Summer 2019

SUMMER 2019

NEWS/POLITICS/FOOD/ARTS/SPORTS/FASHION/LIFESTYLE $4.95

OUT OF THIS WORLD HOME SERVICES — A LOCAL FAMILY BUSINESS HAS ITS SIGHTS SET ON BIGGER THINGS

HUAWEI

— ON 5G IN CANADA AND BEYOND

SUMMER ROAD TRIP — CHOOSE CAYUGA, U.S. OR L’ORIGNAL & PRESCOTT, ON

THE HONOURABLE

JOHN TURNER

TURNS 90 YEARS OLD

OTTAWALIFE.COM

Stefanie Leigh Kirby * Grand Canyon * Education/Making Cuts

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A next-generation network will connect more Canadians in more places, provide speeds up to 25 times faster and enable technology that will change our lives for the better. Let’s keep Canada competitive and make amazing things possible.

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NUMBER 3

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contents

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PHOTO: JEAN-MARC CARRISSE

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Canada’s northern light turns 90

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Seven former prime ministers and PM Justin Trudeau all honoured The Right Honourable John Turner, the penultimate gentleman of Canadian politics. In addition to celebrating the man, the evening was a reminder that civil discourse strengthens our political system and all Canadians.

The unruly gardener

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Stefanie Leigh Kirby channels movement into her abstract landscapes creating big and bold canvases that are alive with colour — a true garden of delight.

To British Columbia and beyond

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Ottawa-based business owners Dave and Wendy Smythe have recently rebranded DS Plumbing as Out of This World Home Services and they are gearing up to go national, one happy customer at a time.

Huawei and the Internet of Things

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Cars that drive themselves and fridges that message you to buy more milk are just a taste of the 5G world that Canadians are about to step into. Huawei is helping us get with its Tech4ALL global inclusion initiative that is assisting communities world-wide to access the Internet.

Summer travelling

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Consider a road trip to visit the historical sites in Eastern Ontario or follow the wine trail down to Cayuga County in Northern New York state.

Further afield, Arizona is a great stepping-off point for a tour of the Grand Canyon.

Ojigwanong-Morning Star, MIXED MEDIA

By Claude Letour

UTOPIA, 80” X 60”

PHOTO: SEAN SISK PHOTOGRAPHY

SUMMER 2019 VOLUME 21

columns

Publisher’s message ....................................... 4 Best picks .................................................... 5 Savvy selections ........................................... 9 Profile: Grenville Goodwin ............................ 11 Gallery: Stefanie L. Kirby ............................... 14 In search of style .......................................... 16 Profile: Claude Latour ................................... 18 Homes ....................................................... 20 Op-ed: Killer truck driver set free ..................... 28 Travel: Ann Arbor, Michigan U.S. .................. 33

Road trip in Eastern Ontario ................ 34

Cayuga County U.S. ......................... 36

Arizona, U.S. .................................... 38 Politics: Education cuts in Ontario ............... 43 Opinion: Kazakhstan ................................... 45 Saint Paul University ..................................... 46

series 38

Technology/The future is now .................... 24 Belt and Road Initiative ............................ 26 Canada’s energy economy ....................... 40 Oh Cannabis: Being a good neighbour ..... 41 Provincial Politics/Education cuts ............... 43

message by Dan Donovan

LeBreton Flats part deux, the Château Laurier and a ‘let them eat cake’ attitude by public servants

fter managing and overseeing the LeBreton Flats debacle, the National Capital A Commission (NCC) sent out a notice in June in what appears to be LeBreton part deux. Apparently, it will “be open to a flexible real estate strategy to increase

competition and leverage opportunities.This renewal process will build on experience to build a lively fusion of residential, commercial, cultural and social elements accented by world-class public-realm amenities”. In other words, their new plan is to let a patchwork of developers parse up the land to build cheesy condos with no streamlined vision that integrates this historic area with the rest of the capital. If you think I’m being melodramatic, just say Château Laurier extension out loud.

We’ve been to this rodeo before. Last time round the NCC’s bidding process was so bureaucratic, expensive and complicated that only two bidders came forward. Devcore Canderel led by Montreal billionaires André Desmarais, president of Power Corp., and Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil. Their plan included a professional NHL hockey rink even though they did not own an NHL franchise in Ottawa. The second bidder, the RendezVous LeBreton Group (a partnership between Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Development’s John Ruddy) won the tender. A year later the whole thing collapsed in acrimony and insults driven by a business dispute between the parties. The hopes and dreams of citizens who desperately wanted the LeBreton Flats redevelopment to become the centre piece of a modern 21st century capital was dashed, and Sens fans were let down because they wanted the team downtown.

The NCC record of incompetency goes back over five decades. In the 1970s the NCC completely destroyed the old town of Hull when overseeing the building of Place du Portage.They allowed the development to have its back face the Ottawa river and Parliament. In 2000 they completely botched the countdown to the millennium on Parliament Hill, they spent millions for skating shacks on the canal yet turn around and ticket children selling lemonade on NCC property. In 2017 they were part of the group that completely botched the Canada Day 150 celebrations in the capital — but I digress. The NCC remains fraught with cronyism, inertia, systemic management failures, poor communications, ethics violations, oversight problems and governance challenges.

Current NCC President Tobi Nussbaum was appointed in controversy last fall. He ran and won re-election to Ottawa City council but failed to disclose when running that he had applied for the NCC CEO job. Despite winning re-election, he accepted the NCC post and resigned leaving taxpayers on the hook for by-election that cost half a million dollars. This, right after the former CEO Mark Kristmanson was found

by Federal Ethics Commissioner, Mario Dion, to have contravened federal conflict of interest rules on 12 occasions, by accepting invitations that could “reasonably be seen to have been given to influence him in the exercise of his official powers, duties and functions,” from organizations that have business dealings with the NCC.” Kristmanson response to these findings was that he, “fully and without reservation regrets any reputational impact this has caused the NCC or the government of Canada.”

That was the end of it. No consequences. Then again, Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion remains a stunningly underwhelming performer and top political eunuch for the Liberal government. Dion found Ottawa West MP Anita Vandenbeld in breach of federal guidelines for using her office to help her husband in the municipal campaign last fall. Despite her guilt, Dion did not sanction her, suggesting she broke the rules in good faith . . . Ugh. The theme in all of this — whether it’s the incompetency or ethical and transparency violations of Vandenbeld, Kristmanson and Nussbaum or the “ethics” commissioner himself, Mario Dion — is that we are not well served by their ‘let them eat cake’ attitude.There is no public interest for these types who suck on the hind teat of government for their own pleasure. Think I’m being dramatic. Well, can you say Château Laurier extension? n

CORRECTION: In the Spring 2019 issue of OLM the article by Nisa Ayu on page 20 read: “Times flies when you’re having fun. It’s already been six month since recreational cannabis was legalized and Organigram has learned a lot, says Ray Gracewood, Organigram’s chief commercial officer.” The text in bold should have read, more than six months. We appologize for the error.

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publisher/managing editor

Dan Donovan art director Karen Temple director of operations Maria Alejandra Gamboa web editor/features writer Tori McNeely cover

Pictured left to right are: Sarah Paul, Dave Smythe, Wendy Smythe, and Trevor Sisson.

Sean Sisk Photography: siskphoto.ca Make up: CoreyJStone.com photographers Riccardo Antimiani, John Bessler, Dwayne Brown Studio, Jean-Marc Carrisse, Kerrick James, Andre Gagne, Simon Gardner, Sean Sisk Photography, Karen Temple, Benjamin Weatherston video Berrin Sun fashion editor Alexandra Gunn accounts Joe Colas C.G.A bookkeeper Joan Hamilton contributing writers Julie Beun,

Michael R Bussière, Nicola P. Contessi, Dan Donovan, Mckenzie Donovan, Simon Gardner, Elyse Glickman, Alexandra Gunn, Jennifer Hartley, Tori McNeely, Hilary Thompson, Debbie Trenholm web contributors Maria Alejandra Gamboa,

Dave Gross, Jennifer Hartley, Owen Maxwell, Mona Staples, Kat Walcott, Keith Whittier social media manager Kat Walcott social media Kat Walcott, Tori McNeely student intern Sofia Donato, Bernice Corbishley corporate advisor J. Paul Harquail,

Charles Franklin corporate counsel Paul Champagne editor in memoriam Harvey F. Chartrand advertising information

For information on advertising rates, visit www.ottawalife.com call (613) 688-LIFE (5433) or e-mail info@ottawalife.com Canadian Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement #1199056.

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best picks

A lasting impression The most successful illusion show in Canada, Outerbridge Clockwork Mysteries is an astonishing performance. Keeping their audience enthralled from the first breathtaking illusion to the spectacular finale, Ted and Marion Outerbridge create an experience that far exceeds the expectations of every spectator. This summer’s performances are all at The Station Theatre in the picturesque town Smith Falls, just an hour from Ottawa. Create long lasting memories by catching one of the performances. Show times are July 6, 13, 20, 27, August 3, 24 & 31. outerbridgemagic.com

Organic pork from duBreton There’s more to grilling than simply burgers and hot dogs and Canada’s leading all-pork specialist is here to remind us of that! As North America’s #1 producer of organic and Certified Humane Raised and Handled® pork, duBreton offers a complete range of the highest quality pork products including bacon, ham, tenderloin, ribs, roasts and much more. This summer look for duBreton pork in your local grocery store and elevate your backyard barbecue while supporting humane farms in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. dubreton.com

No fuss smoothie cubes delivered to your door Evive is the first to offer complete organic smoothie in cubes — no blender needed — made from complete fruits, veggies, superfood and vegan protein. Evive Smoothie Cubes have revolutionized the breakfast category with their hassle-free buying experience, delicious blends, and fair prices. Since starting up 10 months ago they have over 10K subscribers who receive their frozen breakfast to their door, every week or month. Start your day right with evivesmoothie.com

Black Fly is shaking up the Canadian spirit beverage market Black Fly Beverages is a Canadian success story.

Headquatered in London Ontario, the company uses real juices and cane sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrop) to make their line of pre-mixed ready-to-drink (RTD) spirit-based beverages. And that’s not all, their 400 ml bottles are 15 per cent bigger than the other RTD cocktails on the market and come with a resealable cap. Look for their big bottles, carbonated cans or the new Shaker Shots in every Canadian province and territory. blackflybooze.com

Vichy’s repairing eye booster Minéral 89 Eyes is the newest and this year’s biggest Vichy’s launch. The repairing eye booster prevents and reduces fine lines and dark circles caused by lack of sleep and dehydration. Minéral 89 Eyes is your daily booster for brighter, stronger skin in the eye contour area. It stimulates antioxidant defenses, rebalances the skin’s pH levels, and reinforces its integrity by stimulating cell regeneration and improving skin’s barrier function.

Formulated with Vichy Mineralizing Thermal Water, it improves the skin’s resilience to environmental aggressors. vichy.ca

Safe by HUB6 – Smart security system Safe by Hub6 uses the security system hardware you already have and frees you from long-term contracts and monthly fees. It redirects any alerts triggered by your system to your phone, friend — or HUB6’s Professional Monitoring when you need a back-up. With the Safe

by Hub6 you can build a safer, smarter community that looks out for each other through inviting your neighbours to receive alerts on their phone. They’ll be notified if an alarm is triggered. They can clear it or call 911 on your behalf. safebyhub6.com 5 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

best picks

Avocados put the umm! in summer

Whether you’re trying to start the day off on the right foot, need something to spice up your lunch, or you’re having a nice spinner outside on the patio with friends and family: what better way to enjoy the new, warm summer weather than getting creative with your summertime meals? Avocados From Mexico can help you bring your sunny, summer mealtimes to a whole new level by supplying you with delicious avocado-centered recipes to make any breakfast, lunch, supper, or snack a summertime delight. avocadosfrommexico.com

Experience the pure goodness of Loacker

As Canadians struggle to balance work and personal time, Loacker, the Italian heritage brand specialising in biscuits and wafers, has made their mission to help Canadians ease their anxiety. Loacker encourages Canadians to carve out a moment for themselves with its brand-new Double Chocolate wafers and assortment of premium wafer biscuits. Loacker products are a great contributor in relieving anxiety and are a key ingredient in the process of relaxation. loacker.com

PHOTO: MAX L’AFFAMÉ

The taste of summer OverFlow Brewing Company

Ottawa’s own Overflow Brewing Company is not only known for their highquality, handcrafted beers, but for providing customers with an exceptional ‘brewery experience‘. It is home to a 20-barrel (2000 litre) brewhouse, on-site beer store and a taproom which serves as an event space that can hold up to 400 people. Altogether, Overflow stretches out over a whopping 15, 000 square feet. Stop by the taproom for weekly themed nights including Monday Trivia, Tuesday Tacos or Wednesday Wingger, maybe catch one of the many live music shows or book the space for your own private event! overflowbeer.com

PHOTO: AVOCADOS OF MEXICO

PHOTO: SEAN SISK

Benjamin Moore and the Alpha Workshops* create a bespoke wallpaper capsule collection

After decades of close collaboration, the colour specialists from Benjamin Moore — America’s favourite paint, colour and coatings brand — have partnered with The Alpha Workshops wallpaper artisans to create a special edition of 15 hand-painted wallpapers featuring Benjamin Moore premium paints including Century, Aura, and Studio Finishes. The Benjamin Moore and The Alpha Workshops Capsule Collection contains five patterns realized in three lustrous colourways: In Kimono, in Newport, in Topography, in Spencer and Horizon. benjaminmoore.com/alpha-workshops/ wallpaper *The Alpha Workshops is the only non-profit organization in the United States to provide decorative arts education and employment to adults and youth with disabilities and other vulnerabilities.

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PHOTOS: JOHN BESSLER

NOW YOU SEE HER NOW YOU DON’T A stunning new novel of intrigue, betrayal, and revenge from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva.

WEST END STUDIO TOUR September 21,22 & 28,29

Artists of Wellington West, Westboro & Hintonburg warmly welcome you into their studios for a show and sale of original art.

Want the perfect Fall outing?

Drive, bike, or walk around the neighbourhood and explore artist studios to get a firsthand look at their creative processes and their latest artworks.

the eir t e Me in th s! sts arti studio

Brochure-Map at businesses throughout the West End and on our website.

Please return the generous support of our Sponsors.

