A visit from a Hollywood star, the LRT is delayed, and tense confrontations at a local school board meeting.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca takes a look at the top 5 stories on our website this week
Ryan Reynolds spent the day in Ottawa Thursday as he continues his efforts to buy the Senators, meeting with officials from the city of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission and attending the Senators game.
The Canadian actor, who played Michael 'Berg' Bergen in the 1998-2001 ABC sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (later named Two Guys and a Girl), posted a photo on Instagram with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on Thursday morning, taken at the mayor's office.
Also in the photo: Chris Bratty, the president of Remington Group. Reynolds has aligned himself with the Toronto-based real estate developers in their bid for the team.
Reynolds and Bratty also met with National Capital Commission CEO Tobi Nussbaum while in Ottawa.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed earlier this week during his visit to Ottawa that there are about a half-dozen groups still in the running to buy the club.
Ryan Reynolds, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Remington Group president Chris Bratty at Ottawa City Hall on Thursday, Mar. 30, 2023. (Instagram/vancityreynolds)
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says it will be up to the new owners of the Senators to decide whether to build a new arena at LeBreton Flats or at another location in Ottawa.
And the commissioner says he did not ask for any public dollars to help build a new arena during a meeting with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.
The NHL commissioner told CTV News Ottawa he didn't "make any demands" during the meeting, and the NHL isn't asking for "any public dollars" for a new arena.
Bettman held meetings with Sutcliffe, officials with the National Capital Commission and Senators staff during his visit to Ottawa on Monday, and attended the Senators game against Florida at Canadian Tire Centre. The visit came as the process to sell the Senators enters the next phase, winnowing down the prospective buyers in the running for the club to approximately six.
During his daylong visit to Ottawa, the commissioner said it could be early to mid summer before a new owner is in place for the Senators.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, left, meets with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at Ottawa City Hall in Ottawa, on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Spencer Colby/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The 2023 federal budget included a major win for the beer, wine and spirits industries.
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting April 1 instead of a planned 6.3 per cent increase.
It was a government concession after microbrewers and distillers said the higher excise tax would affect their bottom lines, already hurt by the higher cost of ingredients, manufacturing and other expenses.
Alcohol excise duties are automatically indexed to inflation at the start of each fiscal year, hence the planned 6.3 per cent rise this year.
The two per cent cap is just for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the government says. After that, it's possible that inflation will have fallen, meaning the excise tax won't be as punishing.
The long-awaited southern extension to Ottawa's light rail network is facing a further delay, a city committee heard Wednesday.
The Trillium Line, which had been scheduled to open by this September, now won't open for the start of the school year.
City staff told the light rail subcommittee on Tuesday that they are hoping that contractor SNC-Lavalin will hand over the project to the city in October.
Staff did not provide an exact timeline for when passengers will be able to use the Trillium Line, saying it depends on how the system performs in city-run testing.
The eastern extension to the Confederation Line is also further delayed, committee heard Tuesday.
The line to Trim Road is 51 days behind schedule compared to the last update. Handover to the city is now scheduled for January 2025, with trial running scheduled for January and February of that year.
The Confederation Line west extension is still 17 months late, unchanged from the previous update. It's now scheduled to open in late 2026.
Crews installing tracks on O-Train Line 2, part of LRT Stage 2, Oct. 12, 2022. Line 2, a.k.a. the Trillium Line, is up to a year behind schedule. (Chris Black/CTV News Ottawa)
Tensions flared Tuesday night outside an Ottawa school board meeting as trustees heard delegations about gender and washrooms in schools.
More than 200 people were turned away from the meeting after several speakers signed up to discuss transgender students' use of washrooms. The board's policy is already in place and there was no vote on any changes, but an earlier controversy was used to direct anger at the board and one of its trustees.
The controversy began when parent Nick Morabito signed up earlier this month to speak at the board. In his remarks, he began raising the issue of transgender students using girls' washrooms. An OCDSB policy gives students the right to use the washroom they feel the most comfortable with.
Trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth cut Morabito off and called his remarks transphobic. She was then the target of online petitions calling for her removal and posted to social media to say she received several antisemitic death threats.
Many of those people rallied outside the board office during the meeting, with police forced to separate the two sides. Many brought signs reading 'Trans rights are human rights,' and other messages in support of transgender students.
Despite the clashes outside, the meeting itself was calm. The board put measures in place for safety, including limiting space to 75 members of the public, banning signs and erecting dividers separating the public from the trustees.
About 200 parents were turned away from an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board meeting on Tuesday. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)
Notorious serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo was moved to a medium-security prison in Quebec this week.
