City to audit safety of beaches

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Good morning!

I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend. Because of Colonel By Day on Monday, there will be no edition of the Lookout, but we’ll be back to our regular schedule on Wednesday.

Around the city, garbage day will be pushed back a day because of the holiday, and most city services will be closed. Some pools and rec centres will be open, but if they are they’ll be on modified schedules. You can find out more on the city’s website. Most OC Transpo routes will run on a Saturday schedule, with some exceptions. You can see their website for more info.

Do your best to stay cool, Environment Canada issued a heat warning, with temperatures in the low 30s, and the humidex near 40 today and possibly through the weekend.

Now, why don’t we get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign up for free.

WEATHER

Friday: 30 🌡️ 20 | 🌤

Saturday: 30 🌡️ 19 | 🌧

Sunday: 26 🌡️ 17 | 🌧

Monday: 22 🌡️ 12 | ☀️

WATER SAFETY

City beaches to be audited for safety after spring drowning deaths

What happened: Britannia Beach, the site of the drowning death of a nine-year-old earlier this year, will be audited for safety. All of the other beaches will also receive audits by an outside firm, with a report expected in the fall or next year, CBC reported.

Dangerous drop: Three recent drownings, one in July 2020 and two in July 2023, were the result of a steep drop off at Britannia, the Ottawa Citizen reported. All three were newcomers and not strong swimmers who had been in shallow watter, only to suddenly drop into the much deeper swimming area, where the water abruptly goes from two feet deep, to 10 feet deep.

All three deaths occurred within an hour of the beach being no longer supervised, with two of the deaths happening within 30 minutes or less.

• The cause of this year’s drowning death is not yet publicly known.

Made deeper: The beach was dredged in 2020 to bring its depths back to levels from 30 years prior. A natural build-up of sand and silt had left the swimming area only a few feet deep. The city has hired an engineering firm to look at ways to modify the drop, and see if it’s possible to make it more gradual.

• A provincial coroner said in a report last year that the city should consider expanding lifeguard hours, add more signage warning of the drop-off, and adding recorded warnings that the beach is unsupervised.

Audit time: The third-party company hopes to start its audits of the city beaches next week, ideally when there are people at the beach to see how the water is used, according to CBC. It’s been 14 years since the beaches were last audited.

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🤢 51 million: The amount, in litres, of raw sewage forced into the Ottawa River because of heavy rain in the city. [CTV]

😷 32: The number of cases of whooping cough confirmed in the city. Ottawa Public Health is warning families to update their kids’ vaccines to protect against the illness. [City of Ottawa]

🏦 30: Starting this month, first-time home buyers of new-build homes can get mortgages amortized over this many years. [CTV]

TRANSIT

Rail construction manager leaving city

What happened: Michael Morgan will be leaving his post as director of the rail construction program “to pursue other opportunities,’ the city announced in a memo. Transit general manager Renée Amilcar said Morgan would stay on until early fall “to provide support through the transition.”

• “Michael has built a strong, experienced team who will continue to progress the opening of O-Train Lines 2 and 4, as well as the completion of the east and west extensions of Line 1,” Amilcar said in the memo.

Richard Holder, the director of transit engineering, will take over Morgan’s duties on an interim basis while the city searches for a replacement.

Times are a changing: Morgan is leaving the city as the north-south Trillium Line enters its final testing phase, with service possibly launching this fall after years of delay. The east and west extensions of the Confederation Line are also both behind schedule.

• At the same time, the city is in the midst of secret settlement talks with one or more of the private companies building the Stage 2 extensions. Council has been briefed on the negotiations, but only behind closed doors. It’s not clear who the city is negotiating with, or how much it might cost the city.

THE AGENDA

🏘️ In the first 50% of the year, the city only made it 13% of the way to its yearly homebuilding target. From January to June, there were 1,593 homes built, well short of the year-long target of 12,583. [CTV]

🦠 The provincial government has halted a program that paid for wastewater testing for various illnesses, including COVID. The province said a federal program would replace the testing, but the feds said Ontario didn’t coordinate with them, and the federal plan will only test in a few select cities. [The Canadian Press]

☎️ The Vanier Community Association is encouraging residents to identify problematic properties as part of a city pilot program. The flyers distributed by the association are dividing some in the community, who said it encourages snitching. [CBC]

🏢 Several residents in two Vanier apartment complexes received renoviction notices after their properties were sold to a new owner. The new owners said serious repairs are needed, but the residents being pushed out fear they’ll have nowhere to go. [CTV]

🏛️ Next week, the city’s audit committee will consider whether to go ahead with legal proceedings against the advocacy group Horizon Ottawa, after a third-party audit said the group may have contravened third-party election spending rules. Horizon’s board said it believed it operated within the rules, and looked forward to the meeting. [Ottawa Citizen]

