LRT inquiry report slams senior city staff and RTG, and a rise in daytime car thefts: Top five stories this week
LRT inquiry report slams senior city staff and RTG, and a rise in daytime car thefts: Top five stories this week
Partial service has resumed on Ottawa's light rail system after nearly two months. (CTV News Ottawa)
The final report into Ottawa's light rail transit system concludes there was "egregious violations of the public trust', an Ottawa lawyer accused of sexual misconduct and a tire flies off a car on Hwy. 7.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.
The final report into Ottawa's light rail transit system concluded the construction and maintenance of the $2.1 billion project was plagued by persistent failures in leadership and saw "egregious violations of the public trust."
The commissioner's report lists several reasons for the problems with the LRT. He found that the city chose unproven technology for the trains, RTG didn't coordinate the work of its subcontractors, the city rushed the LRT system into service before it was ready due to political pressure, and RTG and its subcontractors did not provide adequate maintenance.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe directed city staff to develop an action plan to implement the report's key recommendations.
In his response to the report, Premier Doug Ford said the project "stunk to high heaven" and that senior city of Ottawa officials did a "terrible job."
Ottawa's LRT train on Thursday. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)
Steve Kanellakos stepped down as Ottawa's city manager two days before the public inquiry tabled the final report into Ottawa's light rail transit system.
In an email to council, Kanellakos said he informed Mayor Mark Sutcliffe that Monday would be his last day as city manager.
“I’m sure there will be speculation about the reasons for my departure at this time. This decision is mine and mine alone. No one asked me to leave. I’ve always deeply believed in leadership accountability. As City Manager, I am ultimately accountable for the performance of the organization. I have always deeply believed that my role is to have your backs and that it is my duty to accept ultimate responsibility for our performance,” he wrote.
Kanellakos said he did not know what the LRT report would say, "I do believe, based on the line of questioning and approach taken by the Commission, that the report will be critical of the City of Ottawa and City Staff."
Kanellakos was hired as city manager in 2016.
Council approved a motion from Sutcliffe to name City Treasurer Wendy Stephanson as interim city manager.
Ottawa city manager Steve Kanellakos. (City of Ottawa)
An Ottawa woman is accusing a well-known lawyer of sexual misconduct, saying he offered her legal services in exchange for sexual favours.
James Bowie, who became known on Twitter this year for chronicling the court appearances of various 'Freedom Convoy' organizers, is the subject of an official complaint to the Law Society of Ontario.
The complaint alleges Bowie sent the woman "unsolicited intimate images, attempted to convince her to do illegal drugs with him, propositioned her, and offered legal services for sexual favours."
"These predatory acts violate multiple rules of professional conduct and were deeply harmful and offensive," the complaint said. "Mr. Bowie was seeking to prey on a vulnerable client."
CTV News called, emailed and texted Bowie to ask about the allegations in the complaint. He has not responded. CTV News also called his lawyer and has not heard back.
Bowie tweeted Tuesday evening, "It's fake. Just you wait. You'll see. It's fake."
None of the allegations have been proven.
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie is the subject of a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario. (Facebook)
Ottawa police are warning of a new trend heading into the holiday season of vehicles being stolen from parking lots at shopping malls, grocery stores and recreation and sporting venues in broad daylight.
"Thieves are getting brazen," Staff Sgt. Cathy Brown said in a statement.
"You may have your mind on your seasonal shopping list, but thieves are taking advantage of unattended vehicles in parking lots to steal your car, SUV or truck."
A total of 1,160 vehicles have been reported stolen in Ottawa this year. Police tell CTV News Ottawa that 173 vehicles were reported stolen in November.
In a media release, police say there has been "a surge" of reported vehicle thefts from the parking lots of grocery stores, recreation and sporting venues and shopping malls during daylight hours.
An Ottawa Police vehicle is seen behind police tape. (CTV News Ottawa)
As much of Southern Ontario is hit with a powerful snowstorm, a mix of heavy snow turning into rain is expected to hit Atlantic Canada as the weather system moves further east.
