Neighbours used a kayak to rescue the driver of a vehicle that crashed through the ice of the Rideau River.
A driver takes a selfie while standing on a car after it falls through the ice of the Rideau River and a record-breaking snowstorm brings Ottawa to a standstill.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.
A yellow car speeding across the ice of the Rideau River in Manotick, Ont. last weekend hit a weak spot and plunged into the water, prompting a massive rescue operation by neighbours to save the driver.
Emergency crews responded to the incident on the Rideau River in the area of Old Mill Way, near White Horse Park, at approximately 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Witnesses reported the car was speeding at nearly 120 km/h at one point.
The incident got widespread attention after the car's driver took a selfie while standing on the submerged vehicle.
"So luckily one of my other neighbours, Rob Crober, had a rope that he had got, so he ran back to his place to grab one of his kayaks off his kayak rack. And I was untangling the rope, he got back, we tied the rope to the kayak and then just got it out to here," Zachary King told CTV News Ottawa.
"It’s like everything worked out perfectly. Got her on the kayak, pulled her in. And as soon as we pulled her in, the car went under. Fully."
Police say the driver has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code of Canada.
On Friday, police removed the vehicle from the frozen river.
Crews from the Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Paramedic Service and Ottawa Fire Service removed a car from the Rideau River ice on Friday. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)
Two eight-year-old Ottawa boys were called heroes this week for their quick actions to help a stranger and their family.
On Monday, paramedics thanked Clayton McGuire for saving an elderly man who was almost completely buried in snow during the blizzard. Clayton had spotted the man near his home and immediately told his parents, who called 911.
"The gentleman was almost all covered due to the huge snowfall when Clayton spotted him," the paramedic service said.
"A man, I saw him on the floor. Went to get my mom and dad straight away," Clayton told CTV News Ottawa, describing the scene.
Clayton's dad Joey McGuire said he checked on the man as soon as he was outside.
"I asked the man if he was okay. He seemed like he was hurt; he couldn’t get up, he couldn’t walk, he had no strength at all," McGuire explained. "Looked like he had been down there for at least 20 minutes, maybe longer, because he was totally covered in snow."
The man was assessed at the scene but ultimately decided not to go to the hospital, according to paramedics.
Meantime, a Stittsville family is crediting their eight-year-old son for alerting them to a fire at a neighbour's home, giving them time to escape before the flames spread to their home.
Whitney and Sean Toogood say their son Mason came into their room, saying he couldn't get back to sleep and smelled something funny.
When Sean Toogood investigated, he discovered the fire next door. The family of four and their cats escaped before the fire spread.
"At the end of the day, my son was awake and he's a hero through all this," said Toogood.
Clayton McGuire, 8, plays in the snow in front of his home in Ottawa. Jan. 17, 2022. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
The city of Ottawa spent most of the week digging out after a record-breaking snowstorm hit the capital.
Environment Canada reported 48 cm of snow fell on Monday, closing schools, vaccination clinics and COVID-19 testing sites and disrupting air and vehicle travel.
The city warned it would take two days to clear all residential streets following the storm, and crews began moving snow piles off streets over the weekend.
Mayor Jim Watson said the cleanup would cost up to $5 million.
Ottawa received another 5 cm on Wednesday.
A plow clears snow after a blizzard dumped a record 47.8 cm of snow in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. (Jim O'Grady/CTV News Ottawa)
The Office of the Fire Marshal, Ottawa police and other agencies continued their investigation this week into the deadly explosion at an Ottawa tanker truck manufacturing facility.
Six people were killed in the explosion at Eastway Tank on Merivale Road on Jan. 13. One person died in hospital following the explosion, while the remains of five people were located at the site.
On Friday, the Office of the Fire Marshal said its on-site investigation had wrapped up and the investigative team had cleared the scene.
There is no timeline for the investigations to be completed.
"Our investigation process is very thorough, and the thoroughness of our process means it takes time," said deputy fire marshal Tim Beckett last Sunday.
Family members have identified five people as victims of the tragedy: Kayla Ferguson, Rick Bastien, Danny Beale, Etienne Mabiala, and Russ McLellan.
Ottawa police issued a drone photo of Eastway Tank on Merivale Road following Thursday's explosion and fire. (Photo courtesy: Ottawa Police Service)
Empty shelves at the grocery store greeted some shoppers in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this week.
Gordon Dean has spent the last 25 years in the grocery business. He’s the owner of Mike Dean Local Grocer with four stores in the Ottawa Valley.
He says he’s never seen anything like this.
"It’s not horrible. But it’s not great," says Dean. "Nobody’s going to go hungry. Nobody’s going to run out of food in communities. But the variety is definitely limited. The product coming in the door is definitely delayed."
Officials say a shortage of truckers, mandatory vaccination requirements for truckers at the Canada-U.S. border and short-staffed stores are leading to the empty shelves.
By now it's as predictable as the calls for thoughts and prayers: A mass shooting leaves many dead, and wild conspiracy theories and misinformation about the carnage soon follow. Within hours of Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, another rash began as internet users spread baseless claims about the man named as the gunman and his possible motives.
Tens of thousands of Ontario residents are facing another day without power as restoration efforts continue following last weekend's vicious storm.
