2017

Gov. Gen. David Johnston and Sharon Johnston wrapped up their seven-year mandate on Thursday with a slew of official activities. The Johnstons began the day by laying a cornerstone at the new visitor centre on Parliament Hill, to “underline the importance of public education about our national institutions and to mark the construction of the first new building on Parliament Hill in over a century,” said a news release from Rideau Hall. ...

The Canadian debut of the Red Bull Global Rallycross wrapped up at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Sunday evening. American Tanner Foust was declared round six winner on Sunday in the Supercar category, with Scott Speed in second and Mitchell deJong in third. ...

[caption id=“attachment_59798” align=“aligncenter” width=“720”] “The REAL reason for the sinkhole on Sussex” by Matt French @matthewfrench on Twitter[/caption] Here’s our (mostly) annual list of things that Ottawa was obsessed with (for better or for worse) in 2016. You can read previous year-end lists here. ...

_ (press release) _ ** OTTAWA (Canada) ** ** – ** At the National Arts Centre (NAC), Canada is our stage. That will be truer than ever in 2017 as the NAC celebrates our country’s 150 th birthday by presenting a number of ambitious projects to mark Canada’s milestone year. ...

_ (press release) _ ** Ottawa ** – Rideau Street between Sussex Drive and Dalhousie Street will be closed to all vehicular traffic until the end of December. This closure takes effect on Wednesday, October 19 at 8 p.m. The closure is necessary to accommodate construction on the O-Train Confederation Line light rail transit (LRT) project. ...

There are eight ways this could play out, and all of them include some sort of monument to Lord Frederick Stanley’s namesake hockey trophy on Sparks Street. This week the finalists were revealed for a competition to build the monument. The designs are all some abstraction of the cup, to varying degrees. ...

_ (press release) _ The Ottawa 2017 Bureau and Mayor Jim Watson, in collaboration with lead partner CIBC, announced today that the search is on for unique, spectacular and ephemeral events to be presented in surprising and unusual locations across Ottawa in 2017. ...

Mayor Jim Watson is inviting Ottawa students in Grades 1 to 12 to create the official postcards for the Ottawa 2017 celebrations.  Mayor Watson was joined by Ottawa 2017 Co-chairs, Councillors Jean Cloutier and Mathieu Fleury, to officially launch the city-wide competition today at Featherston Drive Public School in Alta Vista Ward. ...

The City of Ottawa is seeking local, national and international companies as sponsoring partners for the 150 th anniversary celebrations of Canada’s Confederation in 2017.  The City’s Ottawa 2017 Bureau has posted a notice on MERX, the government procurement system, to ensure fairness and transparency for the sponsorship process. ...