Reinforcements arrive at CHEO and CUPE releases contract vote results: Five stories to watch this week
A small team of staff from the Canadian Red Cross begin work this week at CHEO, the union representing education workers release the results of the contract ratification vote and all eyes on respiratory viruses as the countdown begins to Christmas.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at five stories to watch in Ottawa this week.
HELP ARRIVES AT CHEO
A small team of staff from the Canadian Red Cross will arrive at Ottawa's children's hospital this week to assist nurses and staff respond to "unprecedented volumes" of patients during respiratory virus season.
CHEO is partnering with the Red Cross to provide assistance to clinical teams leading up to the holiday season.
"This will allow some of our redeployed staff to go back to their regular roles and ensure Team CHEO can provide the safe, world-class care that our patients deserve," CHEO Chief Nursing Executive Tammy DiGiovanni said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.
CHEO has been seeing a surge in patients with respiratory viruses this fall, forcing the hospital to cancel non-urgent surgeries and procedures, open a second pediatric intensive care unit and redeploy staff from surgical and medical care units. Patients aged 16 and 17 are also being transferred to adult hospitals in Ottawa.
DiGiovanni says CHEO has asked for extra support from organizations across the region, including Roger Neilson House, Ottawa Public Health and local hospitals for staff, equipment and accommodating patient transfers.
EDUCATION WORKERS UNION RELEASE VOTE RESULTS
The union representing 55,000 education workers across Ontario will release the results of its contract ratification vote on Monday morning.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees reached a tentative agreement Nov. 20, averting a strike that would have closed schools in Ottawa and eastern Ontario.
CUPE says the proposed four-year contract includes an average 3.59 per cent wage increase each year.
If CUPE members vote to reject the latest deal, both sides could return to the bargaining table and CUPE could give another strike notice.
CUPE represents education workers at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, and Ottawa's two French language school boards.
Education workers and supporters hold a political protest outside the office of MPP Lisa MacLeod on Greenbank Road. CUPE is protesting the Ontario government's move to impose a four year contract on union members. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa)
OTTAWA CITY COUNCIL MEETS
Elected officials will vote on two major reports setting the stage for the new term of council on Wednesday, the final scheduled meeting of the 2022 year at Ottawa City Hall.
The first big item on the agenda is the 2022-2026 Council Governance Review, outlining council and committee structures, policies, procedures and other related issues.
Recommendations include removing citizen transit commissioners from the transit commission, separate the Community and Protective Services Committee into two committees and that the deputy mayors be appointed by rotation instead of two or three deputy mayors for the full term.
The second report will give directions for staff to develop the 2023 city of Ottawa budget. The report recommends drafting the budget with a 2 to 2.5 per cent property tax hike, which was a campaign promise from Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. The report does warn COVID-19 and inflationary pressures could affect the budget, and proposals to address increased costs will be included in the budget.
Each councillor will also have five minutes during Wednesday's meeting to make opening remarks for the session.
RESPIRATORY VIRUS SEASON
All eyes will be on respiratory viruses circulating in Ottawa, three weeks before Christmas.
Ottawa Public Health says overall trends with COVID-19 monitoring indicators are down this week compared to a month ago, but wastewater viral signals show "very high" levels of influenza and "moderate levels" of RSV.
OPH data shows a flu testing positivity rate of 27.5 per cent for the week ending Nov. 26, up from 23.4 per cent for the week ending Nov. 19.
"The levels of respiratory viruses circulating in our community remain high," OPH said on Twitter.
"Remember: the things we learned throughout the pandemic to limit the spread of COVID-19 (like wearing masks & staying home if sick) will also help limit the spread of viruses like RSV & the flu."
Trevor Fowler receives his flu shot from Barrhaven pharmacist Mohammed Manji. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)
SENATORS HOST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES APPRECIATION NIGHT
The Ottawa Senators host their fourth annual Indigenous Peoples Appreciation Night on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators say the night will celebrate and engage the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation, the ancestral unceded land on which Canadian Tire Centre sits.
The event will include a hockey clinic for Indigenous youth from communities around the region, an Indigenous artisans' market on the 200 level concourse, and Black Bear singers.
The Senators host Los Angeles Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.'The Canadian Tire Centre will remain the home of the Ottawa Senators as the club takes the next step in building a new arena at LeBreton Flats. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)
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.
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
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.'