Committee gives church heritage designation the congregation doesn’t want

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Good morning!

It’s getting very hard these days not to write an intro that’s about the weather. Sunshine, and open coat, a small boy in sunglasses out on the town? Besides, at 17.5 C it was the warmest ever March 5, going back as far as records began in 1873, according to weather historian Rolf Campbell. It’s also the earliest in the year the temperature has ever hit 17 C.

So it’s hard not to write about the weather when it’s so unusual. But this is the end of it for today. We’ve got some news about heritage buildings, an interesting lawsuit between two shawarma purveyors, and plenty more in today’s edition.

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor.

WEATHER

Wednesday: +6 🌡️ 0 | 🌧

Thursday: +7 🌡️ -6 | 🌤

Friday: +7 🌡️ -2 | ☀️

CITY HALL

Church voted heritage designation despite objections

What happened: The city’s heritage committee voted to designate a Lowertown church as a heritage building over the objections of its pastor and congregation, CBC reported. The pastor of l’Église Évangélique Baptiste d'Ottawa told the committee his congregation has been working with the neighbouring business to find a buyer to redevelop the area, as they’ve found a site elsewhere in the city for a new church. 

Neighbourhood issues: Finding a different congregation to take over the church seems unlikely. “The surroundings, the environment, is such that nobody in their right mind would move a congregation to this area,” pastor Guy Pierre-Canel told the committee. Located right in the heart of the city’s overlapping housing and drug crises, Pierre-Canel said things had become “unbearable.”

Over Easter last year, the pastor said someone set fire to a van in the church parking lot in the middle of a service. Congregants have also witnessed assaults and a knife attack.

Poor shape: The building, first built in 1906, is in a state of disrepair. A leaking roof, leaking water, and asbestos are just some of the problems. A full repair will likely require millions of dollars, money the church doesn’t have. They’re already spending about $100,000 per year on upkeep.

Status anyway: Because of the building’s historical significance, the committee voted to give the church full heritage status, despite the objections of the congregation. The pastor said the designation will make it even more difficult to sell than it’s proven to be, because of the restrictions on demolition to protect the building.

• The full city council will still have to approve the measure before it goes into effect.

Why it’s happening: The city is racing through designating heritage properties, ahead of an end-of-year deadline imposed by the provincial government. Any property on the city’s heritage registry that doesn’t have full designation by the end of the year, won’t be eligible for five years. The rush means that some deserving buildings may not get heritage designation, while consultation on others is severely truncated.

Dig deeper: In last week’s City Hall Insider, we looked at the heritage rush, and how the city is dealing with the thousands of properties it must sort through. Read it here.

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

✈️ 200,000: The approximate number of Aeroplan points stolen from an Ottawa man. The thieves created an Uber account with the man’s Aeroplan number, and withdrew the points in smaller increments in the middle of the night. [CTV]

🚨 356: The number of vehicles that have been stolen so far this year. Bay ward has seen the highest number of thefts with 37. [CTV]

OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN

🚨 No charges were laid after Woodroffe High School was placed on lockdown because of a threat of a weapon. Few details were provided by police, but no one was injured. [CTV]

🛹 Last month the Stittsville Youth Centre opened its doors. It’s the culmination of years of work of the Kanata-Stittsville Kiwanis Club. [Stittsville Central]

🚔 The principal of St. John Paul II Catholic Elementary School in Gloucester was charged with sexual assault and mischief in connection with an incident last spring involving another staff member at the school. [CTV]

🚑 A 19-year-old junior hockey player in Athens will never play contact hockey again, after a hit from behind left him with a serious concussion and two fractured vertebrae in his neck. While lucky to not be paralyzed, his family said it will be difficult for him to continue his studies at Queen’s University. [CTV]

🎾 This fourth grader from Orléans is tearing up the local tennis scene, racking up plenty of tournament wins. [Orléans Star]

LAWSUIT

Shawarma Palace sues Palais du Shawarma for millions over trademark infringement

What happened: Local chain Shawarma Palace has filed a lawsuit against Gatineau’s Palais du Shawarma, and is asking for more than $5 million over trademark infringement. The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court, accuses Palais of causing “confusion” between the brands.

• Shawarma Palace operates several locations around the city of Ottawa. Palais du Shawarma operates in the food court of the Galeries de Hull mall.