2477 KALADAR AVE. OTTAWA

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www.westendstudiotour.ca 7 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

savvy solutions by Debbie Trenholm

It’s time

to drink pink!

njoy every moment of sunshine E this summer on your deck or dock with a glass of rosé wine in hand. Most

winemakers around the world dabble with making a rosé wine to quench their thirst with grapes from last year’s harvest. “Grapes are grown throughout the year specifically to make rosé wine”, explains Derek Barnett who makes wine in Prince Edward County for Karlo Estates and in Niagara at his own virtual winery, Meldville Wines.

Our Rosé Report

Our team of sommeliers have done the hard work of tasting countless

rosé wines from across Ontario and have picked the most dry, crisp and refreshing ones to feature in our variety six packs. Our sommeliers share their tasting notes along with food pairing tips when you uncork a rosé wines to clink and drink pink. Here are just a handful of the rosé wines that we have featured so far this summer in our ‘Savvy Deck Party Packs’.

Closson Chase Winery Rosé VQA 2018 $21.95 • Prince Edward County

Closson Chase is one of the first wineries to break ground in ‘The County’ when farmers fields were transforming into

vineyards. Focused on creating the best pinot noir & chardonnay wines with County grown grapes, our sommeliers were super keen to showcase the newly released wine with you.

Winemaker’s Tasting Notes: Delightful aromas of floral, cedar and red fruit fill the glass.The mouth is round and soft with hints of dried herbs and underripe strawberry.

This fresh acidity has a slight salty taste that leads to a long finish.

Suggested Food Pairing: Pair with young cheeses, cured meats and lightly pickled vegetables . . . in other words, a picnic.

Huff Estates Rosé VQA 2018 $20 • Prince Edward County

TOP FOUR ROSÉ TIPS

Rows and rows of rosé wines appear on the shelves as early as April and are usually gone by thanksgiving. When buying these beautiful bottles, here are four things to remember: 1. This year, look for wines that are either are from 2017 or 2018. The date refer to the year of the harvest. Rosé wines are made to be fresh and vibrant. These characteristics diminish as a wine ages, so the younger the rosé usually the better. The exception to this rule is sparkling rosé which often takes two to three years to make. So when choosing a sparkling wine – rosé or white – don’t be surprised if there is an older date on these special gems.

2. Rosé wines can be made with any grape. Unlike shopping specifically for your favourite grape variety, allow yourself to discover a different style with Rosés. Select based on recommendations, price, colour in the bottle, pro reviews . . . or by the creative label.

3. There are many more rosé wines available than what is available on the LCBO store shelves. In fact, our team of Savvy Sommeliers make shopping for rosé wines easy by curating a different six pack each month . . . and this variety pack can be delivered.

4. Drink the rosé wines you’ve bought this summer by this Christmas. Rosés are not a wine to age, rather they are created to be fresh and enjoyed young.

This is one of Huff Estates’ signature and most popular wines. Rosé and County wine fans clamor for it every year – Savvy Team included! Always crafted with 100 per cent cabernet franc grapes grown on the estate, there is the regional characteristic of minerality and crisp acidity that makes this a class act wine.

TIP: If you are heading to Prince Edward County this summer, plan to visit Huff on Sunday when they have live jazz performers playing on the El fresco patio overlooking the vineyard.

Savvy Sommelier’s Tasting Notes: This refreshing wine is bone dry with a light pink hue that resembles classic rosé wines from Tavel, France. Fresh strawberry and rhubarb 9 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

notes with a splash of pomegranate creates a well-crafted refreshing balanced rosé wine with refreshing acidity.

Meldville Wines by Derek Barnett Rosé VQA 2018 $20 • Niagara

Derek Barnett was the first winemaker that we hosted a winemaker’s dinner for when we started Savvy Company over 15 years ago.We were tickled pink when he told us that he planned to release his newest wine creation – this rosé – at our spring pop-up wine shop in April. The crowd was WOWed and we wanted to make sure that you got a bottle before it is all gone. Derek only made a small batch.

Winemaker’s Notes: A pale cherry skin colour with orange hues, the aromas and flavours are of wild strawberry and raspberry, a dry wine with a rich texture on the mid palate, a balanced acidity brings a mouthwatering finish with a red citrus note.

different styles and grape varieties.

Savvy Sommelier’s Tasting Notes: This is the first rosé made under the Queenston Mile Vineyard label. A premium rosé that has outstanding aromas of strawberries, citrus (a hint of mandarin?) with some acidity that ‘tastes like more’ remarked Savvy Sommelier Debbie.

Suggested Food Pairing: This is delicious with BBQed salmon, shrimp or spinach & strawberry salad.

Always have refreshing rosé wines on hand this summer. Call on our Savvy Sommeliers to receive next month’s Deck Party Packs! n Call 613-SAVVYCO (728-8926) or online at www.savvycompany.ca/rose Debbie Trenholm is a sommelier and the founder of Savvy Company.

Suggested Food Pairing: Derek says it best: “This wine can also be enjoyed just by itself with good friends.”

Queenston Mile Vineyard Pinot Noir Rosé VQA 2017 $30 • Niagara

Opened in January 2019, this is the sister winery to Creekside Estates Winery.

Chris MacDonald is the winemaker at both wineries showing his talent with

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10 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

CANADIAN

CRAFT PRODUCED CRAF

profile by Simon Gardner

Grenvillle Goodwin

— seven decades peering into the eyes of Ottawa residents “I didn’t retire, I was fired.”

Dr. Grenville Goodwin states this with a chuckle, but it’s clear he is not thrilled about quitting his job even though he’s ninety years old.

“My wife insists, it’s not my idea.”

Goodwin has been an Ottawa Optometrist since 1952. His patients have included prime ministers, opposition leaders, governors-general and thousands and thousands of everyday Ottawa-area residents.

“The patients are very upset, they expected him to last forever,” says his wife, Audrey, “If it was up to him he’d still be working. He loves his patients”.

Regular clients of Sparks Street Optometry usually get much more than an eye exam and a pair of glasses.

Goodwin is a born story teller always ready to express opinions on a variety of topics including other sectors of the vision industry.

“We nicknamed it slash for cash,” he says, a reference to the still-common technique of cutting the eye with a scalpel-like tool to surgically improve eyesight. Nowadays, of course, lasers are also used. “It’s improved a great deal,” he says,” the results I see now are PHOTO: SIMON GARDNER

quite good.”When you are in business for close to seventy years you see a lot of changes.

Goodwin points to a bulky-looking vision analyzer in the corner of his office. He says it cost him 200 thousand dollars, but he stopped using it long ago.

“I was on national TV with that thing because it was the first computerized system sold in Canada.The patient had a little controller. Now it’s obsolete, nothing lasts too long these days”, he says.

Goodwin took over the business sixty seven years ago after the sudden death of his father who was also named Grenville and was also an optometrist.

He had started the practice at the end of WW1.The original location was on Bank Street.

attack. He had served less than a year in office.

Audrey says that traumatic event turned her husband into a “health nut.” He started eating healthy food and became one of Ottawa’s early bicycle commuters, each day riding 45 kilometers to and from work.

Goodwin is sure it’s kept him fit, but sharing the road with automobiles comes with risks. He was twice hit by cars and suffered broken bones.

About three years ago Audrey demanded he stop riding because of impaired hearing in one of his ears.“I told him I would slash the tires if he continued to ride so that was the end of the bike.”

Despite his retirement, the business will live on. His son, Rodney, is now running Sparks Street Optometry.

The elder Goodwin is perhaps best remembered as a Mayor of Ottawa.

With obvious pride, Goodwin says his dad played a pivotal role in the creation of Ottawa’s Greenbelt (protected land meant to safeguard against urban sprawl).

Audrey says she and her husband plan to spend more time at their cottage, and travelling to see family in Atlantic Canada.

“He was the Father of the Greenbelt,” claims Goodwin. Mayor Goodwin died suddenly at age 53 from a heart

Grinning, he replies that he hasn’t yet talked to Hulse and Playfair (a wellknown Ottawa funeral business) n

What does Goodwin himself have to say about his future?

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Oh, what a night –

Canada’s eight living prime ministers gather to honour their friend, The Right Honourable John Turner, for his 90th birthday.

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by Dan Donovan photos by Jean-Marc Carisse

hey all came for one purpose, T friends, political adversaries, the media establishment, colleagues and family, to celebrate the 90th birthday of Canada’s 17th Prime Minister, The Right Honourable John Turner. He is and remains Canada’s Northern Light.

Oh, what a night. It was one for the ages and certainly for the history books.

Stories were told, memories were recalled, laughs were had. Hugs, smiles and goodwill were aplenty.

How appropriate that Canada’s oldest former Prime Minister was the centre of such an extraordinary event. Prime Minister Trudeau and the seven former prime ministers all attended to honour the penultimate gentleman of Canadian politics.

The event, organized by Lisa Haley and Marc Kealey, was more than just a celebration of Mr. Turner’s 90th birthday, it was a gathering like no other of Canada’s political elders and a reminder that their legacy is our legacy.

That Canada is greater than the sum of its parts, that we are stronger when united, that we are better when we are civil to each other and that we can all agree to disagree agreeably and still be friends and colleagues.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Right Honourable John Turner takes the stage to a standing

ovation. CTV’s Keith Boag chats with the seated Prime Minister Turner. Prime Minster John Turner makes final touches to his speech with the help of his long-time aid, Marc Kealey. Prime Ministers Paul Martin, Justin Trudeau, Joe Clarke, Jean Chretien, and John Turner with daughter Liz Turner and grand-daughter Fiona.

These seven former prime ministers who have been there, done that, and who have carried us through over seven decades of governance — and have the battle scars to show for it — are all kind and civil to each other.

They reminded us that courtesy and

decorum is a strength in politics, and that honour and kindness go far. The evening reminded us all that we must get back to the days of civility and of agreeing to disagree in an agreeable way. Let that be a lesson for the fall 2019 federal election n 13 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

gallery by Michael R. Bussière

THE

painterly gestures

OF AN UNRULY GARDENER

As a young person, Stefanie Leigh Kirby dreamt of being a professional dancer, but like so many youthful dreams of passionate pursuits, Stefanie found herself facing reality.

Stefanie worked hard to learn the intricacies of contemporary jazz, but a kindly, forthright dance instructor told her that she just didn’t have what a dancer required to warrant the arduous commitment.

Fortunately her mother did recognize a creative spirit and encouraged Stefanie to journey down other avenues of personal expression, and that led back to a canvas that Stefanie has loved exploring since childhood.

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After completing the Ottawa School of Art portfolio program, Kirby attended the prestigious Mount Allison University School of Fine Arts where she received her BFA in 1997, and the Hewson Philip Award for Best Drawing. She started in oils and eventually switched to acrylics because of concern for her family due to the fumes that would accumulate in her in-home studio. The plastic quality of acrylics perplexed her at first, because “it doesn’t move, it doesn’t flow”, but

Stefanie, the dancer at heart, soon discovered the tension and movement inherent in acrylic chemistry.

Regardless of the medium, the act and action of painting has become a channel for Kirby’s thoughts, emotions, and reflections on the human condition, something she explores in great depth as a nurse practitioner.

Stefanie loves to contemplate and practice her art when she is not providing care to her patients, and her studio process stands in stark contrast to the regimented environment of a medical office. “In my medical career, there’s a lot of structure and time management and I like to lose that

Spring Awakening • 70” x 60”

I’m an unruly gardener and my approach to these paintings is an unruly and provocative and beautiful exploration of paint.

The Unruly Garden • 82” x 60”

when I’m painting, so letting go of that type of structure I find very freeing.”

That freedom and action is evident in every work displayed in her studio and around her home. Stefanie’s big, bold canvases begin with an inspirational thought that is quickly layered revealing or obscuring colours, marks, and brush strokes. Her process is methodical and fluid, deliberative and improvisatory like a dancer in motion.

“When I am involved in the act of painting I often do not look at the image I am creating”, she explains.

“Instead I am engaged in the process, the colours, the expressive marks and the humbling physicality of painting.”

It is an approach that guides the creative journey of each painting and allows the artwork to form its own identity.“There is a subtle interplay between conscious thought and turning off all the noise in my head. This is challenging and pushes boundaries...the hardest part is to not look, yet see the feeling and allow the paint to tell the story.”

“I don’t really like gardening” Stefanie admits, “I have this love/hate relationship with gardening, so I think in a way it’s kind of whimsical. I’m an unruly gardener and my approach to these paintings is an unruly and provocative and beautiful exploration of paint. I’m not fearful and I want it be a bit uncomfortable.” And yet flowers are her passionate subjects time and again. “I’m trying to push myself and not be bogged down. I want the feel of the organics and the actions of

The Calm Before the Storm • 90” x 60” gardens to be the main focus.” This is the abstract expressionist sensibility in Stefanie’s creative practice and a stylistic and technical tribute to the work of her artistic heroine Joan Mitchell, a noted member of the American abstract expressionist movement for much of the 20th century.

Stefanie Leigh Kirby’s canvases can be seen regularly at Galerie Côté Créations, 98 Richmond Road just west of Island Park. And, she’s thrilled to have been selected to show her artwork this September as part of a juried exhibition at The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles n slkirby.com 15 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

in search of style by Alexandra Gunn

street STYLE

Go ahead& jump!

Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexandraGunn

t Striped Jumper $59.99 • Marshalls

Floral Jumpsuit u $438 • Kate Spade

Jump into a fresh new style this summer with the stand-out look of a boiler suit or jumpsuit.

Comfortable, minimal and suitable for almost any activity, this new look is infiltrating every summer wardrobe.

Olive Boiler Suit u $39.99 • Winners

The utilitarian design of a boiler suit was originally designed as a one-piece protective garment for manual labour but it is now a time-saving wardrobe solution for busy working women while jumpsuits offer a sleeveless look which can be worn from work to cocktails.

Pair a jumpsuit with heels for night out or sneakers during the day for a cool and causal look – the trend is that easy to pull off.

Check out how street style mavens from around the world are rocking this look. u

The jean jacket is back on the fashion radar and it’s the best investment piece for 2019. It’s easy to style, has a timeless appeal and helps to pull any outfit together. Whether you like yours oversized and boxy, or as a crop fit, a denim topper is the perfect extra layer of warmth for cool summer nights. t 16 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Denim Jacket, J Crew • $144

H&M Studio Dress u

I’ve always enjoyed the experience of walking the mall, shopping local boutiques and trying on clothes for the perfect fit.

