BeaverTails gives up on this Canal season

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Good morning!

Hope everyone had a restful long weekend. February can be such a dreary time, it’s a welcome addition. Though, I will say that while the weather has been too warm for the Canal to open, it does make the month otherwise a teensy bit less oppressive.

For the newsletter today we’ve got some (very, very) faint hope about the Rideau Canal, a quick-fire wrap up of the convoy inquiry, and a look at the challenge of building more housing to quell the crisis (spoiler: we need more workers).

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

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Weather Report

Special weather statement

Wednesday: -7 🌡️ -13 | 🌤

Thursday: -10 🌡️ -15 | ❄️ (5 to 10 cm)

Friday: -11 🌡️ -24 | 🌤/❄️

WINTER

BeaverTails removes Rideau Canal stands, skateway stays closed

What happened: Empty and unused, BeaverTails is removing three of its four Rideau Canal kisoks. On the slim chance the canal may still open to skaters, the company is keeping one of them in place, CBC reported.

Big loss: For the company, it’s a big financial loss. Co-founder Grant Hooker told CBC it costs about $50,000 every year to put the kiosks in place and train staff, plus another $10,000 to $15,000 to remove them. Add in all the lost sales, and it’s a big hit.

• Fortunately, the land-based BeaverTails locations have done better-than-usual business, but not nearly enough to make up for the Canal losses.

Too warm: It’s part of a wider fallout from the warmer-than-usual winter. Winterlude closed out last weekend without the skateway opening. Instead, skaters had to visit one of the land-based rinks.

Lookahead: The NCC said yesterday the ice was thin and porous, and they were unable to bring equipment onto the Canal. They hope the colder weather this week could improve ice quality, and they’ll reassess at the end of the week.

Sculpture winner: Team Nova Scotia’s “Dinner Dance” won this year’s Winterlude ice-carving championship, CTV reported. The carving was done by Ross Baisas and Antonio Baisas, who also won the 2021 edition of the contest.

• Team New Brunswick’s Joel Palmer and Ryan Villiers placed second, while Team Yukon’s Mowafak Nema and Ikuo Kanbayashi came in third.

Maple season getting an early start

Tapping time: Sugar bushes across the province have begun tapping their maple trees. One local sugar bush owner told CTV this year the taps are going into the trees three or four weeks earlier than normal. While they aren’t starting production yet — a sudden steep temperature drop could freeze the tree sap and damage the maple lines — Fulton's Sugar Bush and Maple Shop in Packenham is open for visitors.

Concerning future: The early season has some producers worried. A sugar bush in southern Ontario near Lake Simcoe told CBC there may come a time when it’s too warm to produce maple syrup at all.

• "It is concerning that the weather is changing so fast. If I have grandkids that make syrup, maybe ... it'll be too warm to make,” Kent Breedon told the broadcaster.

The warmer season is making when to start production difficult to predict. Trees only produce sap for a limited time, and typically requires a daytime temperature of about 5 C and a nighttime temperature of about -5 C.

OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

📉 5.9%: The national inflation rate dropped to this in January, down from 6.3 percent in December. While the overall rate decreased, food costs were up 11.4 percent, and mortgage costs jumped 21.2 percent — driven by higher interest rates used to cool overall inflation. [CBC]

💰 $2,073,629: The amount the National Gallery has spent on severance payments in the last two-and-a-half years. [The Globe and Mail]

SPONSORED BY THE SNOWSUIT FUND

A very cool way to keep kids warm — join the Snow Angel Challenge

This February, families, schools, community, sports and social groups and workplaces are invited to make snow angels to support The Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa.

Making snow angels is a favourite winter activity and shows the importance of outdoor play and The Snowsuit Fund’s mission to ensure that every child, regardless of economic circumstance, is dressed warmly to play outside in winter.

How to participate: Head outside, make your snow angel and share your videos or images on social media, including a link to donate and hashtag #SnowAngelOttawa.

• Challenge your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours to do the same!

You will automatically be entered to win prizes awarded by random weekly draw and for the most outrageous, best pet snow angel, best social spirit and more! Learn more today.

All donations support the purchase of new snowsuits for disadvantaged kids in our community.

OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN

📚 A woman in Almonte fundraised for the last year to buy more books for the local library written by Black authors. [CBC]

🏨 The City of Cornwall is struggling to keep up with the needs of asylum seekers who are being brought in from Quebec. [CBC]

🪄 Barrhaven’s The Great Arjunia, teen magician extraordinaire, is back to performing after a COVID hiatus. [Barrhaven Independent]

🏠 Gatineau voted to preserve a historic maison allumette, matchstick home, in Hull. The homes were built at the turn of the 19th century for workers at the match factories in the area. [CBC]

🚌 A parent in Half Moon Bay has started a petition to have the OCDSB change its plans to bus students to Bells Corners because a new school construction is delayed. [Barrhaven Independent]

🐕‍🦺 After a positive experience with a service dog, one Stittsville woman decided to foster one herself. [Stittsville Central]

🧱 The Orléans company Highbridge Construction had its assets frozen and its home builder licence frozen by provincial regulators. [CTV]

HOUSING

Labour shortage putting housing goals out of reach

What happened: To meet the goal of building 1.5 million new homes in the next 10 years, Ontario will need 100,000 more workers to make it happen. Provincial Labour Minister Monte McNaughton told CBC it is “the greatest economic challenge facing Ontario.”

