Wolves' second-half goal secures win in hard-fought match
Korbin Amaya
Photos: Korbin Amaya
October 19, 2024 Revised: October 19, 2024 12:24pm
Photo: Korbin Amaya
The Wolves and the Golden Shields leap forward and defend the ball.
In a tightly challenged game on Oct. 12 at the Z-building field, the Algonquin Wolves edged out the Cambrian Golden Shield with a 1-0 victory, securing a vital win in OCAA men’s soccer.
The game remained goalless through the first half, but a second-half strike from Gershom Dupuy, assisted by Jaeden Mercure, sealed the match for the Wolves.
The Wolves and the Golden Shields struggled to find an early rhythm as solid defensive efforts and a series of fouls marked the first half.
The Wolves and the Golden Shields run forward and defend the ball. Photo credit: Korbin Amaya
The teams racked up yellow cards, with the Wolves’ Nicholas Parry, Kerim Tosun and Oscar Forward among those booked.
The Golden Shields were no different, with Michael Karikari, Musa Joof and Nana Wiafe Owusu also receiving cautions.
The match’s decisive moment came in the 70th minute when Jaeden Mercure delivered an assist to Gershom Dupuy, who pushed the ball past Cambrian goalkeeper Aiden Adonu.
Despite 11 shots on goal, the Wolves could only capitalize on this single chance, while Cambrian struggled offensively with only five shots, none of which could breach Algonquin’s goalkeeper, Parry.
Game stats
Shots: Algonquin dominated with eleven shots compared to Cambrian’s five.
Saves: Aiden Adonu made ten saves for Cambrian, keeping his team in the game despite the pressure.
Fouls: The match saw a flurry of yellow cards, with nine cautions issued, adding to the atmosphere.
Corners: Algonquin also held the edge in corner kicks, taking five compared to Cambrian’s three.
If you're feeling the pressure of adapting to life here in Ottawa, take heart: you've been brilliant and brave. While many international students deal with with tough times, helpful people are out there
Zhiqi Zhou
Photos:
October 18, 2024 Revised: October 18, 2024 8:18am
Zhiqi Zhou, who is in her seventh year of studying in Canada, says she has come a long way. "Every time I think of this experience, I always marvel at my own experience and growth," she writes.
After a 30-hour flight from Beijing to Winnipeg, I arrived at my new study place, a high school beside the Red River. After my parents and auntie talked it over, although I was just15 years old, I would spend time with my cousin studying abroad in Canada.
I was looking forward to meeting my new classmates and began to envision my future life as a high school student in Canada. But things didn’t start out as I thought.
I’m sure every international student goes through the same tough times. While today, I know that there are many people out there who can help you, teenage-me struggled in those early days.
First off, the school wasn’t what I thought it would be. Compared to my school in China, the building of this high school looked short. Also, the hallway was furnished with lockers for students to use, but we don’t have them in China. Students are asked to keep their things neatly in the classroom.
Upon entering the classroom I saw students sitting casually in their chairs and some were eating nachos in their hands. This was another shock to me because it’s not allowed at all in China, well at least in my city. Eating and drinking in class is seen as a sign of not respecting the teacher enough.
I asked the teacher politely for my seat, but he said to sit wherever I wanted. I could feel the teacher’s kindness, but he spoke too quickly for me to fully understand with my sparse English vocabulary and basic grammar.
This day was torturous for me, this was completely different from the first day of school which I was looking forward to. I couldn’t understand what the teachers were saying in class, I didn’t understand the jokes the teachers were telling when they were interacting with the students. I was the only one sitting in silence while everyone was laughing. I felt like I didn’t belong there.
Seeing everyone sitting with their friends at lunch, I had to run to the library and pretend to be busy to ease the embarrassment. When I got home I couldn’t take the overwhelming emotions any longer and broke down crying in my room.
In the evening I got a video call from my mum and I finally got a chance to speak Chinese. I cried to my mum and told her I didn’t like it here and I wanted to go home. While don’t really remember what she said, she just kept comforting me.