However, when things become hectic, I’ve learned that on-line shopping can be just as much fun and it allows me to maximize time for the things that matter. Here are some of the key purchases that I’ve sourced online.

Mesh Tote u $49.99 • Winners

Beige Revolution

Gone are the days when wearing a one-piece swimsuit meant you were body-conscious.

Cool designs have flooded the market, making it an easy choice for chasing the kids around all summer.

Ruffle One-Piece u

LaVieEnRose.ca $69.95

street

STYLE

New to Canada, Smile Direct Club helps deliver a smile that you’ll love. Their Invisible Braces are safe and avoid the hassle of in-person monthly visits. t smiledirectclub.ca

It might not be the most exhilarating but beige, fashion’s must-have shade of the season, has been transformed into a symbol of classic refinement. It is appearing on all the major runways in rich and luxurious hues from toffee to vanilla. The timeless tone was seen on the Balmain, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Tibi runways in headto-toe ensembles.

The neutral trend is an easy wardrobe staple that can be worn year in, year out and is suitable for all ages and skin tones. Beige is fashion’s favourite new shade. t Beige Maxi Dress $79.99 • Marshalls

Jill Sander

Tom Ford

Burberry

Max Mara

Salvatore Feragamo

$2350

From urban pathways to riverside trails, the Arc’teryx Norvan SL Trail running shoe is breathable and super lightweight. It makes tackling the OttawaGatineau terrains a breeze. p arcteryx.com $170

I love switching up my skin care routine with the seasons.

Arbonne’s Intelligence Counter Spot Essence controlled-release, ceramideencapsulated retinol works overnight to target both visible and invisible spots lurking underneath the surface u arbonne.com $88

17 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

MakwaPug • 20” x 30”, 2018

—

Makwa’s Return

A L G O N Q U I N

gallery by Leah Snyder

ne may travel far away, but the O beckoning of home and how it affects us is always close at hand.

For visual artist Claude Latour, this couldn’t be more true. Growing up in Ottawa, Latour reflects on how living in various blue collar neighbourhoods provided opportunities to exercise his imagination in escaping the social challenges he faced.

As I speak with him about his work at a café, local to his old stomping grounds of Eastview, now Vanier, he points out how buildings on Beechwood Avenue contain memories and meaning for him, connecting him back to his foundational years in this city.

18 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

A R T I S T

C L A U D E

His own household was informed by his father’s French Canadian background and his mother’s Algonquin ancestry.

His matrilineal connection to the Algonquin of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation (formerly River Desert), his mother’s community on the Québec side threads itself through his art.

KZ, as the reserve is colloquially referred to, is a place that provides spiritual roots for Latour and influences him as a contemporary Indigenous artist.

His body of work, as he describes it, is a “tableaux of Algonquin teachings” many of which he learned on occasions when visiting the reserve with his grandmother, Marguerite BrascoupéBudge, a traditional healer within the Kaponichin Line, Bear Clan.

As he shares, it has been his participation in ceremonies that are thousands of

L A T O U R

years old that led him to use art as a way to communicate about his experiences.

He says, “I couldn’t express through words but I could express through visual aspects, which included paint, photography and video.”

Latour spent time on the powwow circuit as a traditional drummer with the Red Road Singers which brought him to Northern communities and east to Mi’kmaq territory. In these places, he broke bannock with other Indigenous peoples whose ceremonies and teachings also impacted his artistic work.

A graduate of Ottawa University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program, Latour attended a residency at the worldrenowned Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2010. The residency provided an opportunity for an

Eight Fire • 60” x 40”, 2019

exchange of ideas putting Latour in conversation with other contemporary Indigenous artists, including the nationally acclaimed Dene artist Alex Janvier, known for his mural, Morning Star, that graces the ceiling of the Museum of History in Gatineau.

At this time, Latour revisited his Eastern Street Land series from 2005, which along with the Yellow House Series, will be included in an upcoming solo exhibition at Patrick Gordon Framing.

The genesis of Yellow House Series began on Galiano Island, British Columbia, another location which over the last 13 years has given ongoing grounding for Latour, who spends time each year on the island creating in his studio there. The exhibition, titled Makwa’s Return, will focus on Latour’s new body of work which amalgamates the two

series in mixed media pieces that go deeper into the influence of Algonquin culture in his œuvre.

The timing of the exhibition corresponds with the launch of Latour’s public art installation located on the west side of the canal by the new Flora Footbridge bridge.* Named Mōsz (Algonquin for moose), the work, a bench echoing the shape of an antler, calls attention to the loss of presence of the moose and other native species to this area. Displaced by the construction of the Canal along with the human sprawl related to the

Mikiziw Staff • 22” x 37.5 “, 2019

pulp and paper industry, Mōsz is also a metaphor for the loss of Indigenous sovereignty of the unceded Algonquin lands of the Ottawa region. Like his cousin Simon Brascoupé, whose installation Màmawi welcomes transit riders at the Pimisi LRT station at Lebreton Flats, Latour has explored the realm of public art joining other Indigenous artists marking the urban space. These artists remind us all of the Indigenous history of the region.

When asked if he is encouraged by this shift Latour offers “I like the change I see in Ottawa upon each return as it becomes a more decolonized city.”

For Latour “home is always home.” n

*

The artist would like to acknowledge that the Mōsz commission is a mentorship opportunity offered to emerging

artist through the City of Ottawa Public Art Program in partnership with third-party fabricator, Fluxworx, as part of the Flora Footbridge project. Special thanks to Matt McParland and Louwrens Strassen and as well, Adrian and Britta of Low Poly Crafts for their generous time.

19 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

homes by Tori McNeely

Three steps for TOP TO BOTTOM summer home maintenance You probably already have a home maintenance checklist: Replace the furnace filter each season, shut off water spigots before winter, clean the gutters, etc. That’s a good start, but there are jobs that homeowners often forget about, or don’t even know about. Some of the biggest problems typically arise from the smallest of details: a crack in the foundation, a leak in the irrigation system, condensation collecting in your windows.

Take advantage of the summer sunshine and long hours and get to work on some serious summer maintenance.

2

Windows and Doors

p TWO Windows are often trouble spots. The most important question a homeowner can ask themselves about their windows is what are they made of.

1

Patrick Despatie, owner of Action Restoration

Foundation

PHOTO: ANDRE GAGNE

THE SIGNS: If your windows are more than 25 years old, then it is time to start thinking about buying a new product.

Other telltale signs your windows need repairing or replacing include high-energy bills, decaying frames, deteriorating weatherstripping, leaky windows and condensation.

p ONE The foundation of a home is the first step in building a house and the first component to be forgotten. But just because we don’t often see the foundation of a home, doesn’t mean it is any less important than the rest of the house. Foundation problems can start small and grow slowly over time, putting your home at further risk.

THE SIGNS: Whether you have a basement foundation, crawl space or concrete slab on grade, here are a few key signs maintenance is needed: slanted floors, interior wall cracks, misaligned doors and windows, moisture and exterior cracks.

THE FIX: There are ways to repair a concrete foundation without having to tear it out and start from scratch. The two most common methods are slabjacking and hydraulic jacking, also commonly referred to as piering. Slabjacking is when grout is pumped beneath a slab or beam to produce a lifting force that restores the member to its original elevation.

Piering is when steel posts are driven through unstable soil and hydraulic jacks are used to raise of stabilize slabs affected by changes in the underlying soil.

20 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

THE FIX: Traditionally, most windows are made of either vinyl, aluminum, or fibreglass. The former are usually hollow and not very durable, while the latter is expensive and quite heavy. Today’s high-performance windows are far more energy-efficient than products built two decades ago.

They are airtight, with advanced technology such as lowemissivity (low-E) glass, inert gas between the panes and better-designed hardware.

THE EXPERT: “[Many] windows get tired. And with the new technology today, such as low-E glass and argon gas between the panes, windows are more energy efficient.

Changing your windows out means that you can get away from maintenance on the outside and improve the thermal [insulation] of your home, saving you money.” - Greg Westwell, owner of Fendor, Ottawa’s premier choice for windows and doors. fendor.ca

THE EXPERT: Repairing a home’s foundation can be a homeowner’s greatest fear, but a foundation issue is much like any other repair a homeowner encounters. As Patrick Despatie, owner of Action Restoration, puts it: “To prolong the lifespan of anything, whether it be the human body or your home, you must be proactive. If you wait too long, something that would have cost a couple of thousand dollars through early detection could end up costing you a hundred thousand dollars. I will either fix the problems or restore something to its original state so no one can tell it was a repair.” actionrest.ca

q THREE Updating your home’s exterior with a fresh coat of paint may seem superficial, but there is more to it than boosting curb appeal. A new coat of paint holds both aesthetic and functional advantages.

THE SIGNS: Nature can be harsh on your home. From freezing cold winters to hot and humid summers, there are a handful of natural elements that could potentially damage your home. When determining whether it’s time to paint your house signs to look for are dampness, rotting, chalkiness, insect or rodent infestation and mold.

THE FIX: From stucco and siding to engineered wood, a fresh protective coating adds a barrier between your residence and Mother Nature. Most experts agree that all things considered, including climate, material and the previous paint job, a home’s exterior should be painted every five to 10 years. This can prevent mold and mildew and protect against precipitation damage and insect infestation.

And the best time to paint? On those warm, dry days!

THE EXPERT: “When it comes to siding, brick and stucco, you certainly want to put the right product on, but you also want to make sure that you’re taking the proper steps to prep the surface in order for the paint to adhere. Spray-Net can revamp the exterior of a home with a uniquely permanent solution that is UV reflective, scratch resistant, and a much more environmentally friendly option than replacing your exterior altogether.” Devin Anderson, Spray-Net franchise partner for the Ottawa-West territory. spray-net.com

3

Exterior Painting

You belong here Discover a healthy community and a sense of belonging at the Y! JoiN todAY! ymcaywca.ca

PHOTO: SIZONS DESIGNS

YMCA-YWCA of the National Capital Region 21 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

DS PLUMBING HAS GONE

Out of this World ...Ground control to Plumber Dave and ...Wendy.

cover by Michael R. Bussière PHOTO: SEAN SISK PHOTOGRAPHY MAKE UP: COREY J STONE

I

love Jim Unger’s British wit, and so when I was given the chance to write about plumbing, a Herman cartoon immediately jumped to mind.

Picture newlyweds leaving a chapel, with an honour guard of men saluting them with plungers thrust skyward.

The bride turns to the groom and says: “I thought you told me you were a fighter pilot!”

It’s easy to resort to jokes, but the gang at Out of this World Home Services is hardcore serious and proudly sport Canadian flags on their shoulders. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought they were astronauts. But plumbing is no joke when it breaks down, and it wasn’t that long ago that the indoor variety was a luxury for the few.

Plumbing times have changed and OOTW intends to change them again.

22 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Out of This World Home Services is a Bell’s Corners company founded as DS Plumbing in 2004 by Dave Smythe, a master plumber whose parents were from Britain. He first trained in the UK as a millwright, and worked on industrial maintenance at a site where they tested Rolls Royce jet engines. But it was thanks to his plumber stepfather that Dave first became curious about a new trade, and Canada seemed to be the place to pursue it.

He met his wife and eventual business partner Wendy in 1991 while Canada was still on the far-off horizon. She was completing a nursing course and he was having a metal plate removed from a leg that was injured in a car accident years earlier. A quiet shift prompted Wendy to request more activity in the men’s ward and that was that. Nurse meets skilled tradesman and Kismet made its

presence felt. As Dave puts it: “There are so many coincidences we know that the universe had a hand in it!”

The couple eventually settled in Canada to work and start a family. OOTW had its start-up in the proverbial spare bedroom where Wendy ran the administration department while Dave made house calls. It was classic multitasking with kids close by to keep things loving and focused.

Wendy took a break from the business for a few years to work from home and spend more time with the kids. The couple hired a business coach and once again tackled the running and development of DS together. “We work pretty well together,” says Dave. “We try not to work on the business much when we get home but discussion always comes around to it somehow or other. Even our eldest son is working for us so even more reason conversations get started.”

Plumbing is something we take for granted, that is until something goes terribly wrong, so helping clients through renovations or a domestic catastrophe require real people skills. This is a hallmark of OOTW Plumbing and has been a key to their growth and success.

Online reviews glow with gratification for the team’s caring, considerate manners and thorough knowledge of that perplexing network that moves water into and out of our beloved dwellings. OOTW technicians drive trucks that are stocked with just about any fix required. In 90 per cent of calls, there’s no waiting for parts or tools, and that is very reassuring especially when water damage and insurance claims loom ominously.

The company website boasts years of awards that reflect customer experience and satisfaction, with 2018 being one of the best for OOTW. It picked up the Best Ottawa Business (BOB) Award for Best Performance Customer Experience from the Ottawa Board of Trade, the Consumer’s Choice Award, and the Top Choice Award for Top Plumbing Company in Ottawa for the sixth year in a row!

These are stellar accolades but OOTW feels their 70 per cent portion of bookings by referral or return clients is the greatest measure of success and puts their goal on track to becoming the largest residential service plumbing company in Ottawa.

Dave isn’t shy about his greatest dream: to be the first plumber in space on Virgin Galactic! It’s the creative spark behind the rebranding of DS to Out of this World; plus, the new name elevates the brand from the work of a nice local family business to that of a company with its sights set on bigger things.

Real people skills.

This is a hallmark of OOTW Plumbing and has been a key to their growth and success.

“We have plans to take the company national in the future, whether through franchise or licensing. Step by step, OOTW is unveiling the new branding on its fleet, uniforms, and the company website, but Dave wants to assure current customers that “we are still providing the excellent service both technician and office teams provide and we intend to be providing them and new customers with more wow experiences.”

Expertise in HVAC, electrical, renovation, and appliance services may soon be added to the current offerings of plumbing, water treatment and drain cleaning.

There’s something about the OOTW family that you can’t help but love, and if you never thought you’d read an article about plumbing that quoted Emmanuel Kant, then you’ve never met a guy like Dave. “‘We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals,” mused Kant in what could be the OOTW office motto. There’s a

photo on the company blog of burly Dave holding a very tiny kitten in his tradesman’s arms.

