Province repeals wage caps

Good morning!

One of the strange things about becoming a parent is seeing that there’s a whole other side to public services you don’t really interact with until you’ve got a kid. So yesterday we dove into the deep end (I’m so, so sorry) of swim registration with the city.

Even though we were successful, the stress in those first few moments when the system seemed to seize up was not ideal. While it’s good the city has improved its online system, the underlying problem — the reason a robust system is even necessary — is there because there aren’t enough swimming and recreation spots to meet the needs of the city.

Fix that, and you fix the sign in problems.

And a quick correction, in the previous issue I mispelled both Morgan Rielly and Ridly Greig in an interesting variety of ways. The Lookout regrets the errors.

Let’s get to it.

— Robert Hiltz, managing editor

PS - Did someone forward you the Lookout? Sign-up for free and get smarter about Ottawa.

WEATHER

Wednesday: -5 🌡️ -14 | 🌤

Thursday: -4 🌡️ -8 | ☁️

Friday: -5 🌡️ -15 | 🌤/❄️

PROVINCIAL UPDATE

Ontario government will repeal wage cap bill after second court loss

What happened: After an appeals court once again found Ontario’s Bill 124 wage cap bill unconstitutional, the provincial government announced it would repeal the legislation, The Canadian Press reported.

The bill had capped public sector wage increases to one percent per year. A lower court had previously found the bill unconstitutional for arbitrarily curtailing the rights of workers to bargain. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld that decision in a 2-1 ruling.

• “Ontario has not been able to explain why wage restraint could not have been achieved through good faith bargaining.… In the absence of any evidence for the need for expediency or that the same goal cannot be achieved through collective bargaining, it is hard to understand on what basis the Act’s salutary effects outweigh its beneficial effects,” the court wrote in its decision, CP reported.

Repeal incoming: Rather than appeal the decision to a higher court, the provincial government said it would end its fight and repeal the law instead. That legislation will be tabled in the coming weeks.

The opposition: The bill was a significant driver of the flight of nurses from the provincial healthcare system in particular, even according to internal government documents, Global reported last year. Hospitals and nursing associations had said the cap on wages, especially at a time of high inflation and gruelling working conditions, made hiring new nurses and keeping veterans on at hospitals difficult.

• The shortages have been so severe at times, emergency departments across the province, including many in and around the city, have had to close for hours or days at a time, the Ottawa Citizen previously reported.

Licence plate renewals

Auto renewal: You’ll no longer have to worry about renewing your vehicle’s licence plate. The province said it would now automatically renew plates for all vehicles, as long as there are no outstanding fines or toll bills, CTV reported.

• There are more than a million vehicles with expired plates in the province. This despite the fact the government got rid of the need to pay a yearly fee and replace the sticker, but still required drivers to renew the plate annually.

No carbon tax without a referendum?

Carbon referendum: Premier Doug Ford also said his government will put forward legislation to require a referendum to impose a provincial carbon tax, according to CBC.

The trouble with that: The legislation wouldn’t actually prevent a subsequent government — or even Ford’s own — from instituting a carbon tax without a referendum. Because one parliament cannot bind the hands of another, a government would simply need to repeal the parts of the law requiring a referendum, according to political science professor and constitutional scholar Emmet Macfarlane.

The other problem: The Ford government already repealed the province’s carbon reduction scheme, meaning Ontario is subject to the federal carbon levy, which Queen’s Park has no control over.

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🥵 0.7 C: El Niño isn’t the only culprit for the not-so-cold winter, Ottawa’s average temperature has risen this many degrees above its 30-year average to 6.7 C. [CBC]

📈 4.7%: The amount the alcohol excise tax will increase in April. The annual increases are tied to inflation, but the restaurant industry wants the amount capped at two percent. [CTV]

🩺 $60,000: The amount in student loans the federal government will forgive to certain doctors and nurses who are practising in rural and remote areas. [CBC]

OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN

💥 Police in Kingston think the burglary of a downtown business is connected to an abandoned vehicle that crashed into two homes the same evening. Two suspects escaped, while a third person was found injured in the back seat of the crashed vehicle, and subsequently arrested. [CBC]

⚖️ Two former students are suing the Ottawa Catholic School Board and a former teacher convicted of sexually assaulting the two girls. The $220-million lawsuit said administrators at St. Matthew’s High School in Orléans were informed of the abuse but did not follow through. The proposed class-action suit extends to anyone else who may have been assaulted by the teacher. [CTV]

📱 ParaTranspo riders are frustrated by a pilot project that gives Blackburn Hamlet residents on-demand bus service on Sundays, something they’ve been fighting for for years. Currently, ParaTranspo riders can only book trips a day in advance. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚨 Two people died after falling through the ice on Charleston Lake south of the city. A third person was able to swim to safety. [CTV]

💐 A worker fell to their death at a construction site near the corner of Carling and Bronson. The welder was on a hoist, and fell from the fourth floor of the Katasa development. The provincial Ministry of Labour is investigating. [CTV]

👩‍👧 The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County is facing an uncertain future. Donations have dried up since 2020 and they’re only able to help half as many kids with one-third of the staff. [CBC]

🏛️ Businesses in Petawawa now need a permit before displaying any portable signs by the side of the road. Each permit only lasts for 30 days, and only four permits will be issued per year to a business. [CTV]

OTTAWA 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.

