
tea ... and live to one hundred and
three!
On December 7th, 2013, Viola Terrade, a resident of Hopewell Avenue
since 1965, celebrated her 100th
birthday. What an eventful oncein-a-lifetime milestone! The party
room at the Westwood on Carling
Avenue was filled with close to
50 family members, friends, and
neighbours, all extending their best
wishes. The guest of honour (most
know her as “Vi”) looked lovely in
her periwinkle dress and pink carnation corsage. Although Vi was a bit
shy to receive all this attention, she
was graceful and greeted everyone with a smile, and a kind word.
She was especially pleased to see
so many of her Hopewell Avenue
neighbours join in the celebration.
The party was tastefully catered the room was filled with balloons,
paper napkins, and a delicious cake,
all inscribed with 100, a fulsome,
well-rounded number. Many people
remarked that this had been their
first invitation to a 100th birthday
party.
Being a centenarian is deserving
of special attention. Vi received
commemorative congratulatory
wishes from Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth, The Governor General,
and The Prime Minister of Canada.
Mayor Jim Watson asked Councillor Katherine Hobbs to personally
present a plaque to Mrs. Terrade,
to acknowledge her 100th birthday.
The Mayor’s Office also presented
Viola with an illustrated book of
the City of Ottawa. After everyone
had ample time to speak with her,
socialize, and enjoy a bite, Vi did
the honours, and cut the cake for
everyone to enjoy. As you can imagine, 100 candles to blow out could
potentially set off the fire alarm, and
cause pandemonium among the residents at the Westwood, so although
100 years was proudly displayed on
the cake, the sparklers were not lit
as a precautionary measure.
Over the years, many Old Ottawa
South residents would have walked
by her Hopewell Avenue home as
they hurried to Brewer Park with
their children; some stopped to chat
with her while walking their dog,
or when taking a stroll around the
neighbourhood. Vi would often
sit on the front porch in her white
wicker chair, and take in all that was
happening on the street. She would
wave to passersby, with a smile and
twinkle in her eye. During some of
our porch chats she would reminisce
about how her father had raised
horses, and also bred canaries. She
was proud to have raised three boys,
and now has the lively company of
4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. One of the highlights she
remembers fondly to this day is a
train trip from Calgary to Victoria,
with her grandson Kevin, who was
six years old at the time. Vi would
recount how she had lived in Centretown with her two brothers in her
younger years (she was the middle
child), and how she enjoyed riding
the streetcar. While working at a
confectionary store on Lyon Street,
she met her future husband, John
Terrade. Vi related how her husband
had worked in Windsor during the
War, as an inspector at the Ford
plant, where they built army vehicles. Viola worked in the candy department at Freiman’s Department
Store on Rideau Street. She later
worked in the cafeteria at the Bank
of Montreal on Wellington Street,
and retired after working there for
many years. She sighed a bit when
she told me that they celebrated
their 50th wedding anniversary on
September 30, 1989, but that sadly,
one year later, Mr. Terrade passed
away. After that, she shared the
Viola Terrade with her 100th birthday congratulations from Her Majesty,
house on Hopewell Avenue with her
1
12/12/13
10:58 PM
Queen Elizabeth
PHOTO BY LIDA MALINOWSKI
son Don up until August of 2013, at GMSGarfieldNewmanAd3.pdf
which time a change in her health
brought her to the
Westwood.
Viola’s 100 years
have been filled with
many colourful memories, and recollections
of good old fashioned
“porch chats” with
neighbours. She hopes
Old Ottawa South
will keep its porches,
so neighbours take
time to stop and chat
awhile. The secret to
longevity, according to
Vi, is to drink tea (not
a drop of alcohol, except the wine at church
service). Vi said she
was lucky to be born
with good genes and
“long lifers” in the
family. Her grandmother lived to 103!
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Lida Malinowski is
retired from the federal
government, and a
long time resident of
Old Ottawa South.
“Join OSCA” visit
www.oldottawasouth.ca
Page 36
THE OSCAR
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JANUARY 2014
TRAVEL - SEE BEACHES STORY ON PAGE 20
Following the kelp trail at Albert
Head Lagoon.
PHOTO BY PAIGE RAYMOND
159 Gilmour Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 0N8 ~ www.tracyarnett.com ~ 613-233-4488
This is not intended to solicit properties already listed for sale