Dave and Wendy are famous cat lovers in the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue family, and so when a 6-week old puss got herself piped, Dave came to the rescue and extracted her from the sump pump discharge line in her foster home.

“I felt over the moon,” said Dave like the aspiring astronaut he is. “It was really good to come out and help this kitten out”.

The couple do much more than just help.

They are faithful rescuers who often provide a home for abandoned or feral cats. The aptly named Piper and her sister Nutmeg have joined Dave and Wendy’s home kitties who have been keeping her out of the plumbing ever since.

As if being a superhero wasn’t enough, Dave is also an author.

The Book on Personal Development.

3 Stages of Growing Your Self is one man’s insights about building confidence along the road to success. He and Wendy coauthored There’s Nothing Sexy about Plumbing – Or Is There?; No, not a spice-it-up book for couples, but a how-to guide to selecting a plumber or any home contractor you can trust.

Both titles are no doubt filled with the same love and humour found on the company website. Dave, the video host, is worth watching whether your toilet is stopped up or not. His sense of fun is a delight, but it’s no foil for what is a dedicated and thoroughly professional attitude towards all things plumbed, and an ambition to transform the former DS into Out of this World and Canada’s national plumbing brand with branches in every province.

It’s bound to happen, so the next time you look down the drain or up at the stars, think of Commander Dave n

OOTW’s new website blasts off at outofthisworldhomeservices.com with dsplumbing.com still in orbit until all systems are go.

23 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

technology/the future is now by Michael R. Bussière

Huawei in Canada & THE INTERNET OF THINGS

ig inventions disrupt the age in B which they appear, but in simpler times that disruption was slow in coming. In the 1920s only one in every three homes had a telephone, and most were attached to a ‘party line’ shared with other families. Most rural regions had no service whatsoever. Only 25 years ago photographers shared images over distance by printing and posting them. Then came the iPhone and the dawn of a disruption whose mindboggling rate of public deployment has surpassed virtually every previous communications invention.

Smartphone usage, in only a hard-tobelieve 12 years, has topped 3 billion users worldwide, with the biggest gains coming in the Asia-Pacific region where Huawei intends to dominate. In fact, they intend to dominate globally.

Wireless networks infiltrated our lives in steps. The first generation (1G) enabled mobile voice communication.

2G added text messaging. 3G put us online with such devices as the Blackberry, and 4G sped the whole package up with data-intensive Internet 2.0 content like video streaming and multi-player gaming.

The next big network upgrade is imminent with 5G, a quantum leap in design that not only provides faster transmission speeds but also more widespread coverage to handle more 24 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

connected devices and traffic types.

We’re not just talking phones, but infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, smart buildings, robotic machinery, and what is generally called the Internet of Things (IoT). Read Isaac Asimov as a primer, and then imagine your cell knowing you are in a supermarket and informing you of what barcodes are missing from your refrigerator. The broader social impact will hit everything from immersive education to remote patient care and monitoring.

networks can support the remarkable features, and networks in Canada are terribly uneven.

Personal note: I’m writing this on 3G, in hilly terrain wherein I toss confetti when I get three bars of service.

I’m located 40 kilometres NE of Parliament Hill in a G7 country. More than six million Canadians live in rural communities with similar or poorer quality of service (QoS).

The CRTC is responsible for the

The broader social impact {of 5G} will hit everything from immersive education to remote patient care and monitoring.

There are a few key steps before 5G reaches commercial and consumer markets, and a few key companies ready to enable deployment. Telecoms will have to upgrade their networks with gear manufactured by such players as Huawei, Ericsson, or Nokia.

Phone makers will need to incorporate 5G-radio technology and design the gear for a 5G virtual world in mind.

Some are ready for launch. The Samsung S10+ comes loaded with more cameras than a TV news studio.

Huawei’s futuristic Mate X will satisfy even the most diehard Star Trekkie by putting a phone that unfolds(!) into an eight-inch tablet in your jacket pocket. But all of this is academic until

oversight of our wireless spectrum and it regularly holds public auctions for licences to operate in different wireless spectrum bands. It has already anticipated an auction for the 3500 MHz band that will be required for the eventual rollout of 5G networks in Canada, and has scheduled hearings for January 2020. 5G brings a different set of technical conditions, and companies have already submitted comments regarding how the spectrum should be made available.

Huawei Canada, for example, has proposed that certain areas of data traffic growth, such as vehicular traffic and control and hospital medical devices, should be deemed critical PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

services and assigned specific licensed spectrum bands.

Some IoT applications will have to consider cultural predisposition.

Canadians are just not embracing online grocery shopping. We lag well behind Americans in this new escapade and so, down the road, we’re not as likely to have our smart fridge tell the store what we expect to pick up at the drive-thru. We all, however, live in remote communities (Ottawa is remote from Toronto on a relative scale) and we have single-tier public healthcare.

5G is going to virtually reduce distance and increase QoS for healthcare delivery, not just between urban centres, but to rural and Arctic communities.

The Chrétien Government committed resources to the expansion of CA*net4, Industry Canada’s fiber backbone, to remote and northern communities.

I was involved in a number of these research projects and witnessed some remarkable things. The Trudeau government picked up this policy of “national access to broadband for all Canadians”.

Huawei has taken a keen interest in this aspect of the Canadian data landscape.

It has already enabled more than 300,000 users to access the Internet at high speeds, and has provided cellular and fixed wireless to dozens of northern communities, including Grise Fiord, Iqaluit, and Inuvik. This was no small feat. If there’s one thing Canada has, it’s geography. Populations are very sparse, and costs go up the farther out a network reaches.

One great story is the Lac La Hache Pilot Project in central BC. Huawei collaborated with Quesnel and B.Cbased ABC Communications to implement speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, doubling to quadrupling previous data rates in the 800-person town. They used technology known as “Massive MIMO” (multiple-input multiple output) that groups antennas together to boost efficiency and is a precursor to the 5G networks.

Canada’s natural attributes provide companies with a great test bed for research and deployment across vast

Canada’s natural attributes provide companies with a great test bed for research and deployment across vast distances and challenging terrains. distances and challenging terrains. This is particularly relevant to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015. It provides a shared blueprint for achieving 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), ranging from social progress to environmental stewardship.

Only one of the 17 goals specifically mentions the Internet. A subsection of Goal 9 aims to “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” and “significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020.”

Be that as it may, every new form of communication throughout history has eventually brought with it an increase in the standard of living, literacy, and democratic stability. The application of networks and related technologies would undoubtedly serve the overall cause of improving the quality of life for populations worldwide. Further to this, Huawei unveiled Tech4ALL, a global inclusion initiative aimed at adding 500 million people to the digital global village over the next five years.

Back to those uneven Canadian networks. Not only are they uneven in terms of quality of service, but they are also mighty pricey. Canadians kvetch about cell phone rates about as much as we gripe about the weather.

Ten years ago the Harper government was squawking about the high cost of cell service in Canada, generally recognized as the highest in the world on average. They proposed a fourth carrier be invited into the market, but the Big Three still dominate. They asked for the Big Three to come up with optional data packages, but have you seen your bill lately? Maybe they didn’t ask nicely.

The one thing the CRTC did accomplish under then-chair JeanPierre Blais was to declare Internet access a basic service for all Canadians.

It had a warm feel to it, but corporate profit still trumps social profit for the country’s big data providers. It was only a year ago that the CRTC ordered Bell, Rogers and TELUS to formulate affordable data-only plans. Bell offered $30 per month for 500 megabytes, Rogers $25 per month for 400 MB etc.

You could hear a pin drop. Sure, there is a bundle of discount carriers out there now, but their network coverage barely reaches beyond the burbs.

So why do the Telcos have the power that they do, and why does the CRTC need a policy Viagra to do anything about what Canadians feel is an unfair gouging? It’s not reasonable to compare our rates with the US, given the population and market competition.But 5G offers huge competitive and social advantages to a national economy, and Canada’s data rates following the costly network upgrades 5G will require will not help our rates go down. Opinion seems to swirl around the idea of more competition in the data market, but that has been trotted out as a solution on more than one occasion and under more than one government.

In December 2018, the CRTC announced the Big Three would offer at least one plan of $30 a month for 1 GB of data. Track your data usage for 1 GB and see how far that gets you into a one-month billing period, then imagine that rate and cost in a 5G world.

Maybe the Big Three simply have us by the bills. The last time long distance was free in Canada was that call Alexander Graham Bell made between Brantford and Paris, Ontario in 1876. The advent of 5G will bring about yet another big disruption and unimaginable new worlds of content and services. Consumers will simply have to be prepared to pay for it. We are Canadians, after all n 25 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Belt and Road Initiative by Nicola P. Contessi

Italy and the Belt and Road Initiative:

Rome’s overture to Beijing

This story was first published by the Asia Pacific Foundation and is republished with their permission.

oth Canada and Italy are middle B powers experiencing similar constraints and incentives from the evolving configuration of the international system. However, while Italy recently became the first G7 nation to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Canada’s relations with China have soured following the Meng Wenzhou extradition case. Both the Trudeau and Harper governments have entertained somewhat testy relations with Beijing, struggling to balance national interest and global values despite their respective commitments to trade diversification.

Under Italy’s ‘yellow-green’ ruling coalition, meanwhile, different political players in that country have managed to navigate the interests of various domestic, international, and transnational stakeholders to engage with China. While under current circumstances it would be surprising for Ottawa to radically reverse course in its engagement with China, it may nonetheless be interesting to ask whether Italy’s approach presents any takeaways for Canada.

What was signed?

During President Xi Jinping’s March 22-24 visit to Italy, Rome and Beijing inked a total of 29 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) valued at some C$3.8 billion. Nineteen of those MoUs were between public institutions, and include the much-rumoured MoU on 26 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

the Belt and Road Initiative, which covers wide-spanning co-operation on “roads, railways, bridges, civil aviation, ports, energy, and telecommunications,” though, as an informal document, it doesn’t carry legal obligations.

Other bilateral agreements dealt with co-operation on the ‘China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite 02’ (CSES-02), on innovation, and on the promotion of collaboration between Italian and Chinese startups. In the field of culture, the two sides drew up MoUs related to: the fight against the illicit traffic in artworks, co-operation on the conservation and promotion of respective UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and the return to China of 796 archeological artifacts held in Italy.

Agreements were also reached between the public broadcasters RAI and China Media Group and the national news agencies ANSA and Xinhua.

Two agreements aimed at enhancing people-to-people contacts were also reached. Four other MoUs touched on e-commerce, the export of Italian agricultural products, frozen pork, and bovine seed.

Business-related MoUs involved both private and state-owned companies in fields ranging from energy and transport (with particular reference to the ports of Genoa and Trieste) to engineering and finance. In the latter sector, thanks to an agreement with Bank of China Ltd., Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP), Italy’s main policy bank (for a Canadian

ABOVE: Chinese President Xi Jinping with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte in Rome, Italy.

COURTESY: BELT AND ROAD NEWS

equivalent look at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), will be able to issue RMB denominated bonds to support Italian companies in China by raising liquidity from institutional investors operating in China. The two financial institutions also agreed to set up an RMB 4B joint fund to invest in Italian companies. Three agreements were signed to boost Chinese tourism to Italy between the tour operator CTRIP and Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A, Trenitalia S.p.A. and Museo Ferrari.

What gives?

First, with Italy’s populist government engaged in an effort to counter a sluggish economy, China’s expanding domestic market presents valuable economic opportunities. Second, Rome needs to rebalance a US$20billion trade deficit with China. Third, improved relations with China can help Rome reduce exposure to its European partners, in keeping with the yellow-green government’s drive for a more assertive EU policy.

But Italy has shown interest in the BRI from early on. Located at the heart of the Mediterranean, it occupies a frontline position at the intersection between civilizations, which has informed a foreign policy tradition marked by the PHOTO: RICCARDO ANTIMIANI

early engagement of critical areas like Asia, the Arab world, Iran, and even the erstwhile Soviet Union. In 2015, Rome was among the 57 co-founders of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) putting some US$2.5 billion toward its capitalization. And in May 2017, then Prime Minister Gentiloni was the only G7 leader to attend the BRI Forum in Beijing.

In the current atmosphere of great power competition, Rome’s decision to endorse the BRI has irked its traditional partners on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as certain domestic constituencies.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio had to fly to Washingtonto provide reassurances a mere one week after the agreements were inked. While commentators expressed mixed reactions, at official levels concerns were voiced that as a founding member of both the EU and the G7, Italy might be lending legitimacy to China, if not falling prey to its “debt trap diplomacy.” All things considered, while Rome’s seeminglyaudacious move may have taken many observers by surprise, within a month both Luxembourg and Switzerland signed similar MoUs, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated the EU can itself join the BRI once differences on trade issues are resolved.

Soon after, in early May, New Zealand became the first Five Eyes country to also join the BRI. Sure enough, both the BRI and Beijing’s trading practices pose a substantial challenge for the West, but these challenges are distinct and different: ostracization will not right unfair practices nor will it stop the BRI. Rather, it is likely to perpetuate the former and prevent any realistic ability to affect the latter, which, indeed, comes partly as a response to a real U.S.$15-trillion gap in infrastructure investment globally.

On Canada’s radar?

Although Ottawa may be leaning toward a China pushback agenda, circumventing the world’s third largest economy (counting the EU) is

somewhat inconsistent with the goal of trade diversification and a tradition of foreign policy independence.While the exercise of prudence toward China’s self-serving practices is appropriate, Canada may want to observe how what looks like a fledgling SinoItalian modus operandi develops going forward.

Like U.S.-created institutions have served to reassure both friends and foes during America’s rise, so too could China-led institutionalization offer a similar pathway to work with China as a constructive partner in today’s global order. The AIIB, and even informal documents like MoUs, can help partner states to work principles and transparency into the BRI that can alleviate some of its biases and ensure a level playing field.

and geopolitical interests is such that multilateralism and bilateralism will complement one another. On the other hand, the United States has yet to formulate a coherent overall strategy to fill the global infrastructure gap, though an important Washington think-tank just released a promising blueprint. This is another area whose developments Ottawa may wish to watch. The deal FinDev Canada has struck with the U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) and the EU to constitute a tripartite development finance instrument may be positive in that regard.

However, as evidenced by the recent arrest in China of two Canadian citizens, Canada-China relations are at their lowest point. The paradox is that

Canada-China relations are at their lowest point.

