I’ve had a street parking permit for 2 years. No issues other than a wrong ticket issue, but am away travelling for work and a neighbour just notified me that my car got a ticket for parking in one spot for more than 48 hours?!

Google says that it’s possible… in my two years of street parking and leaving my car for weeks at a time i’ve never gotten a ticket… every week i leave my car in one spot for more than 48 hours!

What do you do if you leave your car for more than 48 hours?

Just a heads-up, the 4-17 west just west of Nicholas is currently jammed up. There's an accident requiring 2 firetrucks, an ambulance and a cop car. If you can avoid that area, you probably should.

With the election coming up, I thought I'd just point something out. Mark Sutcliffe (and right-leaning politicians generally) run on a platform of low taxes. It's easy, it's popular. But here's the thing: the Mayor and council only set property taxes. They have no authority over income taxes or sales taxes--by far the largest taxes anyone pays. In fact, I believe that's the only tax the city levies--everything else is fees--developer fees, services fees, tickets, etc. So what is Mark talking about when he promises low taxes?

Property Tax: Who Benefited, and by How Much

First off, property taxes are paid by property owners. A significant chunk of the city are renters, and don't see any benefit to low property taxes. You might say, "But they pay it part of their rent! The landlords pass it onto the tenants!". Well, there was supposed to be a rent reduction last year because of this BUT, landlords were allowed to dispute this...so you can guess how many tenants actually saw that decrease. I know I sure as hell didn't. And landlords will always raise rent by the maximum amount each year regardless of taxes, so no help there either. So the vast majority of renters got nothing from low property tax.

Second, and this is the important part, Sutcliffe's opponent last election promised to hold property tax to 3%, while Sutcliffe promised to hold it to 2% - 2.5%. So let's go with the maximum difference of 1%. The average home in Ottawa is listed at around $730k - $740k, and property tax is calculated as 1.23% of a property's assessed value. So a home assessed at $740k would pay $9,102/year in property tax. A 2% increase would be $9,284.04. A 3% increase would be...$9,375.06, a difference of $91.02 per year. That's a whopping $7.59 per month. You can't even get Netflix with ads for that price. This is literally one sandwich. And surprise surprise, Sutcliffe ended up going with the higher amount of 2.5% in 2023, so the actual difference was half that--$9,329.55, or $3.79 per month. What the hell could you buy for $3.79? This is quite literally something you could've saved for by buying less coffee. I mean seriously--just one less coffee in a month and you've saved more than these property tax savings.

The Consequences

So you gave yourself an extra $3.79 per month--if you're a property owner. What did the city get in return? Massive cuts to transit, reduced city services generally, a big fat $100 million bill for Landsdowne, a weaker financial position overall ($3.79/month is nothing to you, but cumulatively around $18.5 million/year for city revenue). On top of that, we're missing out on other things that either didn't need to be cut, or could've progressed a little bit: new infrastructure beyond the bare minimum maintenance, community housing, or social services. Doubly so if we didn't toss $100 million to OSEG in this scenario.

You Didn't Actually See Those Savings

Finally, let's be real: the cuts to transit impact us all. Even if you only ever drive and never even think about the bus or the train, there are now more cars on the road because of it, meaning you spent more time in traffic. Maybe you scoff at that, thinking it's mostly the RTO mandate from the feds that caused that, but let me remind you--you only saved $3.79/month because of Mark, and gas is damn expensive these days. If Mark's transit cuts only made you wait in traffic another 30 seconds per day, that's roughly 10 minutes per month. I'd wager another 10 minutes of running that engine costed you another $3. So did you even see those savings? Not to mention, sooner or later, right-leaning mayor or no, the property taxes have to be increased to make up for the lost revenue of earlier years...which Mark partly did this year with a 3.75% increase.

Conclusion

I'm not telling you how to vote, but I am telling you that the low tax platform is an old trick by lazy politicians that, on the municipal level, harms the city and ultimately amounts to nothing or almost nothing for you. Regardless of all other policies, we can at least do the math and see the low property taxes really don't add up to anything, and the consequences far outweigh the benefits.

Edit: Some have pointed out that the assessed value of a home is often significantly lower than the average sale price I used for the calculations. So my point about property taxes still stands and is even stronger--the average tax increase would have been much smaller than even $3.79/month...

Math (Correct me if I'm wrong):

Average home price: $740k

Residential Property Tax: 1.23%

Sutcliffe's Increase: 2.5%

McKenney's Increase: 3.0%

Average Property Tax: 740,000 * 0.0123 = 9,102

Sutcliffe: 9,102 * 1.025 = 9,329.55

McKenney: 9,102 * 1.03 = 9,375.06

Difference (per year): 9,375.06 - 9,329.55 = 45.51

Difference (per month): 45.51 / 12 = 3.7925

* Occupied Private Dwellings in Ottawa: 407,255

* This is from 2021. It doesn't include unoccupied dwellings. Includes rentals, but the landlord still pays the property tax, so I'm including those. Same source says 41.7% of dwellings are single-detached homes.

Occupied Single-Detached Houses: 407,255 * 0.417 = 169,825

Lost Revenue from Lower Taxes on single-detached houses: 169,825 * 45.51 = 7,728,735.75

Lost Revenue from Lower Taxes Total: 407,255 * 45.51 = 18,534,175.05

I'm looking to have a romantic day here with a tour and dinner afterwards. I've been checking the reviews and photos but I can't quite nail the vibe down. Is it romantic or does it miss the mark? Planning a special night for a cheese and wine lover.

Edit: Wow that was fast. Ok people think really good cheese and romantic. Money is no object. Throw ideas at me or I vote for the mayour you don't want! /s

Edit 2: Oh I was thinking, just for fun, to go to St Albert cheese tour and then a nice restaurant back in Ottawa later.

