Ottawa police did nothing with intel convoy was there to stay

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Good morning!

Hard to believe it, but we are just days away from election day. Sometime late Monday — hopefully not too late, for my sake — we’re going to know who the next mayor of the city is, along with the fresh council they’ll be working with. There’s a lot at stake, and some pretty clear divisions between the candidates.

It’s not often in municipal politics we get such a clear break with the past. Exciting times, no matter the result. (And hey, pretty soon, you’ll be able to read about things other than promises, and counter-promises in this newsletter.)

Before you vote, we’ve got one more episode of the Ottawa Lookout Pod. This time with one of the lower-profile candidates, Brandon Bay. He’s got some interesting things to say, and a neat perspective—he’s not in this to win, but to talk about things that are important to him.

You can find it on whatever podcast platform you use, including:

• Apple

• Spotify

• Google

We’d asked Mark Sutcliffe and Bob Chiarelli to appear on the pod, but unfortunately they weren’t interested. So it goes.

With that, let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

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

Weather Report

Friday: 14 🌡️ 10 | 🌤

Saturday: 15 🌡️ 6 | 🌤

Sunday: 16 🌡️ 6 | 🌤

Monday: 17 🌡️ 8 | 🌤

CONVOY INQUIRY

Police had no plan for convoy after first weekend

What happened: The Ottawa Police Service had only planned for the convoy to stay the first weekend, after that they were left scrambling, trying to figure out what to do.

Acting deputy police chief Patricia Ferguson told the convoy inquiry the force didn’t heed protestor warnings that they planned to stay, The Canadian Press reported. Instead, the OPS used a boilerplate plan, and only realized they needed to pivot when trucks and protestors stayed encamped downtown.

The OPP warned Ottawa police more than a week before the convoy arrived that there was a large protest, a “long-term event,” that would arrive in the capital, CBC reported.

• Former police chief Peter Sloly said “there was nothing of value” in the OPP intelligence reports provided to the city, according to an OPP witness.

Failing grade: One OPP document released by the inquiry was scathing about the Ottawa Police Service’s plan to handle the convoy. It was “not intelligence led,” “reactive, tactical, aggressive,” “no or poor partner collaboration,” and had “unqualified trained leadership,” according to CTV’s Mackenzie Gray.

• CHEO said 13 families with children undergoing cancer treatment had their appointments delayed or rescheduled because of the convoy, Global News reported.

About that call: Coun. Diane Deans recorded a call between herself and Mayor Jim Watson at the height of the crisis. Deans explained her plan to hire an interim chief from Waterloo to replace Peter Sloly, CBC reported. Watson thought it would be a bad idea and didn’t support it.

• In the call, Deans asks whether there was a motion coming to oust her from the police services board, and whether Watson would support it. The mayor said he hadn’t heard of one, and wouldn’t commit. Deans would be ousted soon after by a motion put forward by a Watson ally. The mayor voted for it.

It’s an enlightening peek into the way the mayor operates behind the scenes. Compelling, and at times quite awkward, you can listen to the full call here.

We’ll continue to update readers as we learn more from the inquiry.

OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

💥 3: This many people were injured, one of them seriously, after a driver crashed into a building. [CTV]

💰 $1 billion: The amount of revenue three Ottawa companies — Ross Video, RVezy, and Solace — are on pace to earn this year. [OBJ]

🚗 1,502: Police said this many vehicles had been stolen so far this year. [CTV]

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ELECTION

Home stretch: A last-minute guide to the municipal election

Final days: Monday is election day. Whatever happens, we will have a new mayor and a new council. To get you up to speed in the final stretch, here are a few stories and resources we think will be useful in the last days of the campaign.

The smaller stuff: Looking to hear where the candidates stand on issues beyond housing, transit and taxes? Here are a few stories on some of the less-talked about issues:

• Should Lansdowne 2.0 go ahead as-is, the candidates said it at least needs more consultation before construction kicks off. They are also skeptical about providing city funding for the new Salvation Army shelter in Vanier. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Having more paramedics available is a crisis that will require help from other levels of government, but here’s what the candidates said the city can do to make things better. [CBC]

• Catherine McKenney released an updated list of their donors who had given more than $100 to the campaign. The other candidates have not released their donor lists ahead of the election.