Later, I realised how upset she felt when she heard me break down. “I felt so sorry for you,” my mum said. “I made a big decision to let you go to a strange country by yourself at such a young age. I thought you would adapt well to life there but I didn’t realize it would make you so sad.”
Things took a good turn in the next day. When I entered the ESL class I felt a different atmosphere. I saw that there were international students like me in the class, and even though we came from various countries, we seemed to share a common feeling.
I quickly became friends with them, and we expressed our feelings and comforted each other in our poor English. I didn’t worry about saying anything wrong when talking with them because they always understood.
With the help of my ESL teacher, I began to adapt to school life. I started to communicate with other teachers and students, and I completed my first quiz on my own. Although the results were poor, I did it. What went up on the test paper was not only the score but also my confidence in life and learning.
The new term at Algonquin College has started and if you’re a new international student, I know you are probably going through a tough time right now. But the school will offer you a lot of help.
Philip Olayori, an international student in the business management and entrepreneurship program, is now a mentor for the International Peer Mentors program offered by the International Education Centre. He says he understands the stress of this culture shock. The IEC organises a number of activities to help new students settle in more quickly.
“We welcome all international students to join us and take part in our activities such as coffee breaks to enable international students to get to know each other and help each other,” Olayori said.
Please remember: if you’re feeling the pressure of adapting to life here in Ottawa, it’s not your fault. You’ve been brilliant and brave. You’re going through the tough times that all international students are dealing with.
Xinyan Chen, a level-1 student in interactive media design, said she had a similar experience to me when she first came abroad.
“Local students speak very quickly and it can be difficult to fully understand full English lectures at first,” she said. “But this aspect will improve over time as well.”
This is my seventh year studying in Canada, and every time I think of this experience, I always marvel at my own experience and growth. I am now fully settled into life in Canada and have made a lot of friends. Things are already starting to move on in the direction I’m looking forward to, and if I can do it, then you will definitely do fine too.
I found myself marooned in the shadow of a dream - the dream of a woman. She moved with a grace and beauty that men would fight wars over
Cole Crossthwaite
Photos:
October 18, 2024 Revised: October 18, 2024 7:54am
Street art found along the Playas de Tijuana Boardwalk in Tijuana, Mexico.
“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment.
This story doesn’t start the night she spent hours with an incorrectly spelled name trying to find me on social media. It doesn’t start the next morning when I followed her back on Instagram. And it doesn’t start hours later when I sat in the airport making her a playlist on Spotify.
This story begins a week earlier, in the lobby of a Tijuana hotel, when I found myself entranced in the song of a siren named Michelle.
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky once penned, “But how could you live and have no story to tell?” His words ring true, as there are many stories contained within the chapters of my life. Those stories, the trials and tales of my existence, likewise with yours, are those of the human condition. For though it may pain me to admit, I am as human as us all.
After travelling to Mexico, I arrived at my hotel. I don’t remember the receptionist who checked me in, but I do remember who was standing beside them. As Michelle walked up to the adjacent counter, her coworker’s voice quickly dampened into Charlie Brown noises. She moved with a grace and beauty that men would fight wars over.
I spent the next week frequenting the front desk to buy candy bars and bottles of water I didn’t need. At the end of my stay, I prepared to head home. If you asked why there was nothing more than a series of three-word exchanges, I could lie but the truth is… goddamn, she was pretty and I was nervous.
Then she found me.
It’d be nice if I could say my intentions were noble from the start, and a better man might be able to. But I’m not a better man. What I can say is that she made me want to be one. I’m not sure the exact moment it happened, but it did.
For weeks I’d stay up till she got off work so we could begin our conversations at 2 a.m. I’d drift away and wake up to her still, there on my screen, asleep in her beauty. Despite the miles and borders between us, she felt closer than I’d ever known.
