The Orleans Star July 23, 2020

July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6

Next edition August 6

5369 Canotek Rd. 613-841-7867 • www.stitchco.ca

Restaurants, gyms allowed to reopen under Stage 3

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star

Children enjoy playing on the Millennium Park splash pad on Sunday after the city reopened play structures on July 17.

FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

Orléans residents can now enjoy a meal inside a restaurant, go to a gym, watch a movie at a theatre or listen to a live performance now that the province has instituted Stage 3 of their reopening plan, but there are a number of procedures they must follow.

For instance, when you eat inside a restaurant you must still wear a face mask before and after you sit down at your table and while going to the restroom. You should also wear your mask when talking to your server.

When going to the gym, a martial arts dojo, or a dance school a face mask should be worn up until the point your workout or lesson begins and then also when going to the restroom or in the change room.

Face masks should be worn in a movie theatre at all times except when you are in your seat.

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The same rule should be followed when going to a bar to see a live performance.

When a live performance is being held, the audience must remain seated at their table and they will be prohibited from singing along.

In every situation, seating capacity will be limited to no more than 50 per cent of the establishment’s normal capacity. The same social distancing guidelines must be followed by indoor gyms, dance and theatre schools and martial arts centres.

Caravela Restaurante owner Fernando Diniz took extra precautions for his customers in anticipation of the Stage 3 reopening.

When the popular Portuguese eatery opened its dining room on Friday, not only were the tables spaced farther apart, but Diniz built dividers between each table to help his customers feel safer.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Reopening a godsend for struggling restaurants, gyms Continued from page 1

The Ottawa Catholic School Board has released its plan to keep students and teachers safe should classes resume in September. FILE PHOTO

Catholic school board lays out back-to-school plans

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) has released it’s plan to protect students and teachers from the COVID-19 virus, even though it’s still uncertain whether students will attend class five days a week or five days every other week.

The Ontario Ministry of Education won’t make a decision on how often kids will be expected to attend in-school classes until August, but in the meantime the Ministry has asked the school boards to come up with their own safety plans.

The OCSB plan is quite comprehensive.

Among other things it calls for school bells signaling class changes and recess to be silenced; classroom doors to be left open; and assignments to be done online to avoid the use of paper. If assignments must be handed in on paper, they should be left untouched for 24 hours to avoid the possibility of surface transfer of the virus.

The plan also recommends teachers hold their classes outdoors whenever possible, weather permitting, and for students to maintain the proper social distancing requirement of two metres in hallways and other common areas.

To that end, special stickers and markings will be placed on the floors.

Face masks will likely be made mandatory in high schools when students are moving through the hallways and common areas and personal protective equipment will be made available for teachers whenever they are in close contact with their students. Hand washing will also be encouraged at regular intervals and bottles of hand sanitizer will be placed in each classroom.

Lockers in high schools and cubbies in the younger grades will be kept off limits at least until the winter months when the recommendation will be reassessed.

In elementary schools, recesses will be staggered to limit the number of students in the school yard at any one time, and class changes will also be staggered to limit traffic in the hallways.

There was a hope that class start and dismissal times could also be staggered but it’s logistically impossible given how Ottawa’s school bus system works. Most buses have multiple routes, sometimes serving multiple schools in more than one school board, which brings up another issue – how to accommodate social distancing on school buses?

The expectation is to have only one student per seat, unless the students are siblings in which case they can sit together.

School bus companies like M.L. Bradley in Navan are busy working with the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority to come with a plan to transport students to and from their school, but it is difficult when they still don’t know how often the students will be expected to attend class and how many parents will opt out of sending their children to school. There are a lot of variables at play.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is planning several of the measures adopted by the OCSB, however, the board is proposing to separate their students into two groups, one group would attend in-school classes on Monday and Tuesday and the other group on Thursday and Friday with classes cleaned on the Wednesday in between. The students would then be expected to attend virtual classes during the other three days they’re not in the school.

2 • July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6

“I don’t want people to feel nervous when they come into the restaurant. I want them to feel safe so they can enjoy our food,” says Diniz, who went through considerable expense to take the extra measures.

But if customers do feel apprehensive about eating inside, they can always make a reservation on the covered patio which Diniz also built.

Little Turkish Village owner Sunil Kurichh wasn’t able to create a patio – his landlord wouldn’t let him. Instead, he has had to depend on take-out to stay afloat. But now that he is able to open his dining room, even at 40 per cent capacity, he’s hoping his regulars will start to come back to the St. Joseph Blvd. establishment. As an extra incentive, he is offering customers a free hommus appetizer per table until the end of the month.

