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September 19, 2013 | 40 pages
OttawaCommunityNews.com
Inside Manotick cenotaph COMMUNITY to expand brickwork emma.jackson@metroland.com
The Grassroot Grannies stop off in Metcalfe during their fourth annual Ride to Turn the Tide. – Page 3
NEWS
Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder takes a run at president of the Canadian Library Association. – Page 7
FEATURE
The third of a three-part series about dyslexia looks at services offered by private schools that are unavailable in the public system. – Page 9
News – Manotick’s promise to remember will be set further into stone this fall thanks to a $10,000 grant from the city of Ottawa. The money was approved before the city’s agriculture and rural affairs committee met on Thursday, Sept. 5, as part of the city’s rural communitybuilding grant program. The Manotick Village and Community Association had asked for $15,000 to expand the red interlocking brick around the cenotaph in Dickinson Square, but due to budget constraints – the program has only $80,000 to give away for the year – the association was approved for $10,000. “Which is fine,” said Ted Ross, an MCVA board member who has been working with the Manotick legion to restore the cenotaph. “We’re happy that they were able to grant that much. The grant will be used to extend the apron of the cenotaph over on the left hand side over toward Bridge Street.” Ross said that extension northward is necessary because a number of cadets, honour guard members and other Remembrance Day participants have a hard time standing for hours on the area’s uneven and slightly sloped grass during the annual November ceremony. He hopes the project can be completed before this year’s Remembrance Day service using the same red brick currently surrounding the cenotaph and planned for the sidewalk now under construction. With the grant money in hand, Ross said he wants to make it go as far as possible. He said he hopes the contractors already working on Dickinson can give the volun-
Financing for whatever moves you.
teer group a good deal, since the equipment is already on the ground. “We’re hoping to get it done before November and as cheap as we can so we can have a railing slightly behind it if we can,” he added. REMEMBRANCE PARK
The cenotaph extension is part of a larger multi-year plan to design and build a permanent Remembrance Park in the green space along Dickinson between Bridge Street and Clapp Lane. Preliminary plans for the park include a sidewalk connecting Bridge to the cenotaph (currently underway), seating areas, heritage gardens and a children’s thank-you monument. The abutment on which the cenotaph sits also needs major repairs. As the foot of the original Bridge Street, the city-owned infrastructure has already been assessed by a consultant hired by the city, and a status update has been handed in, Ross said. City staff said they have received the report and are reviewing its findings. Once staff have assessed its contents, further information will be made available, a spokesperson said. The park committee also wants to improve the cenotaph’s accessibility, add benches and improve lighting. To do this, Ross hopes to get support from Veterans Affairs Canada, which runs a cenotaph restoration grant program that funds up to 50 per cent of a project’s costs. The committee hopes to have the park ready for 2017, which coincides with Canada’s 150th anniversary as well as the 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge.
EMMA JACKSON/METROLAND
Local support for care centre Township of Osgoode Care Centre community relations manager Wendy Hill, left, joins Raymond’s owners Al and Mike Raymond and care centre executive director Lori Dudley to celebrate the updated lounge donated by the Raymond family. See story on page 4.
Watson rejects war of words Melnyk blames mayor for casino frustrations Laura Mueller laura.mueller@metroland.com
News - Mayor Jim Watson refused to escalate a heated exchange of words with Eugene Melnyk after the Senators owner vented his casino frustrations on a Toronto radio show last week. Melnyk took to the airwaves on FAN 580 to complain about city council’s decision to take his site at the
Canadian Tire Centre out of the running for a new casino in Ottawa. He blamed Watson for ensuring the Rideau Carleton Raceway was the only option for more gambling in Ottawa and said the mayor acts like he’s from another planet. Watson brushed off the comments, repeating that the casino issue is not his priority and he expects the city will continue to have a working relationship with the NHL team. “Mr. Melnyk is entitled to his opinion. I don’t happen to share his point of view on what he talked about,” Watson said. “His priority is a casino and my priority is not a ca-
sino.” Watson pointed out a bus off-ramp to the Canadian Tire Centre that the city and province put $750,000 towards will open later this year to make it easier for people to take transit to the arena. “I continue to remain very optimistic that we have a good working relationship and the proof’s in the pudding,” Watson said. The radio interview followed the resignation of Senators president Cyril Leeder from the boards of four local groups, including the committee to plan Canada’s 150th birthday bash in Ottawa in 2017. See WATSON page 18
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