Now, I’d like to make something clear: this story was never meant to be a fairytale, and I didn’t want it to be. I’m not prince charming, I’m Clyde Barrow. I don’t want a fairytale; I want Bonnie. I want to roll the fuckin bones. I want someone who’s gunna ride.
It seemed I may have found her.
Sometimes time the jagged edges of two broken parts fit together, but sometimes they only create friction. Unfortunately, this isn’t a redemption story of a broken man finding his missing pieces in a woman. It’s a story of him watching the filth seep between his fingers and leak down his arm as his own Midas touch turns what he grasps to shit.
Like so many times before, it ended. Then I burned the bridge. But for reasons I’d yet to discern, this time it hurt.
“Always the same. Now a spark of hope flashes up, then a sea of despair rages, and always pain; always pain, always despair, and always the same.” - Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych
I needed to think. Calling upon the spirit of mother nature, I consumed 8 grams of her primitive sacrament and embarked on a not so brisk 3 a.m. walk. I left the front door of my home and wandered into the darkness.
With a self awareness only found under the guidance of psilocybin I starred into the abys. Staring back at me I was confronted with the all-too-human voices I’d long buried in my unconscious. Screaming voices, refusing to be ignored, insisted that the Tin Man does have a heart.
In the morning I booked a plane ticket back to Tijuana.
We reconnected and spent the week together in an Airbnb by the beach. But like Chekov’s gun, her words began to betrayed her. Every word, every utterance, spoken or withheld, is a choice. An insight to a thought, a pattern, a behavior.
She shared her city, her spirit and her body, but not her soul. That she kept for herself. It became clear the woman who told me she wanted her other half didn’t know what she wanted. I wasn’t the only one broken. Our jagged parts didn’t fit, so I ended it.
Flying home in the wake of a faded mirage, I questioned what was real and was the product of a lullaby. But while it may be easy to pound my chest and add to the voices in the pit, I felt what I felt, and I know what it was. It seems I’ve simply been confronted with a tragic wisdom contained in the novels of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov: “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
Before I met her I was content with the vapid and meaningless. I’m now more lost then when I started. I don’t think I want someone else, and I don’t know if I want her. But I do know I can’t have her, because she has herself.
I miss the smell of her hair, and the warmth of her body. I miss the way she talks, her voice, her accent. I miss the way she moves. I miss her touch. I miss talking on the phone until daylight reminds me to sleep. I miss hope. I miss waking up happy. I miss what I remember, and I’m enticed to wish I could forget. But I don’t.
A view of the city from the Airbnb.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being" - Carl Jung
Over the summer, the Algonquin College Students’ Association Board of Directors spent over 150 hours collecting feedback from students to see what issues they care about most.
They then discussed the results and decided on three priorities for the 2024-25 academic year: academics, transportation and mental health. Here’s what you need to know:
Academic Quality
The BOD will work closely with Julie Beauchamp, senior vice president academic at Algonquin College, to ensure the curriculum is updated and that students have the proper knowledge to gain employment in an evolving job market.
Maria Silveira, president of the SA, said the BOD will focus on resources the college can provide for co-op and job support programs, based on feedback from students.
“We hope that in the near future we will have a progress report or information to share with the students,” Silveira said.
Transportation Availability
Transportation is an issue that affects many students because it impacts the overall student experience, according to Silveira.
“Myself, I rely on OC Transpo and we know it can be unreliable and we can struggle with it sometimes, and in Perth and Pembroke, our smaller campuses, there are no public transit options at all,” said Silveira.
Because of the lack of transportation in Perth and Pembroke, those students are required to get to campus using other methods, including driving and walking.
The BOD will work with community leaders to advocate for transit options for those campuses, as well as OC Transpo for more reliable transportation in Ottawa.
Ayden Dorman, a first-year computer engineering technology student at the Ottawa campus, said transportation would be his top priority of the three.
“I’ve got a few people in my class who’ve complained about having trouble getting to school on time