Just a block down St. Joseph, Mumbai Masala Grill owner Satpal Singh is in the same boat as Kurichh. He wasn’t able to create a patio either, so he too is hoping his diners will return now that he’s able to provide table service inside.

The Stage 3 announcement is also good news for gym and fitness centre owners, especially the independent gyms like 180 Fitness in Canotek Park and the IBV Gym on Youville Drive.

IBV’s Vanda Hadarean was holding some of her adult classes outside, but the Stage 3 announcement means she can restart her youth programs with the proper social distancing measures in place.

“Our classes were already pretty small, so it shouldn’t be any problem,” says Hadarean.

Ciné Starz located in the Orléans Town Centre on Centrum Blvd. was the first theatre to open last Friday. They were able to do so after successfully reopening their two theatres in Montreal in late June.

The theatre is following all the proper Stage 3 protocols as set out by the Ontario government which means they will initially only be able to accommodate a maximum of 50 guests per screening. There are hand sanitizer stations throughout the theatre and a protective plexiglass shield has been installed at the concession stand. Masks are also available for purchase should anyone wish to buy them.

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CORRECTION In the July 9 edition of the Orléans Star, the hours of operation for Scheuermann’s Vineyard & Winery in Westport was incorrectly reported as 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday to Sunday. The actual hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The winery is closed on Wednesdays. We sincerely apologize to the owners of Scheuermann’s Vineyard & Winery and for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Cumberland Ward by-election off and running

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star Cumberland Ward residents will have to wait two and a half more months to elect a new municipal representative after Ottawa city council voted last week to hold a by-election on Oct. 5.

The ward has been without a representative at the city council table since former city councillor Stephen Blais had to step down after getting elected to the provincial legislature in a byelection on March 5.

A by-election to replace Blais was put on hiatus while the city battled the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the number of active cases in the ward is less than five, city staff advised council that it was safe to hold a by-election on Oct. 5 so long as a number of precautions are taken including social distancing at the polling stations and the option for residents to mail in their ballots.

Within 24 hours of the byelection being called, five people had already filed their nomination papers including former Orléans Star editor Catherine Kitts, who finished second to Matt Luloff in a 17-horse race in Orléans Ward in the 2018 municipal election, and Patrick Uguccioni who is the managing editor of the Ottawa Community Voice newspapers and a former communications staffer at the city for 15 years.

Other candidates include Denis Labreche who is the long-time

president of the Carlsbad Springs Community Association and the founder of the CJRO radio station which serves Carlsbad Springs, Vars, Embrun and Russell; Yvette Yende-Ashiri, who is an ardent advocate for the rights of women and girls and a member of the board of directors for the African Canadian Association of Ottawa; Lyse-Pascale Inamuco, who is a former special assistant to OttawaVanier Liberal MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers and the current co-chair of Women’s March Ottawa; and Craig MacAulay who ran against Jim Watson in 2018 as an “antipolitician” and finished fourth with 0.85 per cent of the vote.

Kitts is widely considered to be the early frontrunner partly due to her experience in the 2018 election, but largely due to the fact that she has been planning for the by-election and organizing her campaign since early March.

“My phone started ringing back in February as soon as Stephen announced he would be running to replace Marie-France provincially,” says Kitts. “I put in a lot of work even in the lead-up to March. So at this point I have my team in place.

I’m definitely a lot more organized than I was the first time around.”

As for why she’s decided to run in Cumberland Ward after she already ran in Orléans Ward in 2018, it might have something to do with that fact that she lives on her fiancée’s family farm near Navan.

“I love this community. It’s

Catherine Kitts

Patrick Uguccioni

Yvette Ashiri

where I’ve chosen to build my life. And I think my familiarity in this community, my experience advocating for the community and my genuine level of care for this community is why I’ve decided to run again,” says Kitts.

Uguccioni’s key strength is his knowledge of municipal government and the experience he gained during his 15-and-a-half-year tenure at city hall from 2001 to 2016.

“I think my knowledge and my familiarity with city hall and all the major players is what really sets me apart,” says Uguccioni, who has already earned endorsements from former Ottawa mayors Bob Chiarelli and Larry O’Brien who he worked for as the director of communications in 2007 and 2008.

“Pardon the expression, but I already know where the washroom is. I know (city manager) Steve Kanellakos. I know all of the current city councillors and have worked with most of them. There will be no

Lyse-Pascale Inamuco

Denis Labreche

learning curve if I get elected and I will be able to hit the ground running, which will be especially important when addressing the budget.”

The budget – and the $200 billion shortfall the pandemic has created – will be a major issue this fall as will the Orléans Ward Boundary Review which, among other things, calls for the merger of the rural part of the ward with Osgoode Ward.