The claim: “The defendants [Palais] have directed public attention to their services and business in such a manner as to cause, or to be likely to cause, confusion” between the two restaurants, the lawsuit said. “The defendants' activities are likely to lower the prestige and reputation of the Shawarma Palace trademark and are likely to have the effect of depreciating the value of the goodwill attaching to the Shawarma Palace registered trademark.”

What they want: The Palace owners want $5 million in damages (or an accounting of Palais’ profits), plus another $100,000 in punitive damages for infringing on the Palace trademark. Palace also wants Palais to be forced to destroy anything using the shop’s name, including “packages, labels, advertising material, drawings, plates, negatives, computer or other electronic files.”

• The lawsuit was filed in late February and has not been tested in court. Palais and its owner have yet to file a reply with the court.

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

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Check the listing to see what it’ll cost.

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labelled as such. If you’re a realtor who wishes to feature your home in our newsletter, please contact our sales team. 

THE AGENDA

🚔 One person was arrested in connection with an alleged break in at the mayor’s offices at city hall. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s personal office was not broken into, but staff discovered several of their offices had. It’s not clear yet what was taken or what motivated the incident. [CTV]

🪧 The fourth major teachers’ union in Ontario reached a tentative deal with the provincial government. The deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, if approved, means that there will be no strikes in this round of collective bargaining between teachers and the government. [CTV]

🚨 After two supervised injection sites had to temporarily close because staff felt ill, staff said the city needs supervised inhalation sites. Users were preparing drugs for inhalation (something that’s not allowed) which seems to have led to staff feeling dizzy and developing headaches. Many of the overdoses that occur near the centres are of users of inhaled drugs. [CBC]

💥 Dress for Success Ottawa was broken into and the boutique ransacked. Thieves made off with staff computers and tablets, as well as plenty of merchandise. The money from a recent fundraiser was fortunately safe behind a locked inner door. The non-profit provides professional clothing for those in need. [CTV]

🌊 Desjardins Group said it would no longer offer mortgages in certain flood-prone communities in Quebec, raising fears other banks could follow suit. [CBC]

🎬 Players in the local film industry are hoping to build a new soundstage to further grow film productions in the region. From 2021 to 2022 the industry grew by more than 30 percent in the city. [Ottawa Business Journal]

🪩 Applications to become the city’s first ambassador of the night have closed. The city won’t say how many people applied for the $112,000 job, but hope to announce the first night mayor by the end of April. [CTV]

GIG LISTINGS

Listings are provided by OttawaGigs.ca, the best place to discover live music in Ottawa. Check out Ottawagigs.ca for full listings across the city.

Kristen Martell, Wednesday 8 pm: Warm, introspective folk/pop from Nova Scotia. At Montgomery Scotch Lounge, 750 Gladstone Ave. Tickets $10. 

Fleece, Friday 8 pm: Self-described ‘immaculate vibes’ and glammed-up, blissed-out, vintage pop-rock. At Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St. Tickets $20. 

Chorus of Courage, Friday 8 pm: Musical project to hold and honour the voices and stories of survivors of violence.  At the National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St. Tickets $25.

Mad Caddies, Saturday 7 pm: Ska, reggae, punk, jazz and more from the California veterans. At Overflow Brewing, 2477 Kaladar Ave. Tickets $36.

BRKN Love, Saturday 7:30 pm: Heavy, groovy rock influenced by Royal Blood and Led Zeppelin.  At Brass Monkey, 250 Greenbank Ave.Tickets $25.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Ottawa Jazz Festival will include Norah Jones, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and many more in its summer lineup. [Ottawa Jazz Festival]

• Smith Falls’ Brooke Henderson finished tied for third at the LPGA tournament in Singapore on the weekend. [The Associated Press]

• Looking for a cat to give a loving home? Stella’s had a rough go, but she might be just the one for your home. [Reddit]

• The city is looking goooood these days. [Reddit]

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

CAPITAL EATS

An Italian sandwich like no other

Capital Eats is written by our food editor Ralf Joneikies.

Paninaro began in 1980’s Milan and was marked by an ostentatious consumption or display of luxury goods, mostly by young men. 

Common meeting places for these groups were cafes and panino (sandwich) shops and later the movement spread to all of Italy which then further inspired the creation of magazines, films and television shows. Even the Pet Shop Boys got into the scene by writing a song called Paninaro. 

To subscribe to our food newsletter and read this story, click the link below.

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to the 70 percent of you who knew there are four supervised injection clinics in the city.

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