The paradox is that this turn of events was not intended by either side. Canada has more to lose from a protracted stand-off and despite everything it makes sense to find a shared grammar with China.

The caveats and references to EU and international norms in Italy’s MoUs with China seems to be pushing in that direction. As the debate around Canada’s AIIB membership is revived, this is a consideration that forces across the political spectrum should bear in mind.

Canada, like Italy, is a shareholder in the AIIB, an institution Rome has vowed to involve in the implementation of some of the projects agreed upon with China. Canada expressed an interest in also working with the AIIB, so that will be a further area Ottawa may wish to explore.

At a higher level, offering alternative development pathways– in the spirit of coexistence and complementarity with BRI – would make common, global sense. With the adoption of the Connecting Europe and Asia strategy, the EU has taken that route. Yet, in that context, the plurality of economic

this turn of events was not intended by either side. Canada has more to lose from a protracted standoff and despite everything it makes sense to find a shared grammar with China.

By playing deaf on the matter, Beijing seems to be conveying its refusal to have ad hoc, selective discussions.

While second-track and sub-national channels are valuable, it might take a more conspicuous gesture to unlock the situation. However, in a small first step, possibly destined to become part of a multipronged re-engagement, cultural diplomacy, along the lines of Italy’s example, could assist Canada in transcending the impasse. Canada too is rich in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Perhaps, contacts around this shared issue could open up the space conducive to rebuilding good faith n Nicola P. Contessi, PhD is an international affairs specialist with expertise in global governance, foreign and security policy, and international transportation.

27 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

op-ed by Hilary Thompson

Ottawa family struggles to move on after —

Killer truck driver set free When Nadia Robinson woke up on June 28, 2015 she was happy. She poured herself a cup of coffee and made a Facebook status saying so. Her oldest son had just graduated from high school and she and her family had moved into a new home in Riverside South. Although she was not with the father of her children, Andy Nevin, they were cohabitating so they could both be present parents for their two teenage boys Bryce Nevin and Jacob Nevin.

They had stayed up late the night before talking excitedly about the future and how much their boys were going to love their new home.

The plan for the day was to head back to their old house to patch and paint.

When Andy didn’t emerge from his room Robinson assumed he had slept in but as the morning wore on Andy was nowhere to be found. “I started to get angry and then worried,” Robinson says.

“I don’t know why he would leave me with all of this,” she thought, thinking of all the work they had to do at the old house. “This isn’t like him.”

Robinson asked her youngest son Bryce to take his bicycle and go get some milk from the store. When Bryce went to get his bike, he realized it was gone and they assumed that Andy had taken it earlier that morning to ride the 12km back to their old home in South Keys to start repairs. “I was mad 28 OTTAWALIFE SPRING 2019

that my dad took my bike,” Bryce remembers.

When Robinson and the boys arrived at their old home Andy was not there.

They started doing the patching and painting but it was soon time to take Bryce to soccer practice. Robinson tried to call Andy on his cell phone but couldn’t get through because there was no time left on it. She called her best friend Lindsay Nevin (who is married to Andy’s brother Brent) and expressed her concern and anger about Andy’s disappearance.

“What colour was the bike?” Lindsay asked.

“Green…why?” Robinson replied.

“There was a fatal crash with a green bike this morning,” Lindsay said.

“I just lost it,” Robinson remembers.

Andrew Jason Nevin, age 39, was struck and killed at 5:55 a.m. on June 28, 2015 heading east on Leitrim Road in Ottawa. The driver of the white Ford F-250 truck, Deinsberg St-Hilaire, didn’t even slow down, fishtailing through the intersection of Leitrim and Albion Road leaving Andy’s mangled body in the ditch.

The Nevin family had gathered at Lindsay and Brent’s home when police came to the house to deliver the news of Andy’s death. They were all in tears as the police told them that the EMS’ efforts to revive Andy were unsuccessful and he was pronounced DOA when he arrived at the hospital. Bryce isolated himself from the rest of the family and sat outside in the cold rain that had started to fall, feeling numb and empty.

“To this day I still feel empty,” he says.

It was nine long days for the Nevin family before St-Hilaire was apprehended by police. During that

Robinson tried to call Andy on his cell phone but couldn’t get through . . . . She called her best friend and expressed her concern and anger about Andy’s disappearance.

time St-Hilaire did his best to cover up the accident. He ordered new headlights for his truck that day and took the badly damaged vehicle to Skysway Electronic Garage on Leeds Avenue to be repaired by family friend Shaun Nadeau. He also hid from police at Adam’s Airport Inn with the help of his then girlfriend (now wife) Crystal Johnston and half-brother Che Esprit.

Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Detective Constable Darwin Turner was the lead investigator on the case and, with the help of a surveillance team, arrested St-Hilaire on July 7, 2015. They also collected the damaged truck panels (which were spattered with Andy’s blood) from Skysway Electronic Garage as evidence and interviewed the owner of the garage, Nadeau. Initially Nadeau denied knowing anything about the Ford F-250 but when he was advised that this was part of a criminal investigation, he admitted to being paid cash to fix the truck.

Turner said that St-Hilaire confessed to him, after three hours of interrogation, that he was the one who hit Andy.

He told Turner that he was on his way home after being up all night at a wedding and had momentarily dozed off at the wheel. He awoke to a bang and, after checking his rear-view mirror, assumed he had hit a mailbox and drove away. It wasn’t until days later, when he heard about the hit and run on the news, that he realized what he had done. He said “fear gripped his heart” when he realized he was the one who killed Andy but after consulting with his brother decided not to turn himself in. He said he feared being unfairly treated because he is black and he had endured racism at the hands of police in the past. He also denied being drunk stating that he only had one drink as a toast at the wedding as he was the designated driver.

The Nevin family watched in horror as St-Hilaire was granted bail after being charged with failing to remain at scene of a fatal crash on Monday July 13, 2015. He was released with a $10,000 bond and under the condition that he surrender his passport and drivers license and live with his mother in Barrhaven. Robinson remembers StPHOTOS: COURTESY NADIA ROBINSON

Hilaire’s mother saying at the bail hearing that she would just “give him a couple of slaps” if he got out of line, a statement that she believes showed a complete disrespect for the severity of St-Hilaire’s actions. “That should have never happened in a court room with a death involved,” she says. “They never took it seriously from day one.”

This belief was further compounded when the family learned that StHilaire had received a bail variance on December 7, 2015. This allowed him to drive the very same Ford F-250 truck that he had been driving when he hit Andy so he could resume his work as a landscaper. Andy’s family, who lived close to St-Hilaire’s mother had to watch as the “murder truck” drove around their neighbourhood allowing

games with them after school and on the weekends. Robinson even helped with the landscaping at Esprit and St-Hilaire’s mother’s house 12 years ago. She remembers that his mother brought them lemonade. “Che was a good friend. I think that’s what hurts the most. He knew that it was Andy and he still helped his brother cover it up,” Robinson says. “Blood is thicker than water but to this extent? It’s a bigtime slap in the face.”

Esprit was never charged for helping his brother cover up the collision and evade police, nor was he put on the stand. Robinson says she only saw him in court once. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but he quickly turned away. “He completely disappeared out of my life,” she says.

Andy’s family, who lived close to St-Hilaire’s mother had to watch as the “murder truck” drove around their neighbourhood allowing his killer to continue to support his family while they were struggling to make ends meet.

his killer to continue to support his family while they were struggling to make ends meet. It was only donations through a Go Fund Me campaign that allowed Robinson and her sons to stay in their new house for the yearlong lease. “I couldn’t afford $2200 a month,” Robinson said. She had to go into debt to help pay for Andy’s funeral arrangements.

The investigation into Andy’s death has made the Nevin family extremely sceptical about the credibility of the OPS and the judicial system. The original collision reconstruction report carried out by Turner and his partner Detective Constable Darrin Biggs, was firmly discredited by another detective with the OPS and a provincial constable from the OPP.

To make matters worse, Robinson found out that she had an unbelievable connection to St-Hilaire. It wasn’t until months after Andy’s death that she realized that her former friend, Che Esprit, was St- Hilaire’s half brother.

Esprit knew Bryce and Jacob and would often come over and play video

Turner and Biggs’ report had placed the initial impact on the roadway, placing more fault on Andy, while the skid marks on the street clearly indicated that Andy was hit on the paved shoulder, one meter over the fog line. Veteran reconstructionist Detective Alain Boucher of the OPS 29 OTTAWALIFE SPRING 2019

said at the preliminary inquiry that a reconstructionist who came to Turner and Biggs’ conclusion would “have a lot of explaining to do.”

It was only after Boucher released his report that St-Hilaire was charged with dangerous driving causing death and obstruction of a peace officer. When Andy’s father, Kerry Nevin, had asked Turner previously why St-Hilaire had only been charged with leaving the scene, Turner replied that he had no reason to believe St-Hilaire had been speeding or driving in a dangerous way.

The investigation by Boucher and by a video analysis and velocity extraction expert found that St-Hilaire had in fact been going 80 km/h in a 50km/h zone; thirty kilometers over the speed limit.Turner refused firmly when asked

by Ottawa Life Magazine to comment on the case and his investigation. Kerry has since filed an OIPRD complaint against Turner and his actions involving the case.

Despite admitting to speeding, StHilaire pled not guilty to dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident both of which carry hefty jail time if found guilty. He pled guilty to obstruction of a peace officer which can lead to up to two years imprisonment.

It took over three years for St-Hilaire’s trial to come to court. Issues with attorneys on both sides caused the trial date to extend further and further into the future, keeping the nightmare alive for the Nevin family. They avoided Leitrim Road and were always on the lookout for the man with the white truck who killed their loved one and covered it up.

When the trial finally took place in 30 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

OPS Detective Constable Darwin Turner and Detective Constable Darrin Biggs’ report had placed the initial impact on the roadway, placing more fault on Andy, while the skid marks on the street clearly indicated that Andy was hit on the paved shoulder, one meter over the fog line.

October 2018, they were hopeful that with the evidence the crown had gathered they were going to see a guilty verdict on all counts. They were surprised when Turner, as the investigating officer, was not called up to the stand at any point during the three-week trial. “He was there the whole time passing out tissue and cups of water to my grieving family,” Kerry says. “I wanted to kick the shit out of him.”

Crown attorney Lisa Miles told Robinson that she thought they had it in the bag without testimony from Turner. Many people who had been following the story in the media over the past three years thought so too.

On November 2, 2018 Justice Catherine Aitken pronounced St. Hilaire not guilty of dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident. “This is a disgrace,” Kerry shouted as he stormed out of the court room. Everyone was in shock.

“Despite the horrible and tragic consequences of this case I am left with a reasonable doubt as to whether Mr. St Hilaire’s brief period of lapsed attention – possibly only a few seconds – was sufficient to find criminal liability for dangerous driving,” Aitken said at trial.

In order to have a guilty verdict for dangerous driving causing death the

crown must provide evidence that the accused’s driving was a “marked departure from the manner in which a reasonably prudent person would drive under the circumstances.” Ottawa criminal lawyer Michael Spratt, who was not in court but followed the case closely, said that this can be extremely difficult to prove. “What needs to be shown in court for dangerous driving is very strict,” he says. “Exceeding the speed limit by itself may not be enough depending on the situation.”

In St-Hilaire’s case Aitken thought that the speeding was not unreasonable because it was on a relatively empty road early in the morning. Civil litigator Patrick Brown of Bike Law Canada, a group that advocates for legal reform to prevent cyclists from being injured or killed, spoke out against Aitken’s ruling stating that, “at the end of the day, most people would perceive staying up all night and speeding like that as a marked departure from what a normal person would do.”

Aitken found St-Hilaire not guilty of the leaving the scene of an accident charge as she felt the crown had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew he had hit someone when he sped away from the accident.

It wasn’t just the Nevin family and the cycling community who felt Aitken’s decision was off the mark. In the days that followed Kerry gathered 7200

signatures from people who wanted the decision appealed. He delivered the binder full of signatures to the Crown Attorney’s office. The response, received within a day, stated that an appeal would not be granted.

Being dragged through the courts for three years and the final not-guilty verdict has affected the Nevin family in irreparable ways. Diagnosed with PTSD, Kerry has not been able to work since the accident and has secluded himself in his dark basement apartment bent on finding justice for Andy. He has written a 20-chapter book on how he feels the justice system has failed his son. “Kerry is stuck in anger and he can’t get past it,” Robinson says, adding that most of her family don’t speak to him anymore.

who are in pain and who have suffered and continue to suffer because there are some losses that can never truly be healed.”

When Aitken gave St-Hilaire the chance to respond he approached the bench, avoiding eye contact with the Nevin family.“My heart goes out to the family and I’m sorry for their loss and I’m sorry for my involvement in that loss,” he said with robot-like expression.

At the sentencing the crown argued for a 12-month jail sentence while the defense suggested probation and community service seeing as St-Hilaire had no previous criminal record and has shown remorse for his actions.

he had done, and he is not deemed a danger to society. “I have no doubt that St-Hilaire feels remorse for his actions,” Aitken said at the sentencing. “I believe he wanted to do the right thing but was afraid.” The judge also accepted testimonials from friends, co-workers and his pastor that stated he was a decent, honest person who acted out of character when he hid from police.

Kerry stormed out of the courtroom and Robinson broke down in tears.“It’s just a slap on the wrist,” she said after the sentencing. “It’s a very sad day for cyclists, pedestrians and our children.

It’s setting such a low precedent for other people.”

Like Robinson, Kerry is concerned

Robinson says her eldest son Jacob, now 21, has lost motivation and is reckless with his life. “He always says, ‘I could be killed tomorrow so I’m going to live in the moment,’” she says. “He’s irresponsible.”

Despite struggles at school Bryce, 19, graduated but chose not to start his post secondary education while the trial was ongoing. He suffers from PTSD, insomnia, panic attacks and has had trouble with drugs and alcohol. He used to love playing soccer but hasn’t picked up a ball since his father was killed almost four years ago.

Robinson says she has tried to be strong for her boys. “We are all on different levels of grieving,” she says.

“I’m the mom so I am going to tend to my children but if it were one of my boys I would be just as angry as Kerry.

I’d be in the loony bin.”

