U.S. officials investigating after five Canadians killed in Nashville plane crash

Local

Ottawa Citizen: The Ottawa School Transportation Authority has appointed Joel Lemieux, a seasoned transit professional with 24 years of experience in Ottawa’s transit operations, as the new general manager and chief administration officer.

The ongoing challenges, including a shortage of nine drivers and 37 long-term cancelled bus runs as of Feb. 29, prompted the new leadership. Amidst these changes, school boards are struggling with rising student transportation costs.

A recent report to OCDSB trustees revealed a potential $17 million annual gap between provincial funding and transportation costs by 2027.

The Ministry of Education hired the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte last fall to conduct a third-party review of students’ transportation at OCDSB and OCSB, with the results yet to be released.

National

CTV News: Leaders from First Nations communities convened in Gatineau to explore strategies for natural disasters.

The topics of wildfires, the pandemic, floods and climate change in First Nations territories were all discussed at the meeting.

It follows a record-breaking wildfire season that ravaged 100,000 square kilometres of land and led to the evacuation of numerous First Nations communities.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said there are limits to community resilience.

The government needs to establish better standardized emergency management policies to quickly respond to the onset of a crisis and protect the land for future generations.

The summit included academic, federal, provincial and territorial government officials, and it will wrap up on Thursday.

International

Toronto Star: A single-engine plane crashed alongside a highway west of downtown Nashville on Monday, killing five Canadians.

Three of the passengers were children.

Investigator Aaron McCarter of the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that the flight originated in Ontario, and has overflown John C. Tune Airport and circled around in an attempt to land, but did not make it in the end.

Global Affairs Canada said they would not disclose any details due to privacy concerns, and authorities in Nashville have no updates on the identities of the people who died.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it has sent a representative to the U.S. led investigation.