Craig Cardiff, Wednesday 7 pm: Juno and CFMA-nominated folk singer-songwriter. At the Rainbow Bistro, 76 Murray St. Free to attend.

Rat-Bath, Wednesday 7 pm: Self-proclaimed "Y'allternative" Milwaukee band of transgender individuals playing emo/post-hardcore. At Avant-Garde Bar, 135 Besserer St. Tickets $10 or PWYC.

The Playlist, Friday 8 pm: Three of Ottawa’s most eminent instrumentalists perform their new experimental jazz project. At Montgomery Scotch Lounge, 750 Gladstone Ave. Tickets $15.

Ann Vriend with Curtis Chaffey, Sunday 8 pm: Award-winning, piano-driven soul music. At Red Bird, 1165 Bank St. Tickets $20.

Hotel Mira, Sunday 8 pm: Hook-filled indie from Vancouver (formerly known as JPNSGRLS). At Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St. Tickets $20.

HOUSE OF THE WEEK

It’s been a while since we’ve done an ostentatious home. It felt like it was time. This home, on three-and-a-half acres, has a pool, hot tub, gazebo, and basketball court. The kitchen is enormous (with a fascinating detail on the stove hood fan), and there are five bedrooms.

It’s not cheap, but given the market, it’s not nearly as bad as you’d expect.

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

📻 The Bell cuts continued to go deep, as the company shut down the Move 100.3 morning show. Longtime radio personality Stuntman Stu announced that he was out of a job, just hours after tweeting about how grateful he was to still work in the business on World Radio Day. [Twitter]

🙅‍♂️ Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly was handed a five-game suspension for a late-game cross-check to the head of Ridly Greig at the end of the Sens 5-3 victory Saturday. Greig had sealed the win with a close-range slapshot into the Leafs empty net, which Rielly took offence to. [NHL]

🚒 The Ottawa Fire Service wants the city to consider volunteer firefighters in rural regions as casual employees. The move would give the firefighters more stability, and make it easier for the city to keep them around because of the benefits that would come with it. About 40 percent of the city’s firefighters work on a volunteer basis. [Ottawa Citizen]

⚖️ After a five-day examination, it’s still not clear whether 81-year-old Rodney Nichols is fit to stand trial for the 1975 killing of Jewell Parchman Langford. Nichols suffers from dementia, according to his lawyers. [CBC]

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Unsure how to deal with an overdose? Ottawa Public Health is offering a course on what to do. [CTV]

• Curious about AI? Ai for normal people is the newsletter for you, whether you're a complete newcomer or a seasoned pro, they've got you covered. Sign up for free today. [Sponsored]

• Night photos are always a good call, like this one looking across the Ottawa toward Gatineau. [Reddit]

• Across town, the faithful celebrated Pancake Tuesday in syrupy style. [CTV]

• I once worked at a Quiznos, so the opening of a new Bank Street location delights me. [Reddit]

• Returning items to the lost and found is always a good move. [Reddit]

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

INSIDER CITY HALL

Insider: Ottawa gets more federal money than it asked for

What happened: The city and the federal government finally announced their agreement for $176.3 million in new housing funds for the city, according to a press release from the two levels of government. The money will come over the next three years, if the city lives up to its commitments (more on that in a moment), and is expected to see an additional 4,450 homes built in the city. 

Two big things: There were two standouts from the announcement. First, the city agreed to open up zoning to four units on any lot in the city. Second, the city got more than the $150 million it had initially asked for.

The zoning: The zoning changes are probably the biggest. In its application for funds, the city had appeared to think the changes it had made, including denser secondary corridors and three-unit zoning throughout much of the city, would be enough.

The money: The bulk of it will go toward building affordable housing. Ninety percent of the funds — about $160 million — are allocated to getting below-market housing built. The remaining 10 percent will go to streamline the city’s development processes and improve infrastructure.

OTTAWA GAMES

Congrats to the two-thirds of you who knew the answer to this week’s Ottawa Quiz, that there are approximately seven tickets handed out per day for fare evasion.

Do you know where today’s Ottawa Guesser is? The first five people to respond get their names mentioned in the newsletter.