Opinion

Artist’s rendering of a completed Rideau Station. In news that should surprise nobody who had been paying attention, the City of Ottawa revealed Monday that the Confederation Line won’t be ready in 2018 at all. Instead, it should be operational in Q1 2019. ...

Welcome to Canada’s Parliament by Daniel Dewan I was scrolling through OttawaStart’s Flickr pool the other day (check it out sometime!) and this photo by Daniel Dewan really caught my eyes – partly because of the striking title: “Welcome to Canada’s Parliament. ...

After news that 4,600 people (possibly including myself) may have been exposed to infection because of dirty equipment at a Stittsville clinic, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering when it had last been inspected. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was surprised to learn that Ottawa Public Health (OPH) doesn’t regularly inspect medical clinics. ...

[caption id=“attachment_69101” align=“aligncenter” width=“1024”] OC Transpo hopes two large projects to bring Trillium Line infrastructure up to date will improve reliability. (Lezumbalaberenjena/Wikimedia Commons/Public domain)[/caption] Taking OC Transpo has certainly changed since I first moved here in 1980. Then I was greeted by buses with 3-4 stairs to get into the bus. ...

We all know Ottawa likes to give back, as we have shown time and time again with record local giving campaigns and a plethora of local charities. We all know the big names in local not-for-profits (NFP’s) but what about the folks doing cool and innovative stuff, albeit maybe on a smaller scale? ...

[caption id=“attachment_74427” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”] Long Ma can walk, trot or gallop at a maximum of 7 km/h. It took him about an hour to travel from city hall to the National Gallery of Canada.[/caption]  Here’s our annual list of things that Ottawa was obsessed with in 2017. ...

[caption id=“attachment_84838” align=“aligncenter” width=“599”] Melnyk. (Wikimedia)[/caption] Sens owner Eugene Melnyk’s poorly-timed comments on the financial shape of the team set off a firestorm on Friday and reinforced the obvious: The fans are not the problem, it’s him. Speaking to the media ahead of the Sens alumni game, he complained about low ticket sales for the team and basically threatened to move it if attendance further declined. ...

[caption id=“attachment_77404” align=“aligncenter” width=“384”] Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. An Ontario teachers' union wants schools named after him to be renamed in acknowledgement of his historical mistreatment toward Indigenous peoples. (Library Archives Canada)[/caption] One side is engaged in Orwellian scrubbing of the historical record, while the others are plainly ignoring the ugly truth. ...

[caption id=“attachment_74784” align=“aligncenter” width=“1296”] Long Ma during a final battle with Kumo, the spider, in La Machine on Sunday. The performance proved enormous benefit to nearby businesses thanks to the thousands who turned out to watch it. (Charlie Senack for OttawaStart. ...

You don’t have to believe in myths to have a good time watching La Machine in the streets of Ottawa for the next three days. Of course, dragons don’t really exist. But Long Ma, the horse-dragon character in the production, does a spectacular job bringing the myth to life thanks to its detailed bodywork, lifelike movements and convincing sound effects. ...