Gee-Gees win Panda Game, crowd only slightly out of control

Good morning!

Fall sure does creep up fast. A couple weeks ago, there was just one tree in the neighbourhood with its leaves changing colour, now from my balcony I can see brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges dotting the landscape.

While it may be dark early, it’s a lovely sight. Just don’t do what I did and forget to close a wide open window when there’s a frost advisory.

Anyhow, onward.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

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Weather Report

Monday: 15 🌡️ 0 | ☀️

Tuesday: 18 🌡️ 6 | ☀️

Wednesday: 19 🌡️ 9 | ☀️

OTTAWA THIS WEEK

Mayoral town hall: The Ottawa Arts Initiative is hosting a town hall with eight of the mayoral candidates. You can attend online or in person at the Arts Court tonight at 6 pm to ask questions.

Queensway reopens: Traffic pain for one more day. The 417 is scheduled to open tomorrow at 6 am, once crews have finished replacing and paving the Rochester Street bridge.

Candidates release financial plans: Both Mark Sutcliffe and Catherine McKenney are expected to release their full financial plans this week.

SPORTS

Panda-monium after the Panda game

What happened: The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees football team won the annual Panda Game against the Carleton University Ravens in front of a huge crowd at Lansdowne. It was a blowout 37-7 victory for the Gee-Gees, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

• Key player: Gee-Gees receiver Nicholas Gendron had eight catches for 211 yards. In one game, he surpassed his total of 173 yards for the whole of the 2021 season.

After the game: Crowds took over streets in Sandy Hill at about 9pm, CTV reported. Police gave out 88 tickets and arrested seven people, according to CBC. Most of those were for open alcohol containers. The arrests were for public intoxication and mischief.

Yes, but: The tickets and arrests weren’t as bad as last year where about 2,000 people took over the streets of Sandy Hill, flipping a car and causing damage throughout the neighbourhood.

Police maintained a large presence and dispersed the crowd once police allegedly had items thrown at them.

CONVOY

Mayor wouldn’t return calls to Parliament security during convoy

What happened: The head of the Parliamentary Protective Service said he couldn’t get Mayor Jim Watson or the city manager on the phone during the convoy.

Larry Brookson told a parliamentary committee his efforts were turned down because they weren’t available, according to The Canadian Press.

• Brookson said his office received no information about a deal between the city and the convoy organizers to bring a negotiated end to the occupation. That deal fell apart soon after it was announced.

Missed chances: Brookson said he would have closed Wellington Street off to the protesters, and opposed the decision by the city and Ottawa police to let them onto the street. He also said he was kept out of the loop of day-to-day police operations.

Not the only one: Lawyer Paul Champ, who filed the injunction on behalf of Zexi Li against the use of horns, said he was frozen out by the mayor’s office too.

• “City lawyers asked for our injunction materials and watched the proceeding but when we asked for info or help…crickets. I repeatedly and personally reached out and was ignored. Seemed like he resented we got the horn injunction,” Champ tweeted.

JOBS AROUND TOWN

• Health and safety learning and development officer at the National Gallery of Canada

• Team leader at Statistics Canada

• Communications advisor at the National Research Council

• Procurement officer at NAV Canada

• Account manager at Desjardins

DAYCARE

For-profit daycares get province to soften rules

What happened: The Ontario government gave in to pressure from for-profit daycare providers and loosened cost-saving measures for the new federally funded universal daycare program.

• Among what they had were removed were limits on “undue profits” and “ineligible expenditures,” according to the Toronto Star.

The key number: For-profit daycares make up about 30 percent of the daycares in the province.

The problem: Critics said the move undermines the program’s purpose, to expand daycare access and make it more affordable. They also told the Star the changes mean the goal of $10-per-day daycare might not be possible.

• The federal response: “With no capacity to review and limit reasonable expenditures and profits, the updates made to the funding guidelines may run counter to the objective of ensuring the sound and reasonable use of public funds,” Minister of Families Karina Gould wrote, according to the Star.

Meanwhile, parents are still waiting for financial relief. The province extended the deadline for daycares to sign up until Nov. 1, after which point, cheques should go out.

STORIES YOU MIGHT’VE MISSED

Ninth-floor rescue: Ottawa fire crews rescued a construction worker from the ninth floor after he was hit by a piece of concrete. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Driver kills pedestrian: A 56-year-old man was killed this weekend when a driver hit him on Walkley Road. The cause of the collision is under investigation, and police are looking for witnesses. No charges have been laid. [CBC]

Shopify to sell tool for in-person shopping: Undergoing a period of turmoil, Ottawa’s Shopify is rolling out a new device to sell products in person. The mobile device can scan barcodes and take payments from customers with debit and credit cards. It’s part of the company’s pivot as the online shopping boom of the pandemic came to an end. [OBJ]

Former senator charged: Former senator Don Meridith was charged by Ottawa Police with three counts of sexual assault and one count of harassment. The charges stem from incidents in 2013 and 2014. The alleged victim is an adult woman. Meridith resigned from the senate in 2017, rather than be expelled, over a relationship with a teenage girl. [CBC]

Redblacks fire coach: Paul LaPolice is out as coach of the Redblacks. The CFL team fired him after they returned from BC, where they lost 34-19 to the Lions. The team has 11 losses and only three wins this year. Special teams coach Bob Dyce was named as interim coach for the remainder of the season. [CTV]

FOOD

Soon-to-be-popular (but still less known) Ottawa restaurants

Finding hidden restaurant gems is hard. Luckily, the Capital Eats team has nine places that aren’t well-known, but you should check out.

• Killer Korean food at Food Mood: Korean Kitchen.

• Try out the mahicheh (lamb shank) at Saffron Kabab on Bank Street.

• Ottawa’s best banh mi? Possibly! You can't can’t go wrong with Banh Mi Yes.

Read about the other six hidden gems.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Get to know some of the architectural history of the city through six stunning buildings. [Apt613]

• Fall colours are starting to pop across town. Get out there to see the best of fall. [Reddit]

• For your next take-out order, you won’t regret ordering the rice-paper wrapped shrimp salad roll at Orchid Sushi.

• The people of Smiths Falls are quite pleased with the revamped downtown. [CBC]

• Looking for an arts grant? Apt613 has a guide on how to apply for two funding programs. [Apt613]

• Mayoral candidate Catherine McKenney sat down with our food editor to share their favourite restaurants in the city.

• Have a few million dollars lying around? Why not check out this list of the most expensive homes for sale in the city this fall. [CTV]

• Pumpkinferno is back! The carved-pumpkin show is open nightly in Fort Henry and Upper Canada Village.

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

TOP PHOTO

Fall may be here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get a few more photos of summer. This one comes from reader Joanne Reyes, who captured this great shot of a monarch butterfly.

The leaves are starting to change colour. Do you have great fall shots? Send us your photos, we’re always looking to share them with the Lookout community.

QUIZ TIME

Congrats to everyone who solved last week’s Wordle. The answer was BOOTH.

For the quiz this week, we want to see how many of you know who won the very first Panda Game in 1955. The first five people to write in with the correct answer will get their names mentioned in the next issue.

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