During his sentencing hearing for the obstruction of a peace officer charge the Nevin family were given the opportunity to read victim impact statements. St-Hilaire stared straight ahead as Robinson, Kerry, Lindsay and Bryce told him directly how his actions had impacted their lives. “The people we were on June 27 are gone. The people we were to become never had a chance to exist. In many ways they died along with Andy that morning.”

Robinson said in court.“We are people

Despite struggles at school Bryce, 19, graduated . . . .

He suffers from PTSD, insomnia, panic attacks and has had trouble with drugs and alcohol. He used to love playing soccer but hasn’t picked up a ball since his father was killed.

On Wednesday April 17, 2019 Aitken sentenced St-Hilaire to a one-year conditional sentence, with 100 hours of community service and a curfew from 10pm to 6am. She also ordered that he surrender his passport. The defense was concerned that the curfew might interfere with St-Hilaire’s work as a landscaper and Aitken said she would allow his case worker to amend the times he had to be at home to work with his schedule, as long as he was at home for the full 8 hours.

Aitken stated that she felt a period of incarceration in the home would be a strong enough deterrent seeing as St-Hilaire was clearly sorry for what

about the precedent Aitken has set in this case. “Justice has been robbed from Andy,” he said angrily. “And it’s going to be robbed from a lot of people going forward.”

Robinson says the only thing she and her family can do now is try and move on. St-Hilaire will be allowed to continue to provide for his family while hers struggles to live life without their brother, father and friend. “Today, that’s it, we can’t change what happened,” Robinson said emotionally outside of the courthouse on Elgin Street. “But we can try and make Andy proud and that is what we’re going to do.” n 31 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

travel by Elyse Glickman

Arbor days all year ‘round nn Arbor, an hour outside of A Detroit and Windsor, may be a college town but plays like a big city all year round.

It’s navigable, safe, and paved with wide assortment of performing arts venues, museums and art galleries, shopping, and a wealth of fine dining and ethnic restaurants. Nearby communities such as Ypsilanti have their own lively and distinctive “Main Streets,” historic landmarks, and outdoor activities.

This is a big reason why many graduating high school seniors in the U.S. Midwest plan visits to the University of Michigan campus and set their sights on the ultimate prize—a place in the freshman class. Of course, that also means that many outgrowths of campus life are going to appeal to younger siblings and adults as well.

While the Hands-On Museum was anointed as one of Ann Arbor’s best places in for a first date by local media, it is still a place designed with aspiring young scholars in mind. Its ongoing partnerships with the University of Michigan, the National Science Foundation, and other learning

institutions ensures it has thoughtfullydesigned interactive areas dedicated to natural sciences, physics, computer tech, and biology, made relatable by how they touch a child’s world in everyday life. While the installations are guaranteed to keep kids and parents entertained for a morning, continued expansion into 2020 will expand the museum as well as young minds.

Speaking of expansions, the Museum of Natural History at the University of Michigan does one better by being both the city’s oldest and newest museums, locating from its previous 1928 building into a brand new facility that officially opened in April 2019 and is set to be near completion by November. The new facility features the Digital Dome Theater (an intimate planetarium), observation areas to view working laboratories used by UM students and researchers, and handson public investigate labs open to the public. Specimens and artifacts from the old museum as well as new ones have been placed into displays with new updated signage.

Interactivity, creativity, and mind expansion are recurring themes with many of the varied local businesses offering classes, talks, and performances.

The Ann Arbor Arts Center offers single classes and day camp class series covering everything from ceramics and paintings to found object sculptures and mixed media projects. Literati Books Literati book store in a former downtown flagship Borders Books space, beautifully resurrects the nearly lost paradise of the brick-and-mortar bookstore, down to a second floor community area with a coffee bar, a performance space, and a reading room for preschoolers and younger elementary school-age kids. Teens and adults wanting to test their prowess with paper making, meanwhile, can check out bookbinding and fine craft classes at Hollander’s in the Kerrytown neighborhood.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Students from the University of Michigan (UM)

PHOTO: BENJAMIN

WEATHERSTON.

The newly relocated UM Museum of Natural History. For a good book, visit Literati book store. Explore all the senses at the Hands-On Museum.

PHOTOS: COURTESY DESTINATION ANN ARBOR

33 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

travel by Michael R. Bussière

Built in defiance

R oad tr ipp i n g E a s t e r n O n t a ri o ’s h i s t o r y back roads map book and you C might just stumble upon some of the risscross eastern Ontario with a

province’s finest stone heritage. Here are three road trips around the region where you can explore buildings that are the oldest of their kind in the province. They are filled with stories.

Each drive requires a few leisurely hours, so pack a picnic or look for chip stands. Of course, they’re everywhere, with ice cream by the scoop!

Head down old Highway 17 along a scenic stretch of the Ottawa River to L’Orignal (45°37’10.7”N 74°41’22.9”W), home to Ancienne Prison de L’Orignal Old Jail, the province’s oldest courthouse. The seigneurie de Longueuil became a township of the same name in 1791, and by 1816 the administration of law was increasingly formalized with the first Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at L’Orignal.

Mr. Bela Fenn Frost became the first official to serve the court, and serve he did, in multiple capacities. On any given day, Frost’s schedule could see him acting as counsel, High Constable,

34 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Grand Juror, County Clerk, tax collector, and occasionally, sitting as the accused.

It wasn’t long before the Court issued a budgetary expenditure for punitive stocks (£2, situated for full and humiliating public viewing in front of the gaol) and, in 1823, £50 for a neoclassical stone courthouse. L’Orignal being the oldest settlement on the Grand (Ottawa) River, the bilingual court also served (as it still does) as the administrative seat of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell.

A National Historic Site, the Old Stone Mill in the village of Delta is the oldest surviving mill in Ontario. RIGHT: The home of Col. Edward Jessup, the founder of Prescott.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The oldest prison in Ontario and the second oldest in Canada.

ABOVE:

Loyalists who came north at the very early date of 1777. He realized that the new colony required not just homes but institutions, and so in 1810 he constructed a teacher’s residence from local limestone.

explore on foot or bike.

Prescott turned into a strategic military point along the St. Lawrence where a series of rapids required the transfer of goods and people from smaller to larger vessels. It wasn’t long before the teacher’s residence was pressed into war service as a barracks and hospital, being quickly absorbed into a defensive installation.

Just off the 401 in Prescott, there’s a simple Georgian building known as The Barracks (N 44 42.741 W 75 30.747). It’s the oldest military facility in Ontario, and one of the few to survive the War of 1812. The town’s founder, Col. Edward Jessup, was among many

The heroic efforts of 80 men and 90 horses altered, expanded and eventually surrounded the site creating a fort by October of 1812. A payment of a pint of rum per man was issued for their loyalty. The Barracks is once again a residence, private and peaceful.

L’Orignal has a gorgeous waterfront park and a wonderful collection of stone buildings to

PHOTOS: COURTESY MICHAEL BUSSIÈRE

The huge Fort Wellington National Historic Site and plenty more is found along Highway 2. King Street features the best fish and chips joint not to mention an authentic Turkish restaurant. (Yep, Turkish, in Upper Canada!)

1810 also saw the construction of a remarkable industrial complex in the village of Delta (N 44 36.613 W 76 07.345) off of Highway 15 in the Township of Rideau Lakes. The Old Stone Mill National Historic Site is the oldest gristmill in Ontario and a spectacular work of design and engineering at a time when Upper Canada was barely more than a scattered stretch of settlements built mostly from timber.

Hastings Steele, the mill’s last owner, deeded the Delta mill in trust in 1963 to a group of four people for the sum of one dollar. Mr. Steele’s only stipulation was that the Mill be restored as a museum dedicated to the early industriousness of those who built it.

The Delta Mill Society, founded in 1972 as a non-profit provincial corporation, has lovingly and impressively fulfilled his wish. The museum is amazing! n Excerpt from the forthcoming book Built in Defiance: the story of the British refugees of Upper Canada as told by their oldest stone buildings.

The one-of-a-kind institution of Zingerman’s, also in Kerrytown, cannot be ignored. The 35-plus-year bedrock of the Ann Arbor food scene (said to have as many restaurants per capita as New York City) transcends the “restaurant group” business model.

While the original Zingerman’s Deli features classic and updated delicatessen sandwiches whose fans include Barak Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and generations of UM students, it has also provided food-related education initiatives for the community and helped food entrepreneurs succeed at the famously challenging business.

The Zingerman’s community includes Miss Kim for Korean food crafted with local ingredients, ABOVE: Zingerman’s Deli serves up made-

to-order deli sandwiches and other gourmet fare while Zingerman’s Next Door, the house to the right, continues the theme with great soups, salads, coffee and deserts. BELOW: The historic town of Ypsilanti is on the east side of Ann Arbor and is home to Eastern Michigan University.

PHOTOS: COURTESY DESTINATION ANN ARBOR AND H NASH PHOTO

Zingerman’s Roadhouse for Southern fare, and dessert hub Zingermann’s Next Door. On a satellite campus a few miles from downtown, one can enroll in a variety of baking classes at Zingermann’s Bakehouse and chill out at Zingerman’s Creamery, where fresh cheeses and ice creams are crafted daily.

Cornman Farms, an enchanting hybrid of English country inn and American farmhouse a half hour outside of Ann Arbor, MI, is tailor-made for small weddings and special occasion dinners.

Chef Kieron Hales, who previously cooked for British royalty and U.S. presidents, reigns in the kitchen but will generously share recipe cards for the asking.

Other fine picks with creative menus include sibling restaurants The Lunch Room and Detroit Street Filling Station (thelunchrooma2.com), noted for flavourful vegan fare, live music, and many community fundraising efforts. Since its inception, Detroit Street Filling Station has raised money for several local charities and boasted its partnership with the Youth Justice Fund, which provides young people in need with housing, clothing, transportation, job placement, and mental health services n visitannarbor.org

35 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

travel by Tori McNeely

WINE NOT TAKE

a road trip to Cayuga County

Cayuga County, New York stretches nearly sixty-five miles long from the shore of the Great Lake Ontario to the heart of the Finger Lakes Region. Within 700 square miles you’ll find some of the best farm to table cuisine, lakes and scenery, wineries, breweries and so much more. A 4-hour drive south of Ottawa on the I-81, Cayuga County makes a great destination for a summer road trip.

Wineries

Cayuga County is home to an abundance of premium wineries and wine trails. While going straight to the source is a good way to get to know particular wines, touring the facilities to learn about the wine-making process is just as fun as tasting the wines themselves. Most of the wineries in Cayuga County are relatively small, giving you a chance to get up close and personal with the people involved in the wine-making process. Three I suggest adding to your tour are Treleaven Wines, Bright Leaf Vineyard and Long Point Winery.

Treleaven

After over 30 years in the making, Treleaven occupies 27 acres of vines varieties but specialize in buttery Chardonnays and sweet Rieslings.

Treleaven is the ultimate event destination, with a beautiful outdoor venue and a handful of family-friendly events taking place including trivia every Friday and live music every other Saturday. Their staff are exceptionally knowledgeable. At Treleaven you truly feel like you’re in your own backyard.

Bright Leaf Vineyard

A small, family winery/vineyard located on the East side of Cayuga Lake, Bright Leaf specializes in red and white dry to semi-dry varietals.

36 OTTAWALIFE SPRING SUMMER2019 2019

Partners in life and work, Michael and Donna Wilson, turned their long-time dream of starting a vineyard into a reality in 2012 when they purchased 14 acres of vines in close proximity to Cayuga lake. According to Michael, bright leaves are an indication of healthy fruit, and if you don’t have healthy fruit, you can’t make good wine. At Bright Leaf Vineyard you’re guaranteed good wine and great company.

Long Point Winery

It’s not a trip to Long Point Winery without a tasting of their crisp rosé!

Also located on the east side of Cayuga Lake, Long Point is home to 72 acres of land overlooking the lake. Come for the wine and stay for lunch at Amelia’s Deli, Long Point’s in-house cafe.

Amelia’s serves the most appetizing specialty sandwiches accompanied by a variety of homemade salads.

Breweries

Not an oenophile or a wine hobbyist?

Not to worry, Cayuga County is also well-known for its growing number of award-winning craft breweries.

Two breweries I suggest visiting are Summerhill Brewing and Prison City Brewery.

Summerhill Brewing

Family owned and operated, Summerhill Brewing has been offering hand crafted ales since 2016. Located just south of Route 90 on Champlin Road, Summerhill prides themselves in using as much locally grown ingredients in their ale as possible. Their recently expanded brewery boasts a custom sycamore bar top, walking trails, lawn games and much more! They deliver on their promise that a trip to their brewery is “worth the trip up the hill.” The names of each beer is just as attractive as the beer itself.

Prison City Brewery

Located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, Prison City Brewery’s awardwinning beer combined with their farm to table pub fare are what make it a Cayuga County favourite! With too many beers to count on two hands, purchasing a flight of 4 5oz pours is definitely the right way to go.

Get your Cayuga County cultural fix at Seward House Museum, New York State Equal Rights Historic Centre and the Auburn Public Theatre.

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New York State Equal Rights Historic Centre

Just a hop and a skip from Seward House Museum, the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Centre’s state of the art exhibition and interactive displays bring to life the state’s progressive history of supporting equality.

The centre utilizes songs, speeches, videos, portraits and posters in a very creative a thought-provoking effort to showcase the ways in which New Yorkers organized a stand for justice from the 1800’s to modern day. On your way out, don’t forget to stop by the Taste NY Market for some regionally sourced products.

Seward House Museum

Open Tuesday to Saturday, the Seward House Museum is a circa 1816 historic home that once belonged to William H. Seward, former New York State senator, governor and U.S. Senator, and former Secretary of State under President Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

As you make your way through the home, you will find it is full of the family’s things: Seward’s cigars, his daughter Fanny’s personal library, ancient artifacts from their travels around the world and Seward’s diplomatic gallery. The house is so well-preserved, it’s as if the family just stepped out for a moment.

Auburn Public Theatre In their 13th year of year-round programming, the Auburn Public Theatre offers live music, theatre, comedy, cinema and so much more. Upcoming events include a musical performance by the Frank Gamble Band, Boy Erased on the big screen and the theatrics of Kafka’s Metamorphosis. Located in the heart of downtown Auburn, just a couple blocks away from Prison City Brewery, it’s the perfect way to end a night in Cayuga County.