Why it’s a problem: The construction industry has a job vacancy rate of about 6.6. percent. Last year, 96,000 new homes were started across the province, more than 50,000 homes short of provincial targets.

Baby boomers are retiring from the industry, and there aren’t enough new workers to fill the jobs. The industry ponts to the cancellation of the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit in 2017, which could pay as much as $5,000 per apprentice per year to a builder over three years of an apprentice’s training.

• Going forward, there aren’t enough apprentices in the industry to make up for expected retirements over the coming years.

Mayor’s promise: During the campaign, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe promised the city would build 100,000 homes over the next 10 years. That number is lower than the 151,000 new homes the provincial government expects to be built in town with the new Bill 23. All of those numbers are purely academic if there aren’t the skilled workers to build the homes.

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

Once again we’ve got a location property. This one is all about the address, on Queen Elizabeth Driveway. The Driveway. It’s not the most spectacular house, it’s a unit in an “executive townhome,” but you’ve got three bedrooms—including a third-floor suite—a finished basement, and plenty of high-end touches. Plus, you’re just off the Canal.

Check out the listing.

THE AGENDA

⚖️ A public inquiry report found the federal government’s invocation of the Act met the necessary threshold, though the commissioner did so “with reluctance.” The necessity of using the Act was brought about by policing failures and the inability for different levels of government to work together. [CTV]

🚓 …The root of the failures during the convoy can be traced to the Ottawa Police Service being unable to assess the intelligence they had on how long the convoy could last. The force was also beset by dysfunction at its top ranks, had no backup plans, and kept important information from the city. [CBC]

🚛 …Premier Doug Ford was found by the report to have largely abandoned Ottawa, refusing to participate in meetings with other levels of government. The opposition accused Ford of “ghosting” the city, while the premier let his house leader speak for him during question period. [CTV]

🚚 …Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he regretted calling convoy protestors a “fringe minority,” which the inquiry found likely inflamed tensions at the protest and energized protestors. [National Post]

🏢 More than 1,000 public service workers have asked their union for help in the transition back to the office, because they said their departments are not prepared for the return. [CTV]

🚔 The body of a man who was missing for more than two years was found in a submerged car in the Ottawa River. The car was discovered by amateur divers in November. [CBC]

🇺🇦 A huge Ukrainian flag was unfurled over the Flora Footbridge in a show of support for the besieged country, that included dignitaries from several foreign embassies and the Governor General. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚨 Three people were arrested in the shooting death of a man on the edge of the ByWard Market. [CBC]

SPONSORED BY PARTICIPACTION

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COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The up and down temperatures have made it hard for pothole crews to keep up with repairs. [CityNews]

• You won’t regret trying the curry-marinated wings at this fusion restaurant.

• If you’ve seen a Bluesfest lineup circulating before now, it’s fake, the organizers said. The real announcement will happen today at noon. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Safe Wings Ottawa is looking for volunteers to help protect local birds. [Reddit]

• Did you lose your glasses on the Trans-Canada Trail in Stittsville? [Reddit]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Contact our partnership team for more info.

CAPITAL EATS

This story was written by our food editor Ralf Joneikies.

Four years ago I walked by, what seemed to me, a newly opened restaurant on Somerset. Through the semi-darkened windows it appeared that it hadn’t even opened.

This went on for years until a few weeks ago when I saw two families having lunch.

I walked in and was greeted by a simple room that might just be called “Cafeteria Chic'' with one wall covered in a mural. The mural showed workers with arms raised in clenched fists and after my meal I gave it the name “Spiceheads Unite.”

Green bean with minced pork is a dish that has long stood out as the benchmark for me. The version at this restaurant is every bit as good with the tender and sweet beans made satisfying by the concentration of good soy sauce and chili flakes.

SPORTS

🏒 The Senators’ playoffs chances are slipping away after they dropped three of six possible points over the long weekend. [Sportsnet]

🥅 Newly acquired winger Julien Gauthier is excited for the fresh start with the Sens after being traded for Tyler Motte to the New York Rangers. [Ottawa Sun]

🏈 Adrian Sciarra has been promoted to president of the Redblacks and 67’s. He’s been with the organization since 2013. [Ottawa Sun]

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to everyone who got last week’s Ottawa Wordle, which was “FROST.” Perhaps a bit optimistic about the weather…

Do you know where today’s OttawaGuesser is? The first five people to respond correctly will get their names in the next issue!

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