Mayoral race going down to the wire

Good morning!

Once again exciting days around the Lookout, as we are set to launch a pop-up podcast in the coming days. We’ve got a few mayoral candidates already lined up (hopefully more to come!) and maybe a few surprises before and after the election.

It’s not live yet, but you can subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss out on the Ottawa Lookout Pod:

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— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

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Weather Report

Wednesday: 19 🌡️ 13 | 🌦

Thursday: 17 🌡️ 7 | 🌧

Friday: 15 🌡️ 4 | ☀️

ELECTION

Mayoral race tightens according to new poll

A tight race: A new Mainstreet Research poll for iPolitics suggests the race is a tight one. McKenney leads with 34 percent, only two points ahead of Sutcliffe at 32 percent. McKenney’s support has stayed stable from the previous September Mainstreet poll, while Sutcliffe’s support has grown from a previous 20 percent.

• There are still 20 percent of voters who are undecided, down from 24 percent last month. Bob Chiarelli’s support dropped to seven percent, down from 11 percent.

The margin of error for the latest Mainstreet poll is 2.9 percent, 19 times out of 20.

• Read more: Transit tops municipal election issues; taxes, housing also key factors [CTV]

Fight over financing: Now that both major campaigns have their financial plans out (catch up here), mayoral candidates Catherine McKenney and Mark Sutcliffe are attacking each other’s plans.

Sutcliffe said McKenney’s plan does not try to find savings in the budget, and is only focused on spending more, CTV reported. He said he plans to find at least $35 million in savings, including through city staff attrition.

McKenney meanwhile warned Sutcliffe’s plan could mean as much as $80 million in cuts to services.

• Dig deeper: CBC has a rundown on some of the minor promises in the last few days, including more dog parks, attracting doctors, and transit reviews. [CBC]

Donations: McKenney released on their website a list of every donor to their campaign who gave more than $100. By law, this information is released after the election by the city. McKenney is so far the only major candidate to release this information in advance.

OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

• 102: The number of fire deaths across the province this year, on track to surpass last year’s total. [CityNews]

• 3: This many people were charged in connection with a Thanksgiving Day armed robbery. [CTV]

• 10,000: Trees that will be planted on a soon-to-be former organic farm, to reclaim the property for an ecological corridor between Gatineau Park and the Ottawa River. [Ottawa Citizen]

SENATORS

2022 Season Preview: The Summer of Pierre and the exciting things to come

Good vibes: For the first time in a long time, the Ottawa Senators are a team to get excited about. General manager Pierre Dorion locked up key youth players and brought in big names to bolster a roster ready to break out of the rebuilding doldrums.

The big moves:

• Tim Stützle: Eight-year contract extension worth $66.8 million;

• Josh Norris: Eight-year contract extension worth $63.6 million;

• Alex DeBrincat: Traded from Chicago for three draft picks, including the seventh pick in the 2022 draft;

• Claude Giroux: Signed as a free agent for three years at $19.5 million.

Legends return: Former captain and Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson returned to the rink for the first time in years this off-season, and expects to be a regular guest, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

• Two other estranged former players formally returned to the fold: Chris Neil was appointed vice-president of community and business development, and Chris Phillips has come back as a VP of business operations.

The cloud: Forward Drake Batherson was a member of the 2018 Canadian junior team, of which eight members have been accused of sexual assault. Batherson has said publicly he is cooperating with the investigation, but is one of the few players from that team who has not made a statement about any potential involvement in the alleged assault, CBC reported.

Analysis: Will all the off-season moves and the good vibes turn into a playoff appearance? The pre-season guess of that is maybe.

FiveThirtyEight runs projections for sports using advanced analytics, they give the Sens a 27 percent chance of making the playoffs, and finish the season with 85 points. The Athletic also puts the Sens’ chances at a playoff spot at 27 percent, finishing with nearly 88 points.

• “The biggest concern is not with Ottawa’s depth this time, but whether the core group is strong enough for the team to make the leap. They’re young enough that a big breakout from one or two to push Ottawa into the playoffs is hardly implausible — but we will need to see it to believe it first,” The Athletic said in its preview.

Tomorrow night in Buffalo the regular season kicks off at 7 pm on TSN5.

REVIEW

Fine dining at Gatineau’s Sans Façon

There are times, when you least expect it of course, that you encounter a kitchen doing something so different, that your mind goes from “That's quite nice” to “What the...”.