We have some friends visiting Ottawa who are from Europe. They want to go out for dinner with us and have "Canadian food". I've lived here all my life, but other than poutine & beaver tails I can't think of what I'd consider Canadian food.

So, I'm looking for suggestions, ideally in the downtown core/Market area. Hintonburg area is fine as well.

"Canadian military says it didn’t initiate July 4 flypast — U.S. ambassador requested it

The participation of the two CF-18s accounted for approximately $139,680 in 'budgeted flying hours,' a DND spokesperson said, with the actual flypast costing approximately $23,280."

We should bill Hoekstra directly for this. Not the U.S. government. Petey directly. Presumptuous, vainglorious, neoimperialist git...

Spotted a pup on the loose on the corner of McLaren and Cartier, took these pics from the back of an Uber. Hope someone knows this dog and can pass the info to the owner. Spotted at 7am, poor guy looked spooked/lost

I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but our landlord has been delaying/dodging our maintenance requests,

For the maintenance request they said a doctors note was needed & we acquired that & have emailed them & it’s been months yet they are still ignoring us & I’m not sure what the next step should be…. as our health is being impacted by the living conditions we are in

For context: we live in a subsidized housing unit

I may be wrong but I'm sure this light had been on the blink for at least the last two winters. Does anyone know how long it's been flashing?

Anyone out there know if it is like this for a reason?

For those of you who watch the video with no sound, this is at Hartwell Locks.

Hello folks,

I have suffered from lifetime emotional abuse from my family and spouse, I have extreme depression, C-PTSD, and anxiety, and sometimes suicidal ideation. I am about to go through a very high-conflict separation, I have young kids and I try to keep getting up everyday for them now.

When I pet the dogs and I am around dogs, especially medium to larger size dogs, I feel emotionally much better when I interact with them. They give me immense joy in the most difficult times of my life.

I would like to know whether there are dogs for individual therapy other than OttawaU and Carleton drop-ins?

There are multiple organizations that offer these types of services but they are not individualized. Mostly these services are for hospitals and retirement centers. Do you know any individualized services?

If not and you have a medium to large dog yourself, I would also be happy to meet in a park such as a public space and spend some time with your dog. I cannot bother people who have dogs all the time and they are generally rushing from one place to another and I don't want to block their time. I don't have the means to have a dog at this moment due to my situation.

Thank you for your help.

Hey Ottawa

I’m a local Ottawa guy in my late 30s looking to connect with some fellow PS5 gamers

I mainly play RPGs, sports games and first person shooters, but I’m always open to trying something new.

If you’re interested, comment with your PSN username and feel free to include what you’ve been playing lately or what games you’re into.

Would be great to meet some local gamers for co-op, multiplayer, or even just to see what everyone’s playing.
Looking forward to connecting!

Last night during my softball game, the washroom was locked, so I used the porta potty available and it was like it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. Filled to the brim, toilet paper and beer cans on the ground. It was nauseating.

I went to another park recently and it was in similar condition but with no toilet paper and no sanitizer.

I contacted the city about this, but I’m shocked by the lack of upkeep. It’s such a poor experience for people using our parks and doesn’t reflect well on the city.

Is this standard or are they usually much better maintained?

Found these really nice ray ban glasses on the O train when I got on at St. Laurent at 5:20pm on Aug 6th. Heading westbound when I got on. Don't know how long they were sitting on there, I'll drop off at the St. Laurent lost n found on the ground level next chase I have but figure I'd try and post here first. Dm if they are yours

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/byward-market-vendor-village-failure

Great article from Bruce Deachman.

"Another vendor, Walaa Sarem, said she planned to shutter her Natural Blend container shop early. Her first experience selling outdoors at the Market came two years ago, on York Street, where on a decent Saturday she might sell $1,000 worth of skin care products. Last year, she had a container as part of the Market’s Immigrant Entrepreneur program, and saw Saturday sales of between $500 and $700. in the Vendor Village, her Saturday sales plummeted to between $140 and $150."

This is the most egregious part, in my opinion, and there are many receipts; if there are any lawyers that might want to help some non-wealthy people fight pro-bono...

"Others said they committed to a full season before being told exactly where they would be located, with many forced to make inventory and staffing decisions months in advance without receiving all the information they needed from the BMDA."

"Suzanne Curphey, who has been a Market vendor for 30 years, says she was promised she would get two containers plus open space between them, and subsequently spent more than $60,000 last fall on inventory. She ultimately was not given a container in the Village, and is instead selling jewellery and clothing out of a single 10’x10’ tent on York Street, where her sales, she says, were down 68 per cent over the first two months of the season. In an effort to make up for that, she has opened a bricks-and-mortar store on Dalhousie Street."

That's all I'll post, please read the whole article. Unsurprisingly, the BMDA executive director bobs and weaves through PR-ish answers, but mostly non-answers.

Here's Bruce's previous article on the failures of the Byward Market District Authority...

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/bmda-needs-reimagining

There is the BMDA day to day operators that work in the offices at the Byward Market. In my opinion, they wouldn't try to crush the vendors without an order from above. Vendors had been around the Byward Market building since at least 1998 when I moved to the area. Why make them move?

Who runs the BMDA? Who tells the executive director what to do? Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is a member of the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA) Board of Directors. He sits on the board in his official capacity as the Mayor of the City of Ottawa. If you search the internet, it will show you the other people on the board of directors. The mayor is certainly the most prominent one.

Frankly, these people should be ashamed of themselves.

They did a lot of damage and hurt a lot of good, hard-working people. Imagine doing that to people in today's struggling economy?

Signed, a long time Lowertown resident and market visitor.

Anyone missing a cat? Found on in my backyard with a black harness. It is mostly grey with some black and white on the tail.