Public consultations on the convoy and a full festival season: Five stories to watch in Ottawa this week

Hundreds of trucks remain parked on Wellington Street and surrounding streets in downtown Ottawa on day 10 of the "Freedom Convoy" demonstration in downtown Ottawa. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)

The city’s auditor general asks for your thoughts on the “Freedom Convoy” occupation, one of the main faces is back in court, and keeping an eye on the latest COVID-19 wave.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch this week.

AG holds public consultations on convoy response

The city of Ottawa’s auditor general is asking residents to weigh in on how the city and Ottawa police handled the “Freedom Convoy” occupation in February.

The Ottawa Police Services Board voted in late March to ask Nathalie Gougeon to perform the audit.

Zoom meetings will be held on Tuesday, July 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. and Wednesday, July 13 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. People who wish to participate must register beforehand.

Those who want to have input but don’t want to take part in the sessions can instead fill out a survey until July 31.

Protesters used heavy trucks and other vehicles to blockade downtown Ottawa for three weeks this past winter, protesting COVID-19 public health protections and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During the protest, Ottawa’s police chief resigned and the makeup of the police services board was completely changed.

It took hundreds of officers from across Canada and the invocation of the federal Emergencies Act before the occupation was cleared.

Ottawa residents gather outside Ottawa Police Headquarters on Elgin Street, calling on police to end the "Freedom Convoy" demonstration near Parliament Hill. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)

Tamara Lich returns to court

One of the principal organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” protest, Tamara Lich, has another court date set for Thursday.

Lich is charged with mischief and obstructing police for her role in the convoy protest. She was arrested in Medicine Hat, Alta. last month and charged with breaching her bail conditions after she was photographed with another convoy organizer, Tom Marazzo, with whom she was instructed to have no contact.

She is now being held in custody until her trial.

Tamara Lich appearing at her bail hearing by video link from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre on July 5, 2022. (Greg Banning)

Will the summer COVID-19 wave peak?

Health officials will be watching COVID-19 data closely this week as another wave of the disease is upon us.

This latest wave is being driven by the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which experts say is more transmissible and can evade immunity from previous infection.

Ottawa’s wastewater signal is on the rise, as is the testing positivity rate and the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 locally.

Ottawa is also on track to surpass the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded in all of 2021. As of last Friday, Ottawa Public Health had reported 216 deaths so far this year, compared to 228 in all of 2021.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore, is expected to make an announcement this week regarding booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine. While residents 60 and older can receive a fourth dose, the additional shot is not yet available for younger adults. Moore also expressed some concern that many Ontarians never got a third dose, despite it being widely available.

A passenger wearing a mask rides the O-Train in Ottawa, Ont. in this undated photo. (Photo by Parham Barati on Unsplash)

Lebanese Fest returns

The Ottawa Lebanese Festival is back this week after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual celebration of Middle Eastern culture will be held at the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral starting Wednesday.

Enjoy food, cultural performances, art, crafts and more.

The festival runs July 13 to 17.

Bluesfest wraps up its return to LeBreton Flats

Bluesfest is wrapping up this week after returning to LeBreton Flats for the first time since 2019.

The annual music festival is one of Ottawa’s biggest events of the year and draws thousands to the capital every summer. It was cancelled in 2020 and a smaller version was held at Lansdowne Park in 2021.

Some of the headline acts this week include Marshmello on Tuesday, Alexisonfire on Wednesday, Luke Bryan on Thursday, Rage Against the Machine on Friday, and TLC on Saturday.

The National closes out the festival on Sunday.

Crowds of people returned to LeBreton Flats for RBC Ottawa Bluesfest, back in full after two COVID-19 cancellations in 2020 and 2021. (CTV News Ottawa)