Craig MacAuley

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A failure to communicate Before writing this editorial, I visited the Ottawa Public Health website to see if communication and education were part of the organization’s mandate or mission. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they were not, which is a shame because they should be. In fact, educating the public in times of a health crisis such as the one we currently find ourselves in should be a cornerstone of the OPH. The OPH has done a miserable job in educating the public about the COVID-19 virus, the reasons behind it’s recommendations and policy decisions, and the pandemic in general.

The indoor mandatory mask policy is a perfect example. They implemented the regulation without any public information campaign on the various types of masks and mask materials, which masks are more effective than others, or the importance of properly wearing face masks to prevent any gaps.

The sum total of their public information campaign has been, “Wear a face mask, social distance and wash your hands.”

One of the biggest issues in trying to deal with a pandemic is the amount of misinformation circulating in the public domain, which in this case is being spread through social media.

Ottawa Public Health could be playing a key role in countering the misinformation that is being spread on Facebook and other social media websites, but instead it has made the problem even worse by limiting what little information they’ve put out to the same social media platforms and their website, completely ignoring traditional media outlets, namely local newspapers such as the Orléans Star and the L’Orléanais. In three months they’ve taking out just two ads – a full page ad back in May and a 1/4 page ad on July 9.

When members of the media ask perfectly legitimate questions like what is the percentage of test results that are asymptomatic, they refer you to their COVID-19 dashboard and tell you that the information can be found there. It can’t – because the dashboard is both utterly confusing and confoundedly lacking in information.

Worse still is the ward-by-ward map which is meant to show the number of positive cases that live in each ward and is updated every two weeks. The map is totally useless because it does not show the number of active cases in each ward, which is much more relevant, but far less scary.

In fact, it does the opposite by listing the number of cases “per 100,000 residents” making the figure seem much larger than it really is.

Coming out of the pandemic, the 11-member Ottawa Board of Health, which includes six city councillors, needs to review the OPH’s mandate and address it’s failure to adequately educate the residents of Ottawa in times of a health crisis such as the current pandemic.

– Fred Sherwin, editor

Fredrick C. Sherwin, Editor & Publisher fsherwin@orleansstar.ca The Orléans Star is a bi-weekly publication distributed to 44,000 residences in Blackburn Hamlet, Orléans and Navan. The newspaper is locally owned and operated by Sherwin Publishing Inc., 745 Farmbrook Cres., Orléans, ON. Inquiries and delivery issues should be sent to info@orleansstar.ca.

4 • July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6

Summer is a great time to support your local merchants and markets Summer is here! These past weeks truly made it and refreshments in the comfort of our local restauclear – we are now deep in our warmest season. While rants’ patios, I was utterly pleased to see the many inenjoying some quality vacation time surrounded by novations our local businesses have been implementing in order to open so many our loved ones, staying cool and patios in our community. I am hydrated remains crucial. It is of truly impressed by our local the utmost importance to remain restaurants’ endeavour and the vigilant of heat stroke and heat efforts they deployed adapting exhaustion as the warm front can their business model to reopen be especially strenuous on the their doors. Now that we can elder members of our commueat inside our local restaurants, nities, as well as on our young Marie-France Lalonde I am confident we will maintain ones’ health. the understanding, respect and Thanks to our local beaches and splash pads, we have countless ways to cool support we have been showing in the past few months. down despite the dazzling sun. Although enjoying our Let’s keep up the good work!

Another one of my favourite summer traditions waterways is currently more inviting than ever, don’t forget to be mindful of Public Health’s gathering re- consists of visiting one of our local farms, either pickstrictions still being in effect. Keep practicing physical ing up my own produce or bringing a basket of local distancing and limit yourself to 10-people gatherings. goods home. Consider dropping by the Orléans Fruit It is our duty to keep each and everyone of us safe and Farm, the Navan Little Market, the Proulx Farm, the Just Food installations or the Orléans Farmers’ Market healthy!

Enjoying summertime responsibly also means for delicious fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. respecting the City of Ottawa’s newly announced These strawberries and raspberries genuinely taste requirement to wear a non-medical mask in indoor like summer.

Even though my office remains closed due to Public public spaces. Since businesses and community settings are gradually reopening under Stage 3, let’s Health recommendations, my team and I are always make sure we continue the hard work we have been more than happy to assist you with federal matters. doing as a community in keeping the curve under Feel free to call my office at 613-834-1800 or send me an e-mail at Marie-France.Lalonde@parl.gc.ca should control and not letting go of our good habits.

As warm weather calls for enjoying quality meals you have any questions or concerns.

Commons Corner

Is the coronavirus an airborne disease? Yes, but. . .