Special rapporteur David Johnston has hired crisis communications firm Navigator, his office confirmed on Friday.
Photos released by NASA taken from International Space Station show the immense scale of the wildfires in Nova Scotia, with billowing smoke engulfing the landscape.
An airline consumer advocate says Air Canada should face tougher consequences for stranding passengers after two disruptions in a week.
At the moment, wildfires are burning across six provinces and one territory in Canada — and they’re still spreading in what’s being called an unprecedented fire season. While firefighters work tirelessly to battle the merciless flames and prevent further destruction, scientists say the wildfires are linked to climate change and that this will be the new normal.
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Nova Scotia’s premier says the “historic” wildfires in the province have caused a “breath-taking amount of damage.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ2S+ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
Nova Scotia’s premier says the “historic” wildfires in the province have caused a “breath-taking amount of damage.”
A man has been found dead inside a Tim Hortons in Halifax.
A man has been charged with first-degree murder in the homicide of a 62-year-old woman in Labelle, N.S.
Notorious serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo was moved to a medium-security prison in Quebec this week.
A man is in hospital after being stabbed at Kennedy Station, police say.
Three Toronto men have been charged with attempted murder after they allegedly shot an innocent dog walker in Schomberg, Ont. in a case of mistaken identity.
Parts of Quebec's controversial language law that took effect Thursday could still be tweaked, according to the minister responsible for the French language.
Notorious serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo was moved to a medium-security prison in Quebec this week.
Planning to pass time in Montreal's many parks this summer? Check yourself for ticks, warns one woman who recently contracted Lyme disease. Jasmine Rochereul, 23, says she spent much of last summer sprawled in city parks, where she believes she picked up the tick-borne illness.
Highway 11 has reopened between Kapuskasing and Hearst after a two-vehicle collision Friday morning.
Three people have been charged this week after having campfires during the fire ban and one person could be fined up to $25,000 or face jail time.
A popular beach in Bracebridge is open to the public two days after sewing needles were found in the water, but a second beach has since closed over safety concerns.
Multiple sources have told CTV News that the WSIB is now eyeing the 3M building at 300 Tartan Dr. near Veterans Memorial Parkway as a new headquarters.
Around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, officers responded to two separate calls where citizens believed they heard gunshots in the 100 block of Albert Street near Talbot Street.
Some 700 students took to the track at A.B. Lucas Secondary School in North London, Ont. Friday to take part in a student led Relay For Life.
A school in Winnipeg was placed into a hold and secure after a reported crash and possible assault in the area.
An upcoming by-law vote about religious instruction is causing conflict in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division (SJASD).
A Winnipeg man who bought a flipped home two years ago says some hidden problems have bubbled up to the surface – in some cases quite literally.
A woman in her 80s has been rushed to hospital with critical injuries after a crash near Wallenstein, according to Ornge Air Ambulance.
A long-term care home in Fergus, Ont. has adopted two ducklings as part of an animal therapy program to give its residents a sense of purpose.
A family of three is safe after they escaped a fire at their Cambridge home. Neighbours described the flames as "unbelievable."
Eight fuzzy ducklings were rescued from a precarious situation on Friday, thanks to Calgary police and workers from the City of Calgary.
It's the start of a new season at Moraine Lake and for the first time, you will have to take a shuttle bus to access the famous landmark -- no matter how early you're willing to show up.
Three southwest Calgary communities are under a boil water advisory due to a watermain break Thursday afternoon at a nearby construction site.
Students at a Catholic school in Saskatoon say their high school is restricting and censoring Pride week celebrations.
A woman has pleaded guilty to starting a fire that burned down a Prince Albert community centre.
For 40 years, Saskatchewan residents have been bringing their shoes into Broadway Shoe Repair for a fix or in search of a new pair of shoes.
Brought together by kindness and heartbreak, a group of women is helping an Alberta mother make sure her missing son is never forgotten.
A teen bystander was shot during an altercation outside the Edmonton Convention Centre Thursday evening, police say.
A child is dead after being hit by a trailer in Grande Prairie on Friday.
A B.C. man who put a deposit down on an electric vehicle in 2020 is still waiting to learn when it will arrive.
There is little relief for British Columbia's wildfire fight in the immediate forecast.
One person has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after an ultralight aircraft crashed and caught on fire in Surrey Friday afternoon.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders edged the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-16 in their final pre-season test.
The City of Regina has a three-phase approach to address the flooding that occurs at the downtown underpasses during most heavy rainfalls, including Thursday night’s storm.
Eight years ago, the Regina Police Service (RPS) embarked on a facility dog program. Now, one of its first recruits officially retired from her career.