Direct from the candidates: The Citizen ran a short essay from each of the three major candidates making their last pitch to voters:

• Mark Sutcliffe: My plan for Ottawa builds on compassion and fiscal responsibility

• Catherine McKenney: Ottawa can be healthier, greener, better connected — and more affordable

• Bob Chiarelli: What Ottawa needs now is experience

Council seat races: Both CBC and CTV sent questionnaires to candidates in every ward across the city, where candidates responded to a variety of questions about their vision for the next term. You can find CBC’s here and CTV’s here. (Scroll down a bit in each case.)

Catchup with the Lookout: Missed some previous issues? Catch up on candidate endorsements; recent polling showing a tight race between McKenney and Sutcliffe; and the budget platforms of the two front-running candidates.

The lighter side: A bit bummed out by the seriousness of all this? The Ottawa Citizen has you covered. They asked each of the big three candidates some lighter questions, like “what gets you out of bed in the morning?” and “what’s your favourite place in the city?” Each candidate also tells a joke (spoiler, no one attempts to tell the Aristocrats).

How to vote: 

• Polls open at 10 am and close at 8 pm on Monday.

• To find your polling place, use this City of Ottawa tool.

• You’ll need to bring ID, even if you bring the voter card.

• Acceptable ID includes a driver’s licence, health card, utility bill, bank statement, and more. See the full list here.

• Need accessibility assistance? Large-print ballots, magnifiers, braille ballot templates, and curbside voting are all options. Find out more about accessible voting here.

POLICE

New police chief to be unveiled this afternoon

What will happen: Today at 2 pm, the Police Services Board will unveil the new permanent chief of police. A press conference with the head of the board, outgoing Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, and the new chief will be livestreamed here.

Opposition to a quick hire: Mayoral candidates Bob Chiarelli and Catherine McKenney said the city should wait to hire a new police chief until after the next council gets to work, CTV reported. They asked an independent body to investigate the hiring process, in part because of a potential conflict of interest because El-Chantiry is also a co-chair of Mark Sutcliffe’s campaign.

• McKenney said on Twitter if elected they would work with whoever the new chief is, but said the decision to make the appointment so soon before the election was “shameful” and “does nothing to restore public confidence at a time when it is most needed in our city.”

Sutcliffe said it is within the board’s right to appoint a new chief, it isn’t the responsibility of a new council, and said the board is independent from council. He has promised to sit on the board if elected mayor, but not as its chair.

The Lookout’s view: Without even getting into the propriety of making this choice so soon before an election, it’s happening while the convoy inquiry is going on. The Ottawa Police Service is under intense scrutiny, and we don’t yet have the full picture of the force’s failures. It makes no sense to rush through a new chief when we’re only just scratching the surface of what went wrong last winter.

EVENTS

Your weekend guide

Friday

🍺 Snack O'Shack Food Pop-Up, 411 St Laurent Blvd., 4 pm-10 pm: Hosted by Good Prospects Brewing Company, there will be live music, tasty treats including gyoza, spring rolls, and samosas, and of course delicious beer brewed on-site.

Saturday

🎨 The Loft Art Studios Open House, 951 Gladstone Ave. from 11 am-5 pm: Stop by and see the artists at The Loft exhibiting their latest works for free.

👗 Ottawa Vintage Clothing Show, Carleton University Fieldhouse: Find that piece your wardrobe is missing or maybe sell that coat taking up space in your closet, admission is $12.

🍻 Hammond Oktoberfest, 600 Du Golf Rd., 2 pm: Beer, music, and competitions like keg tossing. Tickets are $43.45.

💨 Smokus Pocus, 73 York St., 7:30 pm: A magic show where showing up after consuming cannabis is encouraged. See it at Sens House, tickets start at $48.

Sunday

🏀 Coach Dave Love Shooting Clinic, 5315 Abbott St. E, 9 am-4 pm: Hone your jump shot with an NBA shooting coach with a progressive set of drills and teaching points through the day, tickets are $154.

🎻 Gatineau Hills Fiddle Festival 8 Ch Mill, Chelsea, Oct. 20-23: The fifth edition of everything fiddles, there are still a few festival and concert passes remaining.

📚 Ottawa International Writers Festival, 414 Sparks St., Oct. 19-26: Writers from all over descend on the city for the 25th edition of the festival.