A lot has been written and said lately about whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic is airborne. The fact is that is no more or less airborne than lung cancer.

While most people associate lung cancer with smoking, lung cancer can also be caused by inhaling carcinogenic particles like those contained in secondhand smoke.

The COVID-19 virus can be transmitted by either surface transfer, say when one person shakes hands with another person after coughing into their hand and then the person on the receiving end rubs their eyes, or through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes and emits water droplets that are then ingested either through the nose or throat of another person.

But there is another way the virus can be transmitted through the air and that’s emitting what are referred to as bioaerosols. Bioaerosols are micro-organisms that are many times smaller than water droplets and can be emitted by talking or by simply breathing.

The louder you talk or the more deeply you breath the more bioaerosols are released into the air around you.

Now, because they are so small, the bioaerosols can quickly dissipate, especially outdoors and even more so if there is a breeze.

This means that it is nearly impossible to

SENIOR LIVING

Up Front Fred Sherwin catch the virus by merely walking down the street, or playing an outdoor sport, or eating on an outdoor patio.

You can compare the likelihood of catching the virus by bioaerosol transmission outdoors to developing lung cancer from secondhand smoke outdoors. When a smoker exhales, they smoke quickly dissipates into the air around them. The same is true for bioaerosols.

Things begin to get tricky when you move indoors.

Indoors the potential of bioaerosol transmission depends on the duration of exposure, the volume of bioaerosols and the condition of an individual’s immune system.

The stronger your immune system, the greater the duration and the volume you would need to be exposed in order to contract the virus.

The reverse is also true – the weaker your

immune system the less duration and volume that is needed to contract the virus.

So to bring back my secondhand smoke analogy, you are much more likely to develop lung cancer from secondhand smoke if you are stuck in a confined space with a chainsmoker than you are if you are in a large space such as warehouse with someone who only smokes one or two cigarettes a day.

Using that analogy, there is a much smaller chance of contracting the virus through bioaerosol transmission in a large grocery store if you are just going in and out to pick up a few items, than you are if you spend an hour shopping for a month’s worth of groceries.

The potential for transmission is even lower in a small retail store where there are few customers and you’re only in there for a short period of time.

Eating inside at a restaurant is a toss up. For the most part, it should be safe because you may only be inside for an hour or an hour and a half. However, if you have an underlying health condition or a compromised immune system, you may want to think twice about eating inside. Reserve a table on the patio instead.

Where things get tricky is when you start talking about the people working

inside many businesses. A waiter working inside a restaurant may be exposed to a much higher volume of bioaerosols over a longer period of time and therefore are at a much greater risk. The same is true for grocery store workers, or anyone working indoors, which is why it is important that shoppers wear a mask to keep the volume of bioaerosol transmission to a minimum and doubly so for the workers to wear a face mask in order for them to counteract the issue of duration.

A recent study examined three major outbreaks that were a result of bioaerosol transmission by an asymptomatic individual.

In the first case, the outbreak occurred on a bus that was recirculating air for ventilation during a trip lasting four hours. The second case occurred in a large room in a call centre with over 100 employees working an eighthour shift that was also being ventilated by recirculated air through an HVAC system.

The third outbreak occurred on the 10th floor of an office building in an open concept environment where, once again, they were using recirculated air.

So is the COVID-19 virus an airborne disease? Yes it is, but to what extent it is depends on many factors, not the least of which is whether you are indoors or outdoors.

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July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6 • 5

Elections Ottawa

@ottawavote

2020 Cumberland By-election A municipal by-election has been called for Ward 19 (Cumberland) on October 5, 2020.

Filing of nomination papers

Registering as a third-party advertiser

Individuals wishing to run for the Office of City Councillor – Ward 19 (Cumberland) can file their nomination papers at the Elections Office (1221 B Cyrville Rd) by appointment only during regular business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm), with the City Clerk, or his designate. You can schedule an appointment by calling 613-580-2660.

Third party advertisers must file a Notice of Registration with the City Clerk in-person or by an agent, before they can begin advertising.

Registrations will take place at the Elections Office by appointment only (1221 B Cyrville Rd) from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

The period for registering as a third party begins on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, and ends on the Friday before Voting Day, October 2, 2020, at 4:30 pm. You can schedule an appointment by calling 613-580-2660.

A person is eligible to be a candidate for City Councillor if they are: • A resident of the City of Ottawa, or an owner or tenant of land in the City of Ottawa, or the spouse of such an owner or tenant • A Canadian citizen • At least 18 years old • Not legally prohibited from voting Form 2 is not required. Due to COVID-19, the City Clerk has waived the requirement for 25 signatures to become a candidate, in accordance with Sections 12 and 53 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

The deadline for candidates to submit or withdraw their nomination is Friday, August 21, 2020, at 2 pm.

