Former councillor Diane Deans enters palliative care

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Good morning!

We’ve got a whole lot to get to today. But before we do, I had a bit of a request for you…

The parents and teachers of W.E. Gowling Public School in Carlington are in the middle of a campaign to replace play structures at the school that have come to the end of their lifespan. Both the structures for the kindergarten kids and the older children closed because they were unsafe. They need to raise $300,000 to replace the structures — money the board doesn’t provide.

If you’d like to help out, you can donate to the cause here.

Today we’ve got some sad news about former councillor Diane Deans, the possibility some local Loblaws stores might have made their stores unsafe, and plenty more.

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

Editor’s note: A spelling correction on my first issue back. The park Coun. Stéphanie Plante hopes to have renamed after Mary Papatsie, whose remains were found nearby, is Emond Park. The Lookout regrets the error.

WEATHER

Friday: 21 🌡️ 11 | 🌤

Saturday: 18 🌡️ 10 | 🌧

Sunday: 16 🌡️ 10 | ☁️

Monday: 23 🌡️ 10 | ☀️

CITY LEADERS

Former councillor Diane Deans enters palliative care

What happened: Former councillor Diane Deans, who represented Gloucester residents for nearly 30 years, has entered palliative care. Deans was diagnosed five years ago with ovarian cancer. Deans’ former staffer and successor in the ward, Coun. Jessica Bradley, announced the sad news on Twitter.

• “It is hard to imagine the City of Ottawa without Diane. Her passion, tenacity, and fearless spirit will forever be missed. Her resiliency is to be admired and her wisdom cherished. As she spends her remaining time with friends and family, there is no shortage of love and care,” Bradley wrote.

Deans won her first ever election in 1994, and won eight consecutive elections afterward, according to the Ottawa Citizen. Deans considered a run for mayor in the last election, but withdrew before the race formally began, saying she felt it would take the next mayor two terms of hard work to sort out the city’s problems.

Fighter: While in office, Deans was a strong advocate for what she believed in. She was a fierce opponent of the secrecy and skullduggery involved in the construction of Phase 1 of the LRT, earning her the ire of then-mayor Jim Watson. She was head of the police board during the convoy occupation, before being turfed by Watson and his allies after she attempted to hire an interim police chief during the crisis.

If you would like to send a message of support to DiIane and her family, you can do so at [email protected].

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🏎️ 199 km/h: The speed a driver was caught going on the 417 east of Moodie Drive. [CTV]

💰 $5 million: The lottery winnings a group of five siblings won in the Lotto 6/49. They’d been playing as a group for 20 years. [CTV]

☔️ 108 mm: Ottawa received this much precipitation in April, well above the 74 mm average. [CTV]

COST OF LIVING

Loblaws stores inspected for possible fire code violations, company posts 10% profit increase

What happened: Several Loblaws grocery stores were visited by fire officials, investigating new plexiglas barriers installed to prevent thefts as possible fire code violations, CTV reported. The barriers were added to metal rails and gates already installed at some locations in the city.

• The barriers rise more than six feet high, and could obstruct the exits in the event of a fire. An official with the Ottawa Fire Service confirmed to the broadcaster inspections were underway, and any violations would be written up to the stores’ owners. While using self-checkouts to cut back on labour costs, Loblaws and other grocers have turned to increased security to cut down on theft. 

Huge profits: Just as a boycott of the country’s largest grocery chain began, the parent company Loblaw announced first-quarter profits rose 10% to $459 million, while revenues rose 4.5% to $13.58 billion. The company’s share price closed up 1.16%, according to Yahoo.

• The company’s CEO claimed the grocer was doing everything it could to lower food prices. “Let me assure you that in every corner of the business, our colleagues are working hard to reduce costs and do things more efficiently,” CEO Per Bank said, according to The Canadian Press. But with profits soaring, the company raised its dividend payments to shareholders by 15%.

Inflation: Food prices have been a major contributor to inflation since late 2021, it was only earlier this year that the rate of food price increases dropped below the overall inflation rate, according to Statistics Canada data. 

A man gotta have a code: Loblaw and Walmart Canada have both refused to sign on to a national grocery code of conduct, and have been warned by the government that if they don’t voluntarily agree to the code, Parliament could pass legislation to force them to comply, The Canadian Press reported earlier this year. 

• The code would set standard rules for how stores negotiate with suppliers. This week, the company’s CEO said he was “cautiously optimistic” Loblaw had been able to push the committee drafting the code into a direction the company could live with, Yahoo reported.