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BEFORE

Holiday Inn

Downtown Auburn’s newly renovated Holiday Inn is the perfect place to stay. In close proximity to downtown, the hotel is replete with all sorts of amenities including free wifi, an indoor swimming pool, continential breakfast, fitness centre and friendly staff!.

Wherever this season of road trips takes you, make sure to stop in Cayuga County. You won’t be disappointed. tourcayuga.com

PHOTOS: TORI MCNEELY

344 Gladstone Ave.

PAIHAIR.COM 613-594-5652

37 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

travel by Jennifer Hartley

PHOTO: KERRICK JAMES, COURTESY WWW.FLAGSTAFFARIZONA.ORG

Amazing Arizona

endeavour. Only your eyes and other senses can provide the true experience of the natural majesty of the land around you, of the gorgeous red rock mountains and shapes that look like they came out of a Dr. Seuss book.

Arizona is a magical place that is also rich in culture and history.

A perfect road trip doable in 5-7 days is the journey from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon.The drive itself is roughly four hours, but there are a number of mustsee places along the way.

Sedona

It is a little detour definitely worth the effort. With paths for every kind of walker, it offers top-notch hiking. If you are short for time, rent a bike to see things more quickly. Stargazing is breathtaking given the dark sky.

Flagstaff

It is a mecca for anyone interested in space and celestial phenomena. The 50th anniversary of the moon landing 38 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

is particularly special this year because every astronaut who participated in the Apollo program trained in Flagstaff.

Flagstaff is also the location of the Lowell Observatory where the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930.

The Observatory offers guided tours so you don’t need be a rocket scientist to understand and its story is moving.

Nearby you can travel back even further in time, to Meteor Crater to see what happens when space and earth collide. It is a massive crater formed some 50,000 years ago. It is a humbling experience and worth the 40 minutedrive from Flagstaff.

Head to the pueblos at Wupatki National Monument, which are aweinspiring and offer another look at ancient Indigenous human ruins and our incredible will for survival.

Back in modern Flagstaff, walk along Route 66, sip on craft beers, (Flagstaff has a thriving craft beer industry) and grab a burger at Diablo’s burger joint which has incredible burger options. With a college town feel and

ABOVE: The south rim of the Grand Canyon.

The Lowell Observatory with the night sky.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Waputaki National Monument in Flagstaff.

place brimming with creativity and imagination and what is possible — from space exploration to the limits of the human body (Olympians train here), there is a great vibe overall in Flagstaff.

Grand Canyon

The year 2019 may mark the 100th anniversary of the Grand Canyon’s designation as a national park but its formation dates back over 6 million years (possibly longer based on new evidence). The walls of the Canyon were formed before dinosaurs so it is interesting to note there were never any dinosaur bones discovered in the Canyon. The oldest human artifacts are nearly 12,000 years old and since then there has been continuous use and occupation of the park. It is a dream location for scientists, geologists, archeologists and awe seekers of every kind.

PHOTO: KERRICK JAMES, COURTESY WWW.FLAGSTAFFARIZONA.ORG

o even attempt to describe the T beauty of Arizona in words or to capture it on film seems like a futile

There are two public areas: the North and South Rims. At 7,000 feet above sea level, the South Rim is the most accessible with numerous to pull over to admire the views.You can experience the Park by helicopter, hummer, bus, car and foot.

For the full Canyon effect take a Hummer tour, helicopter then explore by foot.

If a Hummer tour grabs you, Buck Wild Hummer Tour will take you to one end of the South Rim at dusk.

Bear in mind you are in a Hummer and it is a group tour so you stuck on their schedule and it is a commitment of up to two hours but the drivers are dynamic and keep you entertained.

Next, Papillon Heli-tours are efficient, punctual and the experience of riding in a helicopter alone is amazing.

Finally, for your Canyon Odyssey on foot, make sure to arrive before 9 a.m. to avoid incredibly long lines. (You still need to drive there to reach the Rim).

The best way to see the Canyon is on foot. The Hermit Trailhead path is stunning and takes you to the opposite end of the South Rim from Hummer trip, which gives you a real great sense of all of the South Rim. There is a shuttle bus for hop-on hop-off adventures but you can walk the full path which is about 10 km. Bring lots of water.

Climbing down into the Canyon is worth the effort but remember if you climb down into the Canyon it takes a lot longer to climb back up. Bring lots of water and wear a hat and sunscreen. It is seriously hot and the sun is strong.

Scottsdale

Scottsdale is a suburb of Phoenix. The old town of Scottsdale is a great place

WHERE TO STAY When choosing a place near the Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon Plaza (located in the village of Tusayan and 11 km from South Rim) is close to everything.

In Flagstaff, be sure to stay Little America Hotel. It is surrounded by a Ponderosa Pine Forest and has a 4-km hiking trail through 500 acres on the property. Rooms are huge and beautiful.

One of the most incredible hotels in the Marriott chain is the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. It is truly an oasis and is one of Mr. Marriott’s favourite hotels where he celebrates his birthday. That alone should tell you how amazing it is.

to just roam around and take in the feel.

It is charming and has an old western town feel with a modern twists.

rocks. Don’t carry anything in your hands. Bring a backpack.

Grab some ice cream from the Sugar Bowl, made famous in the Family Circus cartoon or visit Hula’s Modern Tiki for the best ceviche bar none. If breakfast is your thing, head to Hash restaurant for a DIY Bloody Mary bar, omelettes and breakfast cocktails. It is located in a strip mall but don’t let that frighten you, the food is great.

While heading indoors may not be top of mind, there are some incredible museums in Arizona, such as the multiaward-winning Music Instrument Museum. It has incredible collections and artifacts from all the greats and instruments from around the world.

Scottsdale rightfully is an outdoorscentred kind of place and has some phenomenal hiking. Locals, tourists and people training hard congregate on Camelback Mountain. The Echo Canyon Trail is an incredibly rewarding experience with a workout that can be as hard as you want it. There is a lot of rock climbing but it is safe and the vista at the top is worth it. Give yourself 3 hours. Surprisingly, it is a bonding experience with people to climb steep

Other sites

For context and history of northern Arizona and its Indigenous peoples, visit the award-winning regional Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Arizona has one of the highest Indigenous populations in the US and so its history is rich.

While it may sound clichéd, Arizona is a place to recharge. When you are surrounded in natural beauty, spending time outdoors, walking, filling your mind with the wonders of this incredible place filled with history that also celebrates what is possible by humans, you can’t come away from a visit here and not be inspired. It is a wonderful vacation spot for sure, but to leave a place renewed with hope in what is possible by humans was unexpected. In addition, the people there are without exception warm and welcoming and overall makes it the perfect destination.

Are we ready? Yes, we are n visitarizona.com

39 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Canada’s energy economy/pipelines by Tori McNeely

The pipeline to reconciliation KT to find image

oday, it is unlikely that an energy T project moves forward without ensuring that the environmental and respect for Indigenous rights are protected.

Following the federal government’s green light for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX), Canadian energy sector leaders and politicians have ramped up efforts to advance meaningful change in their relationships with Indigenous peoples.

Kenney, aims to help Indigenous groups to invest in major energy projects like pipelines.

Since settling in as Alberta Premier, Jason Kenney has made a point of working with First Nations to gain ownership in gas and oil projects. In a meeting with his cabinet and First Nations leaders from across Alberta, Kenney said partnering with Alberta First Nations in resource development is an “economic and moral imperative.”

He added, “The idea of the Indigenous Opportunities Corporation is to help them get that financial capacity.”

One effort in particular that stands out among the bottleneck of empty promises is economic reconciliation, one of two key Indigenous Money from the Indigenous engagement strategies advanced

by Canadian energy sector leaders Opportunities Corporation . . . including the Pipeline Contractors will also help support investments Association of Canada (PLCAC), Canadian Association of Petroleum in adequate housing, proper Producers (CAPP) and the National healthcare and Indigenous Energy Board, along with a handful of government leaders including businesses so that they too may Minister of Natural Resources, benefit from the prosperity Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of International Trade Diversification, of the province.

Jim Carr, and Premier of Alberta, First Nations are often portrayed as Jason Kenny. “anti-development”, leading the public to believe that they are working against CAPP defines economic reconciliation the oil and gas industry. This false as “identifying and finding feasible dichotomy puts Indigenous people and ways to share economic opportunities arising from resource development, environmental activists on one of the equation and business and government while continuing to learn, improve on the other. A majority investment by and grow strong relationships based on Indigenous communities in TMX is an trust and respect.” historic opportunity, one that gives a real voice to those First Nations who The Indigenous Opportunities want to be partners in environmentally Corporation, a proposed backstop of responsible resource development. $1 billion by Alberta Premier Jason 40 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

“I believe we have a premier at the table with cabinet support that is willing to address the issues that we faced in the past,” said Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey during the meeting. “So my optimism is soaring right now...”

Not only will the money from the Indigenous Opportunities Corporation go to First Nation and Metis Communities who want to invest in the energy sector, it will also help support investments in adequate housing, proper healthcare and Indigenous businesses so that they too may benefit from the prosperity of the province.

Many Canadian energy sector leaders share in Kenney’s goal of allowing Indigenous communities to procure the benefits of resource development including the PLCAC and its four union partners.

Neil Lane, Senior Startegic Advisor at PLCAC said: “Our contractors and union partners work collaboratively with local and Indigenous communities across Canada to provide employment, training and contracting opportunities on all our projects. We are committed to developing technical knowledge and capacity to ensure that the experience gained on our projects benefit the individuals, communities and businesses for many years to come.”

Through the Canadian Pipeline Advisory Council, the PLCAC and its members have been proactive about Indigenous engagement and pipelines since 1971. Earlier this year, they agreed to study and document the best practices from major pipeline projects in order to better understand the industry’s role in reconciliation.

The pipeline to reconciliation starts here n

oh cannabis/op-ed by Julie Beun

Being a good neighbour ometimes, being a good neighbour S isn’t about the size of the fence, but the conversation you have over it.

That’s especially true in the cannabis industry.

Since establishing itself just outside the small rural Gatineau town of MassonAngers in 2014, HEXO’s neighbours have been peering over the back fence in interest.

After all, in a very short few years, HEXO has grown from a two-man operation in a basement office to a mature corporation with 1.3 million sq. ft. of facilities in Gatineau alone, where a majority of the 1,100 employees work. Then there’s an R&D Centre of Excellence in Belleville, distribution facilities in Montreal, growing facilities in Niagara and Brantford, and offices in Hull and Oakville. Oh yeah, and there’s the expansion into Europe.

Not surprisingly, the neighbours have a few questions.That much was clear at a recent town hall meeting the company hosted on June 25th, at its modern new corporate offices at the Gatineau campus.Triggered by concerns over the naturally fragrant raw cannabis aromas coming from the greenhouses adjacent to Chemin du Quai (otherwise known as the Cumberland ferry road), HEXO decided to invite the neighbours over for a chat.

Thirty people came, loaded with questions about everything from light pollution and deforestation to fears over organized crime.Will the cannabis PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

smell coming from the campus improve, someone wanted know? And will it affect children? (New environ-friendly odor-eliminating tech is being evaluated to supplement existing tech and no, the odor is not psychoactive.) Could your plant composting methods contaminate our water? (Definitely not.) Will your facility impact property values? (According to Centris.ca, housing sales in Masson-Angers have increased by nine per cent in the past year.)

Community consultations . . . is definitely something the cannabis industry can and should adopt to ensure we have a positive impact on the communities we operate in.

The conversation, launched by HEXO CEO Sébastien St-Louis and moderated

by Isabelle Robillard, the vice-president of communications, covered the gamut of concerns, and let the company share a bit more about its commitment to the community. They described training partnerships with CEGEP Outaouais and La Cité, installing solar panels for the Ottawa Food Bank, support for the Red Cross tornado relief efforts and the Papineau Health Foundation, the hands-on reforestation of urban areas with Trees Canada, as well as ongoing environmental assessments and water conservation.

It all sounded very positive and ended with the company reiterating its commitment to working with the residents to listen to their concerns about the new and largely unknown industry. Yet for HEXO, the takeaway message was much bigger, notes Robillard.

“While there remains a significant stigma about the cannabis industry, meeting the residents demonstrated there was an opportunity to share perspectives and viewpoints bilaterally.

And frankly, it should have happened earlier,” she says.

“In real estate development, there are community consultations in which everyone’s concerns are heard. That approach is definitely something the cannabis industry can and should adopt to ensure we have a positive impact on the communities we operate in.”

And, judging by some of their neighbour’s questions about cannabis itself, she adds, the industry needs to do more public education.

“That’s on us as a new industry to create the space for questions to be asked, and to be there with expertise and knowledge so that people feel heard.

That’s the case with all industries,” she adds, “but when you are building an industry ridden with stigma, it’s an even more important responsibility.”n Julie Beun is an Ottawa-based journalist and owner of J. Beun Media.

41 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

42 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

politics by Michael Bussière

Making the cuts, making the grades

all very predictable. Last year’s IwithtPCwasorelection victory was a juggernaut without Doug Ford. The PCs

could have run Daffy Duck as a leader and clobbered Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals. The provincial deficit was a big, easy target for a tax-and-spend hating Ford, so when the first PC government since Mike Harris came to power, it was all very predicable that bad news was coming to the education sector in Ontario.

the biggest chunk being allocated to teacher pensions, a figure which grew by more than 100 per cent. Increases in capital investments and program areas like special needs paled in comparison.

One year in and analytical reports are everywhere, including one released by the Fraser Institute on June 4th. Preston Manning and Mike Harris have lurked among its ranks, and so when the right-leaning, even libertarian, think tank issues an unflattering analysis of a Conservative budget, the absence of cheerleading should be taken seriously.

The report gave the Ontario PCs’ deficit reduction strategy a failing grade by

Courses are being dropped in areas of study that are essential to the well being of a post-modern economy.

In a letter to (former) Education Minister Lisa Thompson, the chair of the Peel District School Board in suburban Toronto, Stan Cameron, reports that Peel is seeing cancelled courses in business, computer studies, mathematics, and science.