Candidates cannot raise or spend money on their campaign until they have filed their nomination and opened a bank account exclusively for the purposes of the election campaign.

Ottawa Public Health will provide guidance to candidates regarding how to campaign safely during the pandemic. This information will be available on the Elections website ottawa.ca/vote. As the pandemic is rapidly evolving, Ottawa Public Health expects that this information may need to be updated regularly and candidates are encouraged to consult the Elections website regularly.

Voting dates and times Voting Day will take place on October 5, 2020 and there will be Advance Vote Days on September 28 and 29, 2020. Voting places will be open from 10 am to 8 pm on all voting days.

Electors will have three options to vote in the Ward 19 by-election: 1. In-person voting; 2. Voting by Special Mail-in Ballot; or 3. Voting by proxy.

For more information regarding the nomination and registration processes, or voting in the Ward 19 by-election, including changes to the election process due to COVID-19, visit ottawa.ca/vote.

This notice is issued by M. Rick O’Connor, City Clerk.

Follow us on social media Facebook Twitter

| @ElectionsOttawa | @ottawavote

2020-040_14

6 • July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6

Be patient, COVID-19 is marathon not a sprint When it comes to COVID-19, your scribe is the proverbial curmudgeon. On the plus side, I have been right (see Facebook) on schools being cancelled until summer, the lunacy of close-to-late and reopen-toearly consequences south of the border, and the fact that some public health officials have “lost the room” with their conflicting/ evolving, advice and in the case of certain politicians, their do as I say, not as I do hypocrisy when it comes to personal travel.

On the other hand, I’ve happily been proven wrong on anticipated post-holiday spikes after our May and July holidays.

And, so far, common sense and basic human decency have prevailed much better than I originally thought … for this I blame a lifetime of reading dystopian sci-fi series set in bleak, near futures.

We’ve patiently queued up to get into the drug store, the LCBO, or buy groceries.

In Ottawa, we’ve earned the privilege to commence Stage 3 of provincial re-opening.

Mask wearing compliance is likely above 95%, hand-hygiene stations are being used, and during my trips out, folks are respecting physical distancing.

Hard-hit local business owners, if they have survived, are breathing a tad easier.

Local restauranteurs have stepped up to keep their premises, staff and customers safe and as virus-free as possible. Ditto for local retailers with capacity counters at their doors, PPE for staff and customers, directional signage, protective shields and touchless payment options.

What happens next is mostly up to us.

Some folks will continue with their small backyard and driveway gatherings, weekly jaunts for necessities and gas, and basically cocoon themselves at home. Fair enough if your risk tolerance is low or if underlying health conditions limit your mobility options.

However, finding our ‘next normal’ requires more of us to venture out with the appropriate precautions of masks, hand hygiene and distancing. The backyard still

needs some work, the new poutine truck seeks the expertise of your taste buds, time to press some clothes for the fall, the expanded patio at the resto-pub beckons your presence, the weekly farmers’ market has amazing local produce, your car is overdue for a tune-up and, please, get those winter tires removed!

And before you click to pay on Amazon, Wish or Wayfair, check to see if a local store can order something in for you first. More commerce is essential to ensure we don’t end up with shuttered and graffiti strewn storefronts in our community.

Yes, this activity will drive an uptick – hopefully manageable – in COVID-19 cases. The key here will require vigilance via public health surveillance, rapid testing, tracing, treatment (if required) and isolation of those affected. For those establishments, and there will be a few, that deliberately flout public health guidelines, no tolerance, fine them viciously and/or shut them down.

Stage 3 of re-opening, if we are successful, will continue until the end of the year – with a few relaxing tweaks on capacity limits here and there – if not longer in my estimation. So get used to indoor mask wearing in public/commercial spaces,

directional indicators for foot traffic (can people follow the darn arrows please) and lineups, and plexiglass and plastic barriers.

Indeed, some of these physical changes will become permanent.

In March, I urged perspective after the global pandemic was declared, today my new p-word is patience.

Even with Phase 3 clinical trials starting this fall on promising vaccines and parallel manufacturing underway, regulatory approvals, then the logistical challenge of global-national-regional-city-communityneighbourhood distribution and patient/ recipient triage will take time. If we get a vaccine or vaccines, don’t expect a jab in your upper arm until Spring or early Summer 2021 at the earliest.

As for big sports events, community and charity fundraisers or other mass gatherings, shelve these thoughts until the middle of 2021 as well. COVID-19 has not been vanquished, merely contained. We are running a marathon, but no one truly knows our present pace or what mile marker we just passed. Small spikes and/or future waves of coronavirus are both possible, and both require patience. Be safe, be well, be kind.