Enough is enough? In an internal memo to employees, CEO Bank said “nok er nok” (Danish for “enough is enough”) to the idea that Loblaws is a cause of rising prices in the country. “That's what makes this situation so frustrating. Not only are we being unfairly blamed, we're also not getting credit for the value we are providing,” Bank said. The value includes the company’s reward points, which Bank claimed were reducing its customers’ grocery bills by 10%.

• An anonymous Loblaws employee posted the memo to Reddit, which you can find here.

Boycott supporters quickly turned the phrase around, saying they’d had nok with the company, The Logic reported.

THE AGENDA

🏢 The federal government made it official, announcing that public service workers would have to be in the office three days a week, starting in September. The government still wants to reduce its office holdings by 50% in the coming years. Federal unions threatened possible legal action over the move. [CTV]

🚒 A woman and two children were taken to hospital in critical condition after a fire broke out in a St Laurent high rise. Five other people were taken to hospital in stable condition and another nine were treated at the scene. At least 200 people have been displaced, with 50 of the building’s 136 units damaged by smoke, fire, and water. The arson unit is investigating. [CTV]

🚧 A second charity that helps children with autism and their families closed down this week. Ausome Ottawa said funding levels had dropped by half in the last year and there was no way they could remain open. It joins Thinking in Pictures Educational Services, which abruptly shutdown last week. [CTV]

🔥 A community fridge in Centretown destroyed by fire early Wednesday. Police are investigating the fire as arson. [CBC]

⛺️ Students at Ottawa University defied administrators and set up a pro-Palestine tent encampment on campus. The students want the university to cut financial ties with organizations that fund or supply the ongoing Israeli war in the Gaza Strip. [CTV]

🚨 A teenage student of Sir Guy Carleton High School in Nepean was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition after being stabbed. Police were called after an altercation at the nearby Mary Pitt Centre. [CBC]

🏳️‍🌈 Officials broke ground Wednesday for Thunderhead, the national monument for 2SLGBTQ+ people. [CBC]

EVENTS

What to do this weekend

✍️ Ottawa International Writers Festival Spring Edition, until Friday: Multiple events ongoing, with many different authors. At Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington St. Tickets start at $20.

🍟 Orleans Poutine Fest, until Friday: Welcome to the 2024 Orleans PoutineFest and Street Food Frenzy where the bear in classic, gourmet, and exotic poutine can be found, combined with the best street food in Ottawa. At 255 Centrum Blvd. Free. 

⛳️ The Links at Lansdowne, until Saturday: With a series of staggered platforms around the stands, show off your pinpoint accuracy with a variety of greens on the field, ranging from 60-110 yards. At Lansdowne Park, 1015 Bank St. Tickets start at $50. 

✈️ Careers in Aviation Expo Ottawa, Saturday 8 am: A job expo for numerous jobs in the aviation industry, from pilots to mechanics and everything in between. At Porter Airlines Hangar, 280 Convair Pvt. Tickets start at $38.

🇮🇪 Fun at Finnegans Wake, Saturday 2 pm: A celebration of the 85th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s final work. With a film presentation, music, readings, and more. At Brigid's Well, 310 Saint Patrick St. Tickets $17.

🎻 From the East of Europe, Saturday 7:30 pm: The Parkdale Orchestra presents an evening of music by Hungarian, Romanian and Czech composers. At Parkdale United Church, 429 Parkdale Ave. Advance tickets $20.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Tulips have bloomed across the city after ideal spring weather for the flowers. [CTV]

• Last chance for Mother's Day gifts! Send it with a Stamp snail mail gifts arrive with their regular mail. Use code LOOKOUT10 for 10% off. [Sponsored]

• Enrolled in the new federal dental care plan? CBC has an explainer on how it all works. [CBC]

• Tick season has returned, here’s what you need to know to protect yourself. [CBC]

• It’s not just tulips, daffodils are sprouting in parts of the city! [Reddit]

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

CAPITAL EATS

This week in food

Capital Eats is written by our food editor Ralf Joneikies.

🍕 The Pizza Safari returns for another year with a few surprises. (Insiders)

🍸 You can’t go wrong with this classic cocktail. (Insiders)

🛒 Ottawa has a surfeit of fine shops where you can find foods to feed the family without needing to rely on the big national chains.

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to Adam, Joshua, Jennifer, Carole, Maryanne, and everyone else who knew this week’s Ottawa Guesser was of the Scenic Driveway through the Experimental Farm.

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