![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1187959.1399583961!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Back to school, municipal election signs come out, and a new Conservative leader: Five stories to watch in Ottawa this week
![Ottawa school It's the first day of classes for students at École élémentaire catholique Horizon-Jeunesse in Ottawa. (Christina Succi/CTV News Ottawa)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2020/9/3/ottawa-school-1-5090853-1630861289681.jpg)
English school boards get back to class, the municipal election signs come out and a new Conservative leader is crowned.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch this week.
English school boards get back to school
Students in Ottawa’s English language public and catholic school boards get back to classes Tuesday, one week after French language board students returned to class.
With few COVID-19 restrictions remaining in the province, Ontario’s education minister anticipates this school year will be the most “normal” since the pandemic began, with extra-curricular activities like clubs and sports in full swing.
Ottawa police are reminding drivers to be mindful of young children on the streets and to stop for school buses.
There may be fewer school buses on the roads, however. The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority says 33 bus trips on 20 routes to schools across the city of Ottawa are being cancelled ahead of the start of classes on Sept. 6 as it deals with a driver shortage.
Tens of thousands of students in Ottawa's French public and French catholic school board returned to the classroom Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. School officials saying this year will feel more like pre-pandemic times. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)
Municipal election signs come out
Municipal election signs will begin popping up this week.
The first day an election sign can be placed on private or public property is Friday.
The municipal election on Oct. 24 will bring at least 11 new councillors and a new mayor at city hall this term. Nine councillors are not seeking re-election, one councillor is among the 14 people running for mayor, and there is a new, 24th municipal ward in the city.
There are 106 people vying for 24 council seats, and 83 people registered to become trustees in one of Ottawa’s four school boards. Eight school board trustee candidates will be acclaimed because they had no opponents as of the registration deadline in August.
Police and transit funding have emerged as some of the key issues of this election, with mayoral candidates trading barbs over the cost of reducing or eliminating fares on OC Transpo and the cost of funding or expanding police services in the city.
File photo of municipal election signs from the 2018 election in Ottawa.
COVID-19 levels and the new vaccine
With students back in classrooms and post-secondary schools this week, health officials will be monitoring the spread of COVID-19.
Recent data from the city’s wastewater monitoring project show the amount of virus detected in the city’s sewage has been on the decline, but it remains higher than it was last September and health officials expect a rise in transmission this fall. Ottawa Public Health is not mandating mask use for schoolchildren but is recommending them. Parents should also be monitoring their children for symptoms.
Students must wear a mask in public for 10 days after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, though Ontario has done away with its five-day isolation rule for people who test positive.
Last week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s new bivalent, omicron-targeting vaccine, which is expected to become available for adults and high-risk children over 12 soon. The province has also approved booster doses for children aged 5 to 11.
Since the pandemic began, Ottawa Public Health has recorded 80,905 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 877 deaths in the city. There have been more deaths from COVID-19 in Ottawa so far in 2022 than in all of 2021.
FILE - A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is displayed at a pop-up vaccine clinic for EMS workers Center in Salt Lake City on January 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Rick Bowmer
Another rate hike expected
Another rate hike from the Bank of Canada is expected to be announced this week.
Some Canadian banks are forecasting a key interest rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point, bringing it to 3.25 per cent. It would follow a full-point jump in July amid decades-high levels of inflation.
The inflation rate slowed slightly in July. August’s numbers have yet to be finalized.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says inflation remains “far too high” and aims to bring it back down to around two per cent.
The Bank of Canada building is seen in Ottawa, Wednesday, April 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Could an Ottawa MP become the next Conservative Party leader?
The Conservative Party of Canada selects its new leader this week, and all eyes are on an Ottawa MP.
Pierre Poilievre, who represents the suburban-rural riding of Carleton, has drawn large crowds to rallies across the country and he is widely perceived to be the front-runner in the race. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper endorsed Poilievre for the leadership.
The race has seen candidates attack each other for not being conservative enough, in the case of former Quebec premier Jean Charest, and for supporting the “Freedom Convoy” occupation of Ottawa, in the case of Poilievre. Brampton mayor Patrick Brown was in the running before being disqualified in July over “serious allegations of wrongdoing.”
Brown’s name will remain on the ballot because the party did not have time to reprint hundreds of thousands of ballots that are being sent out to members across the country.
There are five candidates in the running for leader: Poilievre, Charest, Roman Baber, Scott Aitchison, and Leslyn Lewis.
According to a Leger poll released in August, Poilievre is the clear favourite among CPC members, while Charest has more support among Canadians overall.
The leadership convention will be held Sept. 10.
Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre, left, smiles as he takes part in the Conservative Party of Canada French-language leadership debate in Laval, Quebec on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6450420.1725820142!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
Bloc Quebecois ready to extract gains for Quebec in exchange for supporting Liberals
The Bloc Québécois says its ready to wheel and deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party for support during confidence votes now that the Liberal government's confidence and supply agreement with the NDP has ended.
Over 200 firearms seized in Waterloo weapons investigation
According to police, during a traffic stop officers noticed firearms and ammunition inside the vehicle.
'It's morally wrong': A rural Alberta town reacts to homeless shelter closure
At the end of a side street in Slave Lake, Alta., Lynn Bowes looks at a grey job-site trailer with boarded-up windows and doors that once operated as her town's only homeless shelter.
Timeline: The rise and fall of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political fortunes
In the wake of the NDP withdrawing its automatic support of the minority Liberal government, here is a timeline of key events charting the arc of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's fortunes in federal politics.
The controversial plan to turn a desert green
Ties van der Hoeven's ambitions are nothing if not grand. The Dutch engineer wants to transform a huge stretch of inhospitable desert into green, fertile land teeming with wildlife.
Military surplus store in Calgary, destination of celebrity shoppers, closing doors
Cher, Anthony Hopkins, Heath Ledger, Alec Baldwin and Tom Hardy are just a few of the celebrities John Cumming met while growing up in his family's military surplus store.
Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate
With just days to go before his first and likely only debate against U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, former U.S. president Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.
Mother of Georgia shooting suspect called school to warn of emergency, aunt says
The mother of the 14-year-old who has been charged with murder over the fatal shooting of four people at his Georgia high school called the school before the killings, warning staff of an 'extreme emergency' involving her son, a relative said.
Canadian drivers enjoying unusual low gas prices for time of year
Drivers across the country are keeping more money in their pockets after filling up a tank of gas.