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Located at 3712 Innes Rd. (beside Food Basics) For reservations call 613-424-9200 Visit our website at caravelaottawa.com “At Caravela Restaurante, your dining experience is our #1 priority.” – Fernando Diniz, Owner July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6 • 7

Councillor helps launch Ottawa’s Moving to Stage 3 is good news, new speed camera pilot project but vigilance is still needed I hope you are all enjoying the hot and recommendation; especially if you’re sometimes balmy weather this summer gathering with people that are not within season is giving us. By the time you read your household or social circle. this, we as a city/region On a different note, as will have moved into Chair of Transportation, Stage 3 of the province’s I was on site to launch Tim reopening plan; aptly new speed camera Tierney the named Recover. pilot project which was Stage 3 is geared tokicked off on July 13. wards long-term growth. Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward 11 There are eight locaIt means that the restrictions throughout the tions currently in place will be loosened city’s streets (near school zones), and further, and nearly all businesses and four cameras. Two of the cameras are public spaces will be reopened; and yes, permanent, while the remaining two will this includes the use of play structures! rotate between the other six locations every There are still just a few high-risk places 45 days or so. Visit Ottawa.ca for a list of that are not safe to open; which include all eight locations. The fines collected from amusement parks, water parks, buffet-style the speed cameras will be directed to other food services and more. road safety initiatives in Ottawa.

Also, a great bonus of Stage 3 is the My hope is that the project is a success; announcement that gathering limits are and provides enough evidence to justify being increased. Indoor gatherings will having these cameras at more key locations increase to a maximum of 50 people, while throughout the city. I don’t have time for outdoor gathering limits will increase to speeders, and so if this can be an effective a maximum of 100 people. In all of these way to slow them down in their tracks, I’m cases, individuals are still required to all for it. Hope you’re staying well, safe maintain the two-metre physical distance and cool! Until next time!

Over recent months, Ottawa residents by reservation, as well as for modified have taken the necessary steps to curb the swimming lessons. You can book city spread of COVID 19. As a result, Ottawa facilities using the new online reservation was able to enter Stage 3 system on Ottawa.ca. of the reopening process On July 15 city last week, meaning that council approved a Laura nearly all businesses temporary by-law to Dudas and public facilities make masks mandatory will be reopening with in all indoor public new health and safety spaces. Masks continue Innes Ward 2 measures in place. to be required on all All park play structures and equipment OC Transpo buses and the O-Train as are open, although everyone must still well on transit property. Masks are not remain physically distanced and should required for young children, people with wash their hands or use hand sanitizer medical conditions and disabilities that after. As well, restrictions are being prevent them from wearing a mask, and relaxed on outdoor facility and sports field people who can’t use a mask without rentals for organized sports groups. The assistance. More information is available city has begun considering rental requests on ottawapublichealth.ca/masks. for indoor events in August for up to 50 While we must remain vigilant to people. prevent new infections, it is important that Indoor and outdoor pools have re- we also be understanding and kind to each opened for public and lane swimming other as we adapt to the “new normal”.

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1980 Trim Road, Orléans ON 8 • July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6

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Ashcroft decision robs would-be homeowners of millions in equity

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star “They stole my dream.” That is how Nada Nasri, 27, feels about a decision by Ashcroft Homes to cancel the purchase agreements of 52 people who had been waiting for their dream homes to be built in the Eastboro subdivision since 2017.

Not only will they not get to see their dream homes built, but they stand to lose more than $10 million in combined equity in the process.

In August 2017, Nasri and her husband put a $63,000 deposit down on their $419,000 home which included $50,000 in upgrades. In today’s housing market, the house would be worth over $600,000.

When the Nasri’s signed their deal in 2017, construction was expected to begin last fall, but a series of delays pushed the expected date back to the spring of 2020.

Nasri and her husband, along with their newborn baby, have been living with his parents during the interim while trying to save some money. They didn’t mind the living arrangements or the delays, because their house was

gaining equity – nearly $200,000, to be exact – and they knew they would eventually move into their dream home, or so they thought.

Their dreams and those of the 51 other would-be homeowners were dashed on July 6 when they received an e-mail from Ashcroft informing them that their contracts were being terminated.

The reason given was that the vendor, being Ashcroft, was unable to complete construction of the roads and off-site infrastructure services to enable the issuance of a building permit for the dwelling by the end of June which was the date set out in the contract.

Depending on who you talk to, construction has been held up because the Ontario Ministry of Environment must still approve an upstream stormwater management system, or because Ashcroft has so far failed to provide a plan to preserve certain natural habitats downstream from the project, or a combination of both.