A First Nation in British Columbia has announced the discovery of at least 66 additional potential graves at the site of a former residential school where 93 were found last year.
Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem says he thinks Canada is 'turning the corner' on inflation, but he isn't ruling out that the country could enter a 'mild recession.' In an English-language broadcast exclusive interview with CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier, Macklem encouraged Canadians to prepare a 'buffer' to withstand 'tougher times.'
A Canadian charity is helping individuals with mental health struggles -- not with medication or therapy -- but by helping applicants start their own businesses.
A new survey from Research Co. shows that most of Canadians are not happy with the current economy and that their financial status have worsened over the past six months.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called a group of protesters who swarmed him outside a Hamilton, Ont. restaurant on Tuesday a 'handful of angry people.'
Facebook parent Meta is reinstating former U.S. President Donald Trump 's personal account, ending a two-year suspension it imposed in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
As snow continues to fall across southern Ontario, some school buses are preparing for treacherous driving conditions and cancelling their routes Thursday.
An old bylaw has come back to haunt a neighbourhood in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Some residents have been notified that they can no longer park in their own driveway.
Huri Zohrabyan is among 120,000 people living in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked enclave populated mainly by ethnic Armenians but recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. In December 2022, the only road connecting the region to Armenia and the outside world was blockaded. As a result, food, medicine and gas are in dangerously short supply.
A massive winter storm blew into Eastern Canada on Wednesday. The Texas low swept across Southern Ontario beginning Wednesday morning before arriving into southwestern Quebec into the evening hours.
A woman who lives in the Greater Sudbury community of Levack says it is time to part ways with the city's snow removal services after years of ongoing issues.
Officers investigating a fatal hit-and-run collision on Highway 17 near Bruce Mines charged a woman who ignored the road closure, saying she was impaired.
From private snow plow operators, to city employees and local homeowners, Londoners were ready to tackle Wednesday's snowy blast of winter with plows, shovels and heaps of salt.
As southern Ontario deals with a winter storm on Wednesday, OPP have their hands full responding to collisions across the region, and one of those collisions involved a police cruiser on Highway 401.
Huron County OPP are asking for the public’s help in identifying two suspects who allegedly brandished a knife and threatened employees while robbing a Walmart earlier this week.
A significant winter storm is sweeping through southern Ontario with a Texas low set to bring up to 20 cm of snow to areas including Waterloo region and Wellington County Wednesday.
Alberta justice minister Tyler Shandro will continue to face questions in front of a panel of lawyers on Thursday as a hearing into his conduct while he was the minister of health continues into day three.
On the past month almost 50,000 jobs across North America have disappeared in the technology sector, as both large and small companies axe workers to trim their costs.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office lashed out against the CBC on Wednesday, calling the news outlet's recent reportage regarding the provincial government "defamatory."
Fairhaven neighbourhood residents can expect to see an increased uniformed presence of police and fire personnel in the coming months, according to the Saskatoon Police Service.
At the Court of Kings Bench in Prince Albert, the court heard how an 18-year-old man was shot and killed with his own gun at a house party in October 2020.
A historian and a health studies professor agree that bovine tuberculosis from untested animals may have been one of the things that killed residential school children in eastern Alberta.
It's not on the menu, but comfort is what the Mah family serves up at the unassuming, out-of-the-way diner that just topped Yelp's list of the 100 best restaurants in Canada for 2023.
First there was the toxic drug crisis, then the COVID-19 pandemic, then a worker shortage. These compounding crises have put Vancouver's paramedics and dipatchers under unprecedented strain.
Partial service has resumed on Ottawa's light rail system after nearly two months. (CTV News Ottawa)
Ottawa's LRT train on Thursday. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)
Ottawa city manager Steve Kanellakos. (City of Ottawa)
Ottawa lawyer James Bowie is the subject of a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario. (Facebook)
An Ottawa Police vehicle is seen behind police tape. (CTV News Ottawa)
OPP say a crash on Highway 7 was caused by a failure to retorque winter tires. (OPP)
