200 unvaccinated hospital employees suspended and a bison gets head stuck in car window: Top five stories in Ottawa
Ottawa hospitals suspend unvaccinated employees, the mayor apologizes for cutting off a councillor's microphone and a bison gets its head trapped in a car window at Parc Omega.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.
Ottawa hospitals suspend unvaccinated employees for violating COVID-19 policy
Two-hundred unvaccinated employees at three Ottawa hospitals have been suspended for violating COVID-19 vaccination policies.
CHEO, the Queensway Carleton Hospital and Bruyere Continuing Care gave employees until Oct. 15 to get two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and be fully vaccinated to help limit the spread of the virus.
On Friday, CHEO announced 47 employees were placed on unpaid leave, and could be fired in two weeks. A total of 99.3 per cent of full-time personnel and 97.6 per cent of part-time and casual personnel are immunized at CHEO.
At the Queensway Carleton Hospital, 37 employees will be placed on unpaid leave for violating the vaccine mandate. The hospital in Ottawa's west end announced Friday afternoon that 98 per cent of staff are fully vaccinated and complying with the new policy for staff.
Bruyere Continuing Care has suspended 119 employees who are unvaccinated. As of Friday, 91 per cent of the 2,298 employees at Bruyère are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while an additional three per cent of employees are "on track" to being fully vaccinated in the coming days.
Two dead in tractor trailer crash on Highway 401 in Kingston, Ont.
Highway 401 was closed in Kingston for 24 hours after a multi-vehicle fatal crash on Wednesday.
Two people were killed in the crash on Hwy. 401 near Gardiners Road, involving four transport trucks.
Ontario Provincial Police said the initial investigation found an eastbound tractor trailer crossed the median and collided with trucks in the westbound lanes.
Several tractor trailers collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near Gardiners Road in Kingston, Ont. Oct. 13, 2021. Two drivers were killed. (Submitted)
Mayor apologizes for cutting off coun. Deans microphone during LRT debate
Mayor Jim Watson apologized for cutting off Coun. Diane Deans’ microphone during a heated debate at Wednesday's council meeting on how to investigate the issues with the light rail transit system.
"I apologized to the councillor and I made it known it was my call (to cut the mic), it was my mistake and I take responsibility," said Watson on Newstalk 580 CFRA.
The incident came after Coun. Glen Gower moved a replacement motion to Coun. Catherine McKenney's motion to call a judicial inquiry into the LRT contract.
Deans attempted to ask the city clerk to clarify whether Gower's motion was a "reasonable replacement" to McKenney's motion, but Watson said he had ruled it was a replacement motion.
"Why do we have a clerk?" asked McKenney.
"The question was asked to the city clerk prior to the mayor intervening," said Deans. "I have every right as a member of this council to ask the city clerk to pronounce on this issue. Is it a reasonable substitution or …"
Then Deans’ microphone was cut off.
On Thursday afternoon, Deans thanked Watson for the apology, but asked that he allow council to debate McKenney's motion for a public inquiry at the next council meeting.
After five hours of debate, Council voted in favour of Gower's motion to ask the city's auditor general to investigate the LRT contract and the city's process for launching the system.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson apologized for cutting off Coun. Diane Deans microphone during Wednesday's council meeting. (Photo courtesy: YouTube/Ottawa City Council)
'I was shocked:' Video shows bison with its head trapped in car at Quebec wildlife park
A large bison was not hurt after it got its head stuck in a small car during a frightening incident at Parc Omega, near Montebello, Que., last weekend.
Video showed the bison – weighing more than 450 kilograms - with its head stuck through an open window of the car.
“Somebody opened the window and … the bison put the head inside the car and I was shocked,” said Leonardo Heizer, who was at the park and captured the now viral video.
Staff at Parc Omega, east of Gatineau, said the bison was able to free itself from the vehicle in about 10 minutes without harming itself or the people in the car.
“He wasn’t trapped that long so thankfully it was just more panic rather than anything else, so he wasn’t hurt and he managed to get himself back out and he wasn’t hurt so we’re very thankful for that,” Lucy Robertson, a staff member at Parc Oméga said.
The park expressly forbids people from opening their windows in the bison enclosure, or feeding the animals.
Staff say a bison caught on camera stuck inside a car at Parc Omega was unharmed and was able to free itself from the car. (Colton Praill / CTV News Ottawa)
Orleans resident wins $1 million prize in Lotto 6/49 draw
Meet Ottawa's newest millionaire.
Rickey MacDonald of Orleans won the Guaranteed $1 million prize in the Aug. 25 Lotto 6/49 draw.
The 72-year-old was watching television when he checked his lottery tickets using the OLG App.
“The last ticket I scanned said 'Big Winner' and I thought I won $1,000," MacDonald said while picking up his prize at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.
MacDonald says he will complete some home renovations, buy a new vehicle and do some travelling with his wife.
Rickey MacDonald of Orleans won the Guaranteed $1 million prize in the Aug. 25, Lotto 6/49 draw.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
LIVE SOON Honda expected to announce Ontario EV battery plant, part of a $15B investment
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Honda executives are expected to announce today that the Japanese automaker is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., part of a $15-billion investment.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'