One example is Grade 12 Physics, a mandatory requirement for some Healthcare and education are two university pathways but a course whose huge budget items in a province whose enrolment may total only 12 students debt to GDP ratio jumped from 27 per because physics is a very focused, cent to 40.2 per cent in the last ten theoretical branch of science with years. Servicing such a debt relatively few employment puts great pressure on the opportunities, and so it has Courses are being dropped in areas sustainability of government disappeared from many programs, so it is no wonder schools. of study that are essential to the well that education spending and the return on that investment Program cuts are made at being of a post-modern economy. are being scrutinized. the board level, so choices can be made according to The numbers alone tell the comparing the 2011 McGuinty budget the numbers or by those “jobs of story. Between 2006 and 2016 with that of the first Ford budget and tomorrow” that the PCs have factored spending on education in Ontario concluding that “the new government into a new curriculum designed to skyrocketed 31.5 per cent from has embraced strategies similar to shore up sagging math scores. But it’s $20.2 billion to $26.6 billion during those of its predecessors.” Given that schools and their boards who deal a period when enrolment declined by Fraser has stated that Ford is mirroring directly with the demands of parents, 5.2 per cent. Asking where the money previous “unsuccessful attempts” to and an argument could be made that went is a more than fair question for balance the budget, Ontario parents a new course in personal financial the government and taxpayers to ask. have to asking themselves if all of the planning at the Grade 10 level should 72 district school boards and 10 school cuts to education amount to all pain be taught at home and not in the authorities administer Ontario’s schools with no gain. classroom. Perhaps it boils down to with total government investment what we expect our education system excluding capital spending amounting Pain is being reported on a daily basis to do. to $23.9 billion in 2017-2018. with budget gaps at the school board level resulting in staff and program cuts, Parents and teachers are wondering During the McGuinty years, spending and it’s not just curriculum that true- what all of this means. Liz Stuart is on wages and salaries for public school blue PCs might consider to be frill the President of the Ontario English employees grew by 48.4 per cent with subjects like music, drama, or literature. Catholic Teachers Association and her PHOTO: KAREN TEMPLE

43 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

numbers shed light on what’s to come.

Liz anticipates her current membership of 45,000 will drop by 1,200 teachers in each of the next two years to a total reduction of as many as 4,000 fewer teachers when cuts have filtered through the system. She passionately points out the excellence of Ontario’s education system, but warns that “this is going to be a massive jump back for us. And it won’t be because the teachers in the classrooms are any less able or capable or willing to work with their students. It will be that there are limits.

You can’t do more with less.”

card, with Ontario placing fourth overall internationally.

to be at-risk or have special needs will be the most severely affected.

Bringing Ontario class sizes in line with other provinces requires a strategy to compensate for the proven negative effects of larger class sizes and reduced contact time with teachers. E-learning is being touted as the answer, but evidence-based research indicates that there are big challenges in adapting it to this learning space. This is because e-learning was developed by document companies like Adobe and Microsoft to provide training delivery and management solutions to large corporations.

The Conference Board of Canada describes education as being “the most powerful route to improving private and public prosperity and wellbeing.” “Open for Business” is the Ford mantra, even if it does make Canada’s biggest province sound like some Ohio rustbelt hellhole that’s never recovered from the closure of the canned beans plant. So how does one square with the other?

Supporters point to the provincial debt and deficit. Opponents point The full effect won’t be known until to a fiscal situation being September, but school boards aggravated by buck-a-beer, are already issuing redundancy If the rationale is to save on the disappearance of capor layoff notices. The PC and-trade revenues, and narrative is that no teacher will infrastructure and staff, corporate tax cuts at a time lose their job thanks to a $1.6 of record low unemployment. billion attrition fund over four then consider that e-learning itself Supporters remind taxpayers years.The fund would prevent of such irritants as teachers layoffs in cases in which there requires a big, highly-paid IT team banking sick days. Opponents were not enough retirements remind the PCs that the to absorb the cuts. However, and a honking big internet bill. previous Liberal government it is a nuanced message about slashed sick days from 20 to zero job losses versus the 11 and ended the practice of permanent elimination of banking, and so it goes back teaching positions.

The PC plan is to have every HS and forth with the most important student complete a mandatory four voices in the debate shouting from the Attrition fund or not, there will simply credits by e-learning by 2021. Virtual sidelines. be fewer teachers in your schools in classrooms have been around a long September, and the September after time, and the blended learning model Brigit is a student activist in Ottawa. that. In schools where enrolment is keeps teachers front and centre, but “We’re getting hit on all fronts. It’s the declining, the attrition fund will not e-learning positions a student in an little things, like less social interaction compensate for staff reductions and isolated course of study consisting of for developing youth and less personal that is particularly hard felt in small and nothing but unsupervised homework. time with teachers to answer questions, rural communities. but also huge things such as less therapy Academic rigour, plagiarism, fair and money per family. This government, On average, high school class sizes will equal internet access, and motivation that’s supposedly for the people, said rise from 22 to 28 students, with the have to be factored in to what is they did this huge consultation that PCs pointing out that this will bring currently a vague plan and there is no they asked the people of Ontario, but Ontario in line with other provinces. e-learning proponent who would argue this is something so many Ontarians Class sizes will increase slightly in that it is a substitute for real teachers or don’t want.We can see the impacts, and elementary schools, especially from that it is suited to adolescent learners. If it’s a disaster.”

Grades 4 to 8. the rationale is to save on infrastructure and staff, then consider that e-learning Her final comment sums up the Liz Stuart of the OECTA delights itself requires a big, highly-paid IT frustration she and her peers feel: in pointing out that “Ontario has, team and a honking big internet bill.

“Thank you for giving us students and the Minister (Thompson) herself a voice, it’s not everyday that we get has said this all the time, a world If Ontario is tied for top rank in the one.” n class education system. We have country, and the PC plan is to bring its incredibly high graduation rates that education in line with other provinces, Postscript: In the interest of balance, several have improved substantially over the then any intelligent plan needs to invitations were sent to (former) Minister last 15 years.” The Conference Board consider that it takes a long time to Thompson’s office to participate in this of Canada agrees, and ranks B.C., reverse a downward trend. Furthermore, article, but a response was never received from Alberta, and Ontario at the top of its equity falters because students deemed “Ontario’s Government for the People”. national Education and Skills score 44 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

opinion by Mckenzie Donovan

The Republic of Kazakhstan 2019 election: NOT OUR DEMOCRACY BUT A DEMOCRACY ALL THE SAME eople in the Western world really P don’t know what repression is. It’s evident in our discourse on political issues when the words dictator and tyrant are used as low brow insults directed at countries without much thought to the meaning these words carry.

Few understand what real repression is nor can they comprehend the effect it has on the minds and livelihoods of those who live under oppression. Step off a resort in Cuba and see firsthand the despair hopelessness that comes with a lack of political and economic freedom.

Many non-western liberal democracies are evolving to democratic systems using an authoritarian approach to transition.

This model exhibits a Confucius like take on the democratic system where citizens are responsible to the state and vice versa. There is more power in the hands of the state, yet citizens are still able to vote in elections and have most of the economic benefits and freedoms common in western democracies.

During the 2019 presidential election, I witnessed this hybrid system for the first time in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan had not held a democratic election without the former President, Nursultan Nazarbayev as the candidate since it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. He ruled for three decades as a strongman and was not shy to use the force of the state to crack down on unrest and protest. He was admired for his ability to navigate the country towards a free market society from a socialist/communist single market state. His policies ensured Kazakhstan became a democratic multiethnic, and multi-cultural state where different nationalities live in relative harmony — something that was far from inevitable after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Nazarbayev instituted a parliamentary

system with legislative power vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament: the Assembly (Mazhilis) and the Senate (Senaty).The president is elected separately and is the commander in chief of the armed forces and has the authority to veto legislation passed by the Parliament.

When Nazarbayev resigned, in March 2019, he appointed a successor KassymJomart Tokayev. Pre-election day in the capital, life seemed to be rolling along as normal despite the vast shake to the political system. People appeared content and wandered the capital of Nur-sultan freely. Western clothing brands and iPhones were ubiquitous.

At the large shopping mall in NurSultan, the Khan Shatyr, the country’s prosperity was evident everywhere. It felt as if I was in any other Western nation. People freely approached me asking where I was from, what was I doing in Kazakhstan, and how I was liking the country? A taxi driver in broken English told me of his intention to vote for the Communist Peoples Party.

June 9, 2019 was election day. I watched former President Nazarbayev cast his vote in front of hundreds of international journalists at the Youth Palace (a large and aggressively modern community centre). I also witnessed a couple dozen Kazakhs vote.

Later in the day the Youth Palace would become the focal point for demonstrations that saw a wave of mass arrests. Initial reports referred to several hundred being arrested, but the Associated Press would later report that four thousand were detained nationwide, while videos from the BBC showed paramilitaries in camouflage uniforms dragging away some protestors.

Unaware of the upheaval, I interviewed the first female presidential candidate running for the Ak Zhol Party, Dania Espaeva. She was full hope for the

legitimacy of the elections even though she would only garner around five per cent of the overall vote. As I left Kazakhstan following the election, I saw a large column of military vehicles leaving the capital as I headed to the airport. These were the military troops who were likely called to the capital to deal with the protest I narrowly missed.

Tokayev won the elections with 70 per cent of the vote — not a Vladimir Putin-like super majority in the 90 per cent range but a margin far higher than any Western democratic election and one that might have skeptical Westerners questioning the election integrity. In an interview President Tokayev said that those protesting over social issues would be released, and those that broke the law would be prosecuted. It is interesting that his comments were so straight forward.

They were an acknowledgment of the arrests, not a denial.

I don’t doubt that there are transitional problems in Kazakhstan with their democratic system. The videos of the crackdown on demonstrators show it plain and simple. However, I don’t believe calling the state a dictatorship or undemocratic is fair nor accurate. I did not witness a repression imbedded in the mentality of the Kazakh people like I saw it in Cuba.

If a Kazakh was to see footage of the mass illegal arrests of thousands of Canadian citizens at the 2010 Toronto G20 there would be very little to contrast with the presidential election arrests in Kazakhstan. The people elected Tokayev president because he represents the continuation of Nazarbayev’s political stability and the growing prosperity of the Kazakhstan people.

It may not be westernized model but it is still a democracy, albeit Asian-styled and more authoritarian n Mckenzie Donvoan is a political features writer 45 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

education

Rym Ben Berrah

— A REMARKABLE STUDENT Many people got to know Rym Ben Berrah during her time at Saint Paul University (SPU), on campus and elsewhere in the community. This young woman’s citizen involvement is outstanding. She has been a member of the board of directors of the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques since December 2017, vice-chair of the Théâtre la Catapulte board since November 2018, member of the SPU Board of Governors since June 2018, and many more including a director of La Cité’s student board of governors from 2014 to 2017. Here is a portrait of an engaged, influential and dynamic graduate – an agent of change.

Why do you feel the need to get so involved?

I think that a person who has the abilities and the option to get involved should do it.

I get involved because I want to help those who, like me, immigrated to Canada and had to face the same kinds of challenges that I encountered. Also, getting involved allowed me to further my education while putting into practice some lessons learned in everyday life.

What is your favourite cause?

La francophonie, Islamophobia and immigration are the three causes that led to my first encounter with citizen involvement.

I am Muslim, with an immigrant background. When I arrived in Canada, I lived in Montreal but I later learned that there were francophones outside Quebec, too. It was only when I moved to Ottawa that I developed an interest in these three causes. The more time I spent in FrancoOntarian environments, the more I realized that each person is shaped by several small battles. Deep down, we are all the same and we have a common goal: that FrancoOntarians may enjoy a better quality of life and greater recognition nationally and internationally.

You started your studies at uOttawa. How did you end up studying at SPU?

After a year at the University of Ottawa, I was feeling very discouraged by life’s uncertainties. It was a particularly painful time, as my father had just received a cancer diagnosis which caught my family and me off guard. We were in financial need. I told myself that I had to finish my studies quickly so I could enter the job market. So in 2013, I registered at La Cité and it is there that my citizen involvement began.

I began to speak publicly more and more often. People around me told me I was very good in this role and really encouraged me to take courses in public relations. I finished my program and then registered in the public relations program.

Then, SPU representatives came to give a presentation on the transfer agreements they have with colleges, it was a revelation. I said to myself, “That is exactly what I need! I don’t have four years to do a B.A. I received credit for the equivalent of two years, then studied at SPU for two more years so I could get a college diploma as well as a B.A.”That day, I knew I would be a future ambassador

of Saint Paul University. I knew that was where I wanted to study. The friendliness of SPU and the fact that you are a person and not a number among many others was just what I needed. It was the best decision of my life.

In 2017, I started my bachelor’s in social communication with a minor in conflict studies at Saint Paul University.

What are your career goals ?

As my studies at SPU were coming to an end, I wanted to continue my education.

I applied to the École supérieure d’études internationales (Graduate school, international studies), international relations section, at Université Laval. This master’s program, trains future diplomats – people who will work in international NGOs and government offices abroad. It’s the only program that interested me, and fortunately, I was accepted.

When I finish, I would like to work as a Canadian representative at the International Organisation of la Francophonie, in Europe, Africa or even the Middle East.Who knows where this new training will take me.

Congratulations, Rym! You are a role model for our students. SPU will follow your career closely and will continue to celebrate each of your successes n

Saint Paul University (1848) is the founding college of the University of Ottawa, with which it has been federated since 1965. Bilingual and on a human scale, it offers programs in canon law, conflict studies, counselling and psychotherapy, human relations, public ethics, social communication, social innovation and theology.

ustpaul.ca

ftyli

223, Main Street, Ottawa ON | 1-800-637-6859

46 OTTAWALIFE SUMMER 2019

Do we really need all these pipelines are an important part of Canada’s energy future.

Oil and natural gas – and the pipelines that move them – are important parts of Canada’s energy future.

To see how, visit: SHAREDFUTURE.CA/ENERGYFUTURE

MOLLY LAMB BOBAK: WOMAN OF THE CROWD On view as of June 29, 2019 at the Ottawa Art Gallery Molly Lamb Bobak (1920–2014) was fascinated by crowds.

In her professional life as a working artist, which began c.1940, two years prior to her enlistment in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC), she generally sketched or painted everyday life.

She is now best remembered as the first and only woman accredited by the federal government as an official Canadian war artist of WWII. Featuring works from private and public collections, the exhibition highlights this artist’s unique ability to capture the pulse of crowds from a variety of vantage points.

Plan your visit today. oaggao.ca Molly Lamb Bobak, November 11 (detail), 1971, oil on board, Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, the Ottawa Art Gallery.

Donated to the City of Ottawa by the Ontario Heritage Foundation.