Food and Events (Insiders Only)

How to get them: Insider members get a curated food event list in our Thursday Insider email, as well as early access to restaurant reviews. Try an Insider membership for only $1 for your first month — there’s no risk and you can cancel anytime.

QUICK HITS

🏳️‍⚧️ Anti-trans candidates are running for school board across the province, with many here in Ottawa. [CBC]

📐 Only 47 percent of Grade 6 students passed the province’s standardized math test. That’s down three percent from the last round of EQAO tests in 2018-19. [CTV]

🏥 The Ottawa Hospital is resorting to putting patients in the gymnasium and other “unconventional” spaces. The Civic and General campuses are both above 100 percent capacity. [Ottawa Citizen]

🏗 The Ministry of Labour inspector who visited the site of the Claridge Icon wished he had issued a stop work order because of dangerous ice conditions. The inspector visited the site a month and a half before Olivie Bruneau was killed by falling ice. [CBC]

😷 Ottawa Public Health is urging people to mask indoors again. Levels of COVID are high in the community, and the flu is beginning to spread. [CTV]

Interview with mayoral candidate Brandon Bay

Election day is fast approaching, and for the second episode of the Ottawa Lookout Pod, we talk with mayoral candidate Brandon Bay.

Brandon isn’t one of the big three, and he’s not running to win. Instead, he ran for mayor to inject new ideas and a new voice into the campaign. We talk about what can be done about housing, the generational divide in the city, how transit can be improved, and whether parking really should be $9 downtown.

Subscribe on your favourite podcast network:

• Apple

• Spotify

• Google

SPORTS ROUND-UP

🏒 Daniel Alfredsson made a triumphant return to the Canadian Tire Centre, dropping the puck for the ceremonial face-off. [Ottawa Sun]

🏈 The Redblacks need to win both their last games and hope Saskatchewan lose their last two to make the playoffs. [Ottawa Sun]

🥅 Claude Giroux was thrilled the team won the home opener, his first time at home as a Senator. [Ottawa Citizen]

Upcoming games

• Ottawa Redblacks @ Hamilton Ti-Cats | Tonight, 7 pm | Away

• Ottawa Senators v Arizona Coyotes | Saturday, 4 pm | Home | Tickets

• Athlético Ottawa v Pacific FC | Sunday, 2 pm | Home | Tickets | Second leg of the Canadian Premier League semi-finals. Ottawa won the first leg 2-0.

CAPITAL EATS

Your weekend food journey

Where to visit: Our team at Capital Eats was busy this week reviewing and sampling the best Ottawa and Gatineau has to offer.

• Take a beer tour through breweries in Gatineau (Insiders-only).

• It’s never too cold for ice cream, especially at this new spot on Bank

• We’ve created a guide for Portuguese restaurants and shops in Ottawa. Many of these are less known, but worth visiting (Insiders-only).

• In’s Kitchen will have you falling in love with Korean food. Try their Jeyuk pork and Suntofu.

Want to read the Insider-only stories and support local journalism? Become a member today and get access to the best restaurant reviews in the city.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Ottawa Book Awards were handed out this week. David O’Meara, Mike Blanchfield and Fen Osler Hampson, and Michèle Vinet all won the $7,500 prize for their work.

• You may not have thought to try Croatian wine, but importer Saša Muradori has plenty of reasons you should.

• Artist Pat Bruderer explained the intricate and beautiful art of birchbark biting to Ottawa Morning. [CBC]

• Coyotes are still on the loose in Riverside Park South, as trappers weren’t able to catch them. [Ottawa News]

• Insiders got a look at a tour of Gatineau breweries that’s running this winter.

• Jasper, a Bengal cat, is missing in Nepean near Citiplace Park, and a Siamese cat was found near the Rideau Sports Club in Overbrook. [Reddit]

• If you’ve got warm winter clothing, the Snowsuit Fund is expecting high demand this winter. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Fill out this form to have you event or announcement featured in community highlights

TOP PHOTO

Today’s photo comes from Aadil Naik, who said “Gatineau Park looks more like a bag of candy.” Hard to disagree!

Have you got a fall shot you want to share with readers? We’re always looking to publish photos from the Lookout community.

OTTAWA WORDLE

The Ottawa Wordle is back this week with an answer that’s topical. (That’s all we’ve got for hints!) Think you can solve it? Play now.

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