Eleven newborn babies have died after a fire that broke out in the neonatal department at the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane, said the country's president Macky Sall on Thursday.
Conservative Party of Canada leadership hopefuls Scott Aitchison, Roman Baber, Patrick Brown, Jean Charest, Leslyn Lewis, and Pierre Poilievre squared off in the second official party debate on Wednesday night in Laval, Que.
Canada is committing an extra $1 million to help the international community investigate sex crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada would give the extra funds to the International Criminal Court to help it investigate sexual violence toward women, and also crimes against children.
Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol team.
Families are sharing photos and stories of their loved ones, who lost their lives in a mass shooting in Texas that killed at least 19 children and two adults on Tuesday afternoon.
Several parts of the country, including British Columbia and Canada's Maritime provinces, are likely to see wetter-than-normal conditions this summer, according to AccuWeather's annual summer forecast.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has now confirmed a total of 16 cases of monkeypox in the country, all in Quebec.
As the inquiry into Nova Scotia’s mass shooting moves its public proceedings to Truro, many of the family members affected by the tragedy and their lawyers are boycotting the proceedings over the next week.
Former Chief Anchor Steve Murphy offers a timely perspective on the Mass Casualty Commission and the difference 30 years after the Westray inquiry.
Speaking off-script at an event in Halifax Wednesday morning, Canada's Minister of Public Safety said he was gutted by the latest mass shooting south of the border - the 27th in a school this year alone.
Ontario's election is one week away, and the party leaders are focusing on key issues in key ridings.
Toronto police are investigating an armed carjacking in Scarborough overnight.
Two men have serious injuries following a head-on collision in Toronto Wednesday evening.
Quebec's public health department is set to give its first press conference on the growing monkeypox outbreak as the province recorded its 16th confirmed case Wednesday.
Quebec politicians were not pleased with the federal Liberals' comments on Bill 96 and Bill 21, firing back with a slew of protests and even raising sovereignty as the solution.
Several of the six aspiring Conservative leaders expressed their opposition to Bill 96 during a French-language debate in Laval on Wednesday night, but others shied away from the opportunity to express their views on the issue.
Several parts of the country, including British Columbia and Canada's Maritime provinces, are likely to see wetter-than-normal conditions this summer, according to AccuWeather's annual summer forecast.
Hydro Ottawa is hoping to energize hydro lines in the Merivale Road area today, as the cleanup continues following last Saturday's devastating storm.
Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol team.
Victoria Day weekend fireworks violations spark new effort to implement a ban.
Two men and one woman are facing charges Wednesday after police say their vehicle struck a London police cruiser and then the suspects fled the scene on foot over the weekend.
OPP and Southwest Middlesex fire are on the scene of a fatal collision Wednesday afternoon involving a tanker truck and a passenger vehicle.
The Manitoba Government could turn to the military for help as it struggles with staffing shortages, overcrowding, and in some cases, temporary closures of emergency rooms.
The Winnipeg Police Service is informing the public of a Thursday morning road closure.
A new report out of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has found that most Manitobans have positive experiences with the health-care system in hospitals.
There was both a sellout crowd inside and a demonstration outside of the Centre in the Square Wednesday evening for speaker Jordan Peterson.
New details are emerging about the tragic incident that killed 27-year-old Shelby Humble-Neale on Saturday.
Waterloo regional police say evidence of gunfire found in McLennan Park in Kitchener is connected to another shooting incident in the nearby area of Windflower Drive and Windflower Crescent.
The City of Calgary has recruited three people from the commercial real-estate sector in an effort to get a new event centre to replace the aging Scotiabank Saddledome.
After a massacre at a Texas elementary school, some are looking into safety protections against gun violence in Calgary's school system while mental health experts are offering advice for difficult conversations about mass shootings.
Those who haven't received their bill by the first week of June are asked to contact 311.
The Prime Minister toured the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, which is working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
Saskatoon Police Service says that the use and presence of potent new synthetic opioids known as nitazenes are difficult to track and monitor.
A 48-year-old semi-truck driver was killed in in a rollover near Meadow Lake on Tuesday.
If you visit downtown Edmonton in the next 11 days, you might see some strange and unusual sights. Art installations and musical performances are popping up throughout the area as part of Downtown Spark.
Even though they cheer for opposite teams, a proposal by a Flames fan at Game 4 of the Battle of Alberta received a resounding "yes" from the Oilers-loving bride to be.
The body of a missing canoer has been located in northeast Alberta.
The decision to focus on urgent and emergency health care to avert long waits played a key role in B.C.’s current primary care crisis, and the costlier care is compounding the problem.
A social media video that captures the moment a man gets Tasered by a Vancouver police officer is prompting calls for more training for police going out mental health calls.
A judge has refused to grant a B.C. cannabis company an injunction against a man who used a list of email addresses the company accidentally sent to all shareholders against it.
Saskatchewan RCMP and the Washington State Patrol announced a collaboration of efforts to locate Mekayla Bali, who was 16-years-old when she was last on April 12, 2016 in Yorkton.
A new art exhibit at the George Bothwell Library is hoping to examine and remove the feeling of shame associated with people who are deaf and hard of hearing.
For those looking to hop the border into Manitoba for their camping seasons, it started off on the wrong foot for Duck Mountain Provincial Park.
