Weekly newsletter: March 4, 2025
Hi everyone!
The last few days felt like a really long year, and it’s only Tuesday.
Snowbank removal
Snowbank removal operations are paused in the ward today, as it’s garbage day, and will likely also be paused across the city tomorrow with the heavy rain in the forecast. Regular operations are expected to resume Thursday.
Some streets in the ward scheduled for snowbank removal on Friday, Sunday, and Monday were left incomplete as crews ran out of time. Below is a partial list:
Dragon Park
Felicia
Gospel Oak (partial)
Mountshannon (west side by Mulligan Park)
Oriska
Via Campanale
Via Mattino
Via San Marino
Wanstead
Whitewater
Staff have a full list of streets left incomplete, which will be revisited until they are complete. It’s possible they were a bit too ambitious in their scheduling after the good progress made on the collectors in the weeks previous.
Given it will likely be a few days until service is complete, I have asked staff to consider removing the yellow no parking signs staked in the snowbanks.
Updates will be shared via Facebook↗ as the itineraries are released.
Mois de la Francophonie
Chaque année en mars, le Canada et le monde célèbrent la langue française et l’apport des francophones dans la culture et la communauté.
J’ai eu le privilège d’assister au gala pour la remise du prix Bernard Grandmaître. Le prix « est remis annuellement à une personne qui s’est démarquée au sein de la francophonie ottavienne et rend hommage, par son nom, à l’ancien ministre délégué aux Affaires francophones de l’Ontario et père de la Loi sur les services en français en Ontario » (le Droit, 2 mars 2025).
Deux jeunes de Barrhaven figuraient parmi les finalistes pour le prix Gisèle Lalonde, qui récompense les jeunes distingués, dont l’un a été le lauréat! Félicitations!
Sur une note plus personnelle, le fait que j’ai pu comprendre la majeure partie de la cérémonie me dit que mes compétences d’écoute en français s’améliorent (ce qui a été mon défi jusqu’à présent, malgré une bonne compréhension de la grammaire et du vocabulaire).
J’espère continuer à améliorer mon français au fur et à mesure que mes cours hebdomadaires se poursuivent!
Cette année est d’une importance particulière pour la communauté franco-ontarienne, car le drapeau vert et blanc a été hissé pour la première fois il y a 50 ans, le 25 septembre 1975, à Sudbury. Le drapeau a été désigné comme emblème officiel de la province il y a cinq ans.
Joyeux mois de la Francophonie !
Greenbank Road pathway
Preliminary details indicate pathway will be closed for four to six weeks during resurfacing in the spring or summer.
City staff will soon issue a tender for the full resurfacing of the multi-use pathway which runs alongside Greenbank Road through the Greenbelt.
As the pathway’s location is often the last to thaw and dry up, construction will likely not be able to begin until late-spring or early-summer.
The works will require a full closure of the pathway for four to six weeks, with Greenbank’s shoulders or the multi-use path along Woodroffe as alternates.
Staff considered setting up a proper detour for the pathway along Greenbank with barriers. However, the cost of the barriers (plus installation and removal) was estimated to far eclipse the cost of the project, so a closure was chosen instead.
More details about the project will become available when the tender is complete.
The resurfacing is a medium-term (five to 10 years) temporary measure until the National Capital Commission lets the City completely refurbish and upgrade the pathway through the Greenbelt.
No newsletter will be published next week, as it’s March Break — we’ll be back on Tuesday March 18! Until then, please reach out if there’s anything city-related on your mind. You can email me at Wilson.Lo@ottawa.ca, reply to this newsletter, or call 613-580-2846.
Have a safe week ahead!
-Wilson