In terminating the 52 contracts, Ashcroft has offered to return the deposits, without interest mind you, and sell the individuals another house in the subdivision at “pre-

ferred VIP pricing”, although what the preferred pricing will be Ashcroft isn’t saying.

Michel Lereau, who signed his contract in October 2019 and put a $46,620 deposit down on a $310,800 semi-detached home, says he and the others plan to file a class action lawsuit against Ashcroft.

Part of the basis for the lawsuit is that anyone who bought a home in the subdivision after Jan. 1, 2019 are still going to get their homes built.

In fact, the gentleman who bought the other half of the semi-detached Lereau thought he had bought, is still getting his home built. The difference is that the gentleman paid more than $100,000 more than Lereau did.

Lereau estimates the same home is now worth $500,000 or more which means he would have earned $190,000 in equity. Averaged out over the 52 contracts that were canceled, Ashcroft stands to gain between $10 million and $12 million depending on what they resell the properties for.

Nasri, Lereau and the other 50 people left without a contract have lost more than just their homes. As Lereau explains, it’s impossible for

Ashcroft Homes recently terminated the contracts of 52 would-be homeowners due to construction delays in its Eastboro subdivision. FILE PHOTO them to purchase anywhere near the same type of home for the same money.

“You can’t buy anything in Orléans for anywhere near $310,000,” says Lereau, who has been living with his parents while waiting for his home to be built. “I’m 26 years old with a six-year-old son, I can’t afford a $500,000 town home.”

The biggest problem the 52 individuals face is their diminished purchasing power. The deposits

they will be getting back won’t be near enough to purchase the same size home in 2020, or any home at more than $350,000 for that matter.

That means they will have to try and save even more money to accumulate enough to make a down payment on a home in the current market.

In other words, they’re not at square one, they’re a couple of squares back with their dream home still just a dream.

City council approves plan to demolish Sunland Drive homes STAR STAFF – Ottawa city council has finally approved plans to demolish 18 town homes on Sunland Drive in Fallingbrook along with two additional homes on nearby Orchardview Avenue.

The 20 homes were identified by city engineers as being severely impacted by shifting ground settlement caused by a large trunk sewer line that passes under the homes.

When the sewer line was built in the 1980s, marine clay was used to fill in the excavation. Because of its unstable nature, the clay has caused the ground and the homes built on top to shift, causing them to crack in several places.

In order to remedy the problem and avoid expensive lawsuits, the city decided to purchase 10 of the homes offering the homeowners a generous buyout and compensation. The plan was to fix the ground problem, repair the homes and then resell them. But when more

homeowners came forward with similar complaints and asking for a similar buyout deal, the city decided to take a different course.

The new plan called for the city to purchase 10 additional homes at an estimated cost of $3.6 million.

It is not known how much the city paid for the initial 10 homes, but it is thought to be in the same vicinity of $3.6 million. The last of the homes was purchased in 2019.

The city now plans to demolish three blocks of town homes on Sunland Drive, consisting of 18 homes, and two houses on Orchardview. It will then excavate the ground around the homes, replace the marine clay with more stable fill and then sell the land to a developer who will rebuild on top of the remediated soil.

On July 15, city council gave the plan, which will cost an estimated $1.7 million, the green light.

The plan has many homeowners

still living on Sunland and nearby Lauzon Street, which backs onto Sunland, extremely worried.

Homeowners like Jim Kowbel, who lives on Lauzon, are concerned that the demolition will damage their own homes and they’re worried about how long it may take before the demolished homes are replaced by new homes.

“What’s going to be left in the interim?” asks Kowbel. “Are they just going to leave a bunch of gravel surrounded by an orange construction fence?”

Aside from the threat of possible damage to their homes, Kowbel and many of his neighbours are worried about the construction traffic the demolition will create and the potential negative impact on their property values.

They would like to see the city turn the land into a greenspace while they are waiting for a potential developer to rebuild

The City of Ottawa has earmarked $1.7 million to demolish 18 homes on Sunland Drive and two homes on Orchardview Ave. in South Fallingbrook. FILE PHOTO which could take several years.

“We’re not looking for them to turn it into a park, just cover it with some grass so it’s not a blight on the neighbourhood,” suggests

Kowbel.

A Facebook group was created on July 6 to help keep residents abreast of what’s going on. It currently has 51 members.

July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6 • 9

Orléans’ first legal cannabis store opens on St. Joseph

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star Cannabis users in Orléans, finally have a place to buy their product right in their own backyard. The Oz Store opened for business on June 30 right across from the Farm Boy location on St. Joseph Blvd.