🦝 Bylaw removed a raccoon from an apartment after receiving a report someone may be keeping it as a pet. The raccoon has since been moved to a sanctuary where it is learning to socialize with other raccoons. [Ottawa Bylaw Services]

💥 A steel beam on Kingston’s LaSalle Causeway buckled instantly during repair work. Workers were in the process of removing and replacing lattice supports along the beam. No one was injured, but the bridge was damaged so badly that it had to be demolished. [CBC]

⚖️ Convoy leader Pat King was arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. King returned to Ottawa to surrender to police, and will remain in jail at least until a bail hearing. [CBC]

🏍️ Quebec has banned motorized mopeds and scooters that don’t comply with vehicle safety standards. [CBC]

🚧 A transport truck driver is facing a careless driving charge after a construction worker was hit on the 401 near Kingston. The worker was taken to hospital with minor injuries. [CTV]

🚨 Police are looking for witnesses or video of a fatal collision after a pedestrian was killed by a driver on Albion Road south of Rideau Road. [CBC]

EVENTS

What to do this weekend

🎇 Les Grand Feux Casino Lac Leamy, July 31 to Aug. 17: The international fireworks competition returns this week, with teams from around the world competing to dazzle. At the Canadian Museum of History. Ticket prices vary.

🎭 Puppets Up! | Almonte | August 10-11 | A fun-filled family festival featuring puppet shows for all ages, street performers, a daily puppet parade and more | Learn more [Sponsored]

♠️ ATV Poker Run - Ride 4 Alana, Saturday 9 am: Ride your ATV through the area around Calabogie to help raise money for Alana to get a wheelchair. Collect a poker hand as you go for a chance at great prizes. At 32 Bompas Trail, 1086 Tatty Hill Rd, Greater Madawaska. Entry $50.

⛏️ Public Archaeological Digs, all August: Supervised digs where you can learn hands-on about the pre-contact history of the region. At Parc Lac Leamy. Free.

🐝 See the Bees at Gees Bees, Saturday and Sunday: Get up close and personal (but not too personal) from a screened-in area to learn all about bees and beehives. At Gees Bees, 538 River Rd. Tickets $5.

Arts events

🤹‍♂️ Ottawa International Busker Fest, Friday to Monday: Come out for a festival of all sorts of performers from across the globe. Four days of performances at four stages. On Sparks Street. Free.

🎭 A Company of Fools - Macbeth, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: A Company of Fools presents their annual Shakespeare in the park performances featuring an all female and non-binary cast in a production of Macbeth. At parks across the city. Pay what you can. 

🎨 Soul Sisters Art Workshop - flower yarn painting, Saturday 10 am: An art class for women to paint a bouquet of flowers using watercolours and mixed-media materials. At Kemptville Campus, 40 Campus Dr., Kemptville. Tickets $50.

🥟 Journée Dumplings & Saké, Saturday 1 pm: Enjoy some housemade dumplings and saké while learning to paint porcelain. French-language event, with English translation available. At Ras L'BOL, 137B Rue Principale, Gatineau. Price varies by food/drink order.

CAPITAL EATS

This week in food

🍜 The Noodle House has great scratch cooking, and you don’t want to miss the chicken saté soup.

🍨 At Happy Rolls, they make a unique ice cream treat right in front of your eyes.

🕰️ Take a peaceful trip back in time, just down the road, to Generations on the Lake. (Insiders)

🍷 You can’t go wrong with this consistently great rosé at a fair price. (Insiders)

CAPITAL EATS

Next week in food…

Although it’s a holiday weekend, we will have a new Capital Eats for you next Tuesday. Our very own Geoff Sharpe offers a few thoughts on influencer meals and what it says about food media.

For afters, we have a brand new Dessert Course that takes us to the ByWard Market. This sweet treat might not beat the heat, but it will be a welcome distraction.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• There are plenty of ways to celebrate Pride Month in the capital. [CBC]

• Easy tips and advice for personal finances with Dollarwise, a free newsletter. Try it out today and get control of your money. [Sponsored]

• Sasloves Meat Market will close this fall, after 70 years in the ByWard Market. Until they close, every Saturday they’ll sell frozen products at a discount. [CTV]

• Let’s hope Redblacks fans didn’t let down this seagull who wanted some noise. [Reddit]

• The Chaudière Falls are especially lovely from above. [Reddit]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to Brigit, the only one who knew this week’s Ottawa Guesser was of Barnsdale Road at Borrisokane. Well done!

Think you can solve this week’s Ottawa Wordle? Play now.