Students protest dress code 'blitz' and drive-by shooting on Ottawa highway: Top stories this week

Students protest a so-called dress code "blitz" at Beatrice-Desloges Catholic High School in Orléans on Friday afternoon.

Students protest a dress code “blitz” at a French Catholic high school, police investigate a drive-by shooting on the Queensway and Metcalfe is losing its only bank branch.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.

Ottawa students, parents outraged at 'humiliating' high school dress code blitz

Ottawa’s French Catholic school board is apologizing for a dress code blitz at an Orléans school this week, saying the way senior staff enforced it was unacceptable.

Hundreds of students protested outside Béatrice-Desloges Catholic High School on Friday, one day after teachers and staff conducted a dress code “blitz” that students said left them feeling degraded and humiliated.

Sophie Labbée, 18, was one of the students called out of class because of her wardrobe. She said a teacher told her that her shorts were too short.

“She said that they had to be mid-thigh, and made me do this weird test where I bend my knee and she touched my thigh and showed me that that was my mid-thigh and if it was any shorter than that it was inappropriate,” she told CTV News Ottawa.

“I didn’t appreciate that. It made me uncomfortable and it was a little humiliating, because it was in front of other classes too.”

On Saturday, the Director of Education for the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est apologized to parents and students for the dress code enforcement blitz, and said board staff would be following up with all schools.

“This dress code verification strategy is not encouraged by the CECCE and is not acceptable,” Marc Bertrand wrote. “All students must absolutely be treated with dignity and respect. No student should be subject to such a check of his or her clothing and even less to be challenged in front of his or her peers. The strategy employed by the school last Thursday unfortunately does not reflect these values, which are very dear to the CECCE.”

Sophie Labbée, 18, was called out of class at Ottawa's Béatrice-Desloges Catholic High School and told her shorts did not comply with the school's dress code. (Courtesy: Sophie Labbée)

Quebec woman raises alarm after region's only horse vet forced out over language law

The Pontiac Region in western Quebec is losing its vet that specializes in horses due to her fluency in French.

Melissa Jowett has practiced in the Quyon region, but is now losing her licence to practice because she failed the French language test.

“Unfortunately, languages are not my forte, and although I get by relatively well due to the Anglophone/bilingual nature of the Pontiac and La Peche regions, this does not alter the rules,” Jowett said in a statement.

Now, residents have a petition to get Dr. Jowett’s licence back, arguing the closest vet is now two hours away.

"Having a vet that speaks one language is better than no vet at all,” said horse breeder Andrea Goffart.

Horse owners in Quyon, Que. are raising the alarm about the impact of language laws as they lose their local veterinarian, whose French is insufficient for a permanent licence. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)

Shooting between cars on Queensway injures two people

Two people were injured when gunfire was exchanged between moving cars on the Queensway Thursday afternoon, police said.

Ottawa police are investigating the shooting in the westbound lanes of Highway 417, between the Parkdale Avenue and Metcalfe Street exits.

Both cars involved were travelling in the fast lane; one was a white Mercedes.

A man and woman, both 25, later showed up at the hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Police say they were uncooperative with investigators.

RBC closing bank branch in Metcalfe

Royal Bank of Canada is set to close its branch in Metcalfe this fall, leaving the village in Ottawa’s south end without a bank branch.

RBC tells CTV News Ottawa that clients have been notified that it will close its Royal Bank branch on Victoria Street on Oct. 14.

RBC says "a couple of factors" led to the decision to close the Metcalfe branch, including fewer clients coming into branches and more choosing to do their banking online or at the ATM, clients tending to do their banking at more than one location and more options available to meet with an advisor.

The area councillor is urging community members to join in his “big campaign to save the bank,” and send letters to RBC asking the big bank to reconsider the bank closure.

"This is the conversation in the village every day. You have a farmer market down the road, you have senior citizens live in the community," Coun. George Darouze said.

The Royal Canadian Bank will close its branch in Metcalfe, a rural community in south Ottawa, in mid-October much to the disappointment of local residents. (Tyler Fleming/CTV News Ottawa).

City spending $430,000 to address 'post-construction deficiencies' on seven-year-old pedestrian bridge

The city of Ottawa is spending $430,000 to address “post-construction deficiencies” on the Max Keeping Pedestrian Bridge, seven years after it opened in Ottawa's east end.

The $12 million cycling and pedestrian bridge over the Queensway connects the Ottawa Baseball Stadium with the VIA Rail Station and Tremblay O-Train Station.

"Deficiency work is normal and expected for construction projects,” says Ottawa’s Director of Infrastructure Services Carina Duclos. Workers have been repairing the bridge over the last month, focusing on the south end near Tremblay Road. 

"Work includes sealant repairs to glass windows, installation of waterproof insulation at a few locations inside the bridge structure, touch ups to the steel structure and minor repairs to south west abutment (where the structure meets the ground)," Duclos says in a statement to CTV News. 

The cycling and pedestrian bridge, originally known as the Coventry pedestrian and cycling bridge, opened in February 2015. It was renamed after former CJOH anchor Max Keeping in 2016.

The Max Keeping Pedestrian Bridge over the Queensway opened in 2015. (Google Street)