Dinner at Au Cheval in Chicago springs to mind. American comfort food was so deliciously re-imagined (e.g a potato pancake topped with house-made sausage, poached egg and duck heart gravy) that my brain recalled those flavours for days.

Gatineau restaurant Sans Façon had a similar effect on me.

Manager Sid Gill tells me Sans Façon means “no thank you” but that this expression also has other meanings such as “without a way,” “unceremonious” or “without pretension.” It could be they've taken a few of these as principles to build their concept at 253 Blvd. St-Joseph in Gatineau.

Sans Façon opened about a year ago and after a Good Friday lunch at this unique restaurant, it was clear I needed to experience more from this kitchen.

STORIES YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED

Coyotes to be captured: Friday, the city will begin trapping coyotes in the Riverside Park neighbourhood. The animals are no longer afraid of people, and may be put down by the city. The city said to avoid McCarthy Woods and the nearby hydro corridor.

Convoy commission starts Thursday: Another convoy commission kicks off this week. The official commission into the use of the federal Emergencies Act released its list of witnesses, which include Mayor Jim Watson, city manager Steve Kanellakos, interim police chief Steve Bell and former chief Peter Sloly. [CTV]

Organ fire at church: Firefighters had to put out a blaze at St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Chinatown. No one was injured, and the fire was contained to the church’s organ. Tarps were used to protect the interior church from water and smoke damage. [CTV]

Busiest ever Thanksgiving: The Ottawa Mission served 13,605 Thanksgiving meals this year, its most ever. Meals given by the charity doubled annually. This year's meal amounted to more than 6,000 pounds of turkey. [CTV]

Fatal worker death inquest: The ice slab that fell during the construction of the Claridge Icon and killed Olivier Bruneau was not the first time ice had been an issue at the site. Another worker was hit by falling ice, and refused to return to work at the site. Fortunately, that worker was uninjured. [Ottawa Citizen]

GIVEAWAY

100 Kettleman’s bagels right to your home

That’s right, we’ve launched a giveaway for 100 Kettleman bagels.

• The details: Obviously we won’t send you 100 bagels! Instead, we’ll load up a gift card worth 100 bagels to purchase anytime you want.

How do you win? It’s simple, just refer at least one person to Ottawa Lookout or Capital Eats. When your friends sign-up, they also get a chance to win!

Sign-up on this page to get your referral link. Just a reminder - you'll need to refer at least one person to enter the contest!

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

You too can sit on a porch by the bay at this waterfront bungalow on Constance Bay. Fantastic views of the Ottawa River and Gatineau Hills, with beach access, and everything you could want in a kitchen. Plus, the master suite has its own sunroom overlooking the water.

See the listing to find out more.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Karen Bailey has painted a series of portraits of the people of the Ottawa Mission on display now at the Ottawa Art Gallery. [Apt613]

• Clinical trials on music and breathing therapy for depression led by an Ottawa researcher are getting underway soon. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Rats and roads were a major topic in the latest Renfrew mayoral debate. [CityNews]

• The Ottawa Titans re-signed their manager and coach to multi-year extensions. [Ottawa Citizen]

• The vacant Woolworth’s building in downtown Brockville finally has a plan for redevelopment. [CTV]

• Crazy as it sounds, the Ottawa Redblacks have a (slim) chance to sneak into the CFL playoffs this year. [Ottawa Citizen]

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GOOD NEWS

Bittersweet retirement: After 106 years and four generations in operation, the three brothers at Nettleton’s Jewellery will close their shop to retire. “We were hoping to keep it going longer, but with the perfect storm hitting — age, health and lease — we have to reconsider. … The lease is too expensive, our health is still good, and our age is getting up there,” Cameron Nettleton told the Ottawa Business Journal. [OBJ]

TOP PHOTO

Today’s photo comes from reader Nancy M, who captured this splendid view of a recent sunset from her Lowertown balcony.

Do you have a photo you’d like to share? We’d love to see your best fall photos! Reply to this email with yours, and it could run in a future issue.

OTTAWA GEOGUESSER

The answer to last week’s Ottawa Wordle was CREEK, congrats to everyone who solved it!

After a few tough Ottawa GeoGuessers, we think this one is a bit easier. There are at least two major hints to where this one is, if you look close enough.

If you think you know where this is, reply to this email with the location. The first five people to guess correctly will have their names published in the next issue of the Lookout. Good luck!

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