TikTok bans, a trespassing ticket for skating, and Nordstrom leaving Canada: Top 5 stories in Ottawa this week

A man drives off the 417, charges are laid in a major explosion and the federal government kicks out TikTok.

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

Federal government bans TikTok on employee devices

TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, is now banned on federal government-issued devices because of concerns over the app's ties to the Chinese government.

President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier, whose department oversees the public service, said Monday that the app would be banned effective Feb. 28.

In a statement, she said the decision to remove and block TikTok from government devices is being taken "as a precaution" and lines up with the approaches of international partners.

TikTok's parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing and security officials in Canada and around the world have expressed concerns about how much access the ruling Communist Party of China has to its data. TikTok officials have insisted the app is not in any way controlled by the Chinese government.

Several provinces have also followed suit, though Ontario says it is still looking into the matter. The city of Ottawa is also considering banning the app.

The TikTok logo is seen on a cellphone on Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Ottawa teen given trespassing ticket for skating on local pond

An Ottawa teenager was given a $125 ticket for skating on a local pond in his neighbourhood.

Eric Ledian was skating on Beaver Pond in Kanata Lakes when a bylaw officer told him to leave and gave him a ticket for trespassing.

The city says the pond is unsafe. Ottawa Bylaw says it is a stormwater pond and the ice is unsafe because of the water moving beneath it. But Duro Oravsky, one of the volunteers who looks after the ice, said the ice is cleared and flooded regularly. Last weekend it was 24 inches thick, he said.

Area councillor Cathy Curry said she'd ask if other options for the ice surface can be explored.

Eric Ledain and his dad Timon on the Beaver Pond in Kanata Lakes. (Shaun Vardon/CTV News Ottawa)

 Man charged with criminal negligence, arson in Ottawa explosion

A 35-year-old Ottawa man is facing a dozen charges in relation to an explosion in Orléans that injured 12 people last month.

Kody Troy Crosby has been charged with four counts each of criminal neglience causing bodily harm and arson causing bodily harm, Ottawa police said Thursday.

Crosby is also charged with arson with disregard for human life and arson causing property damage. He is also charged with two counts of breaking and entering.

The explosion on Feb. 13 destroyed four homes that were under construction and damaged many more in a wide radius, displacing nearly 30 families. Two people were rescued from the rubble with serious injuries and several others were hospitalized, including children.

The accused has faced other breaking and entering charges in the past.

Damage is seen following an early morning gas leak explosion in the Orleans area of Ottawa, on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. Officials say 12 people were injured in a gas explosion that rocked an east Ottawa suburb on Monday morning, including two children and two people who were pulled out of the rubble. (Spencer Colby/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Man drives car off Highway 417, falling onto Carling Avenue

A 23-year-old Ottawa man is facing impaired driving charges after his vehicle drove off Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end and landed on Carling Avenue last Saturday.

Witnesses observed the vehicle "being driven erratically" in the westbound lanes near Carling Avenue, Ontario Provincial Police said Sunday morning.

Police tell CTV News Ottawa witnesses reported the vehicle struck the concrete centre median, crossed all four lanes of traffic and went over the right barrier onto Carling Avenue.

Photos from the scene showed the vehicle on its side against a fence next to Carling Avenue. Firefighters used specialized tools to cut the roof off the vehicle to extricate the occupant.

Ottawa fire says the driver of a vehicle drove off Highway 417 and landed on Carling Avenue in Ottawa's west end on Saturday evening. (Submitted/Ottawa Fire Service)

Nordstrom closing stores in Ottawa as it winds down Canadian operations

The Nordstrom store in the Rideau Centre and the Nordstrom Rack at Ottawa Train Yards will close by the end of June, as the retail store shuts down operations in Canada.

Nordstrom announced on Thursday it is winding down its Canadian operations and closing all of its stores in Canada. The fashion retailer said it does not "see a realistic path to profitability for the Canadian business".

The company said all of its 2,500 staff members in Canada would lose their jobs. Nordstrom says the e-commerce platform will cease operations on March 2, while the in-store wind-down is anticipated to be completed by late June with the help of a third-party liquidator.

Nordstrom Canada gift cards will continue to be honoured to the end of the liquidation period. Returns and exchanges will be permitted until March 17 at which point all sales and returns will be considered final. 

The Nordstrom store in Ottawa's Rideau Centre. Nordstrom announced Thursday all of its Canadian stores will close by the end of June. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)