Besides several different varieties of flower bud, the store also sells cannabis edibles, oils, hash, vaping cartridges, THC-infused citrus water and pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes.

While smoking cannabis may not be everybody’s cup of tea, it is estimated there are thousands of recreational pot users in Orléans who up until now have either purchased their favourite bud online or had to go to one of several cannabis stores downtown.

The store manager, Kolby Seifried, says the feedback they have received since opening on June 30 has been nothing but positive.

“Everyone is pretty happy we’re open and they finally have a place to go in the east end,” says Seifried.

Like every other privately operated cannabis store in the province, The Oz Store gets its product through the Ontario Cannabis

CANADA

Store which is operated by the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC).

The OCRC is the regulatory body that oversees all cannabis sales in Ontario including the prices.

A sign on the door at The Oz Store warns that anyone who enters must be over the age of 19. In order to get in you must first ring the door bell. A “budtender” then comes to the door to let you in.

Once inside you are immediately struck by how bright and welcoming the place is. The next thing that strikes you is how knowledgeable the staff is, which is the biggest difference between purchasing cannabis online versus in a store.

Seifried sees the store as having a dual role – selling cannabis products and educating cannabis users, especially those people who are new to the market and don’t have a lot of knowledge about the different varieties of cannabis that are available.

You can browse The Oz Store’s complete product line on their website at ozstore.ca.

Each item is listed with both the THC and CBD content. While THC is the chemical

The Oz Store, located at 3022 St. Joseph Blvd., is the first legal cannabis store in Orléans. STAFF PHOTOS component of cannabis that gets you high, CBD does not. Both components, however, have been scientifically been proven to have certain medical benefits.

CBD has been proven to benefit people experiencing anxiety, migraine headaches, depression and chronic pain, while THC has been proven to benefit people experiencing all of the above as well as glaucoma, insom-

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nia and muscle spasms.

Visitors to the Oz Store website can also pre-order products for pick up and they can find valuable information on their cannabis blog.

The Oz Store is located at 3022 St. Joseph Blvd. next to Chili Thai Take-Out. You can reach them by phone at 613-424-2222 or by e-mailing ozstore420@gmail.com.

New food truck offers up authentic Mexican street fare

By Fred Sherwin The Orléans Star There’s a new food truck in town and it came all the way from Mexico City. Okay, well maybe the actual truck didn’t come from Mexico City, but the concept did.

The Linda Maria food truck is the brainchild of Christian Abelar (Maria is his mother’s name and linda means beautiful in Spanish), who moved to Ottawa with his wife in 2019 when she was hired by Amazon to help launch their new order fulfillment centre in Carlsbad Springs.

After the couple arrived, Christian began thinking about opening a Mexican restaurant in Orléans. After all, his family has been in the restaurant business in Mexico City for more than 15 year.

But when Christian started to do his research and found out how much it would cost to open a restaurant in Orléans from scratch, he knew he had to come up with an alternate plan. So together with his neighbour and business partner Duane Kruck, they came up with the concept for a food truck.

“The idea is to start with the food truck, build up a reputation and a following and then open up a restaurant,” says Abelar.

Judging by the first six weeks since they set up shop in the parking lot of what used to be the Randalls Decorating Centre at 2030 St. Joseph Blvd., the pair are already well underway to fulfilling their dream.

Thanks to the magic of social media, they

had more than 60 customers on their opening day, and business hasn’t slowed down since.

Their ability to recreate traditional Mexican flavours in their tacos (both soft and fried) and nachos is an homage to Mexican street food that visitors to the Latin American country would appreciate.

I tried the shredded pork Pibi Taco, the Chicken Tinga Taco and the Crispy Chicken Taco and I was immediately teleported back to the streets of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato where I first discovered Mexican street food in the 1980s.

A good taco starts with an authentic glutenfree, corn tortilla which Abelar makes inhouse. Next comes the filling and toppings and then one of three sauces or salsas, which are Abelar’s own recipes. I tried the fairly mild cilantro sauce on my Pibi Taco and the not-so-mild pineapple salsa on my Chicken Tinga Taco.

Finding the Linda Maria food truck is not very difficult. It’s painted black and festooned with dozens of vibrant flowers and Dia de Muertos skulls that were designed by a friend of Abelar’s in Mexico.

The hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. They are closed on Sunday and Monday.

For more information, you can visit their website at lindamaria.ca, or follow them on Facebook at facebook/lindamariafoodtruck.

Christian Abelar and Duane Kruck are the co-owners of the Linda Maria food truck. Below, customers wait patiently in line to order their food.

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S H O P, T O U R A N D B U Y O N L I N E 12 • July 23, 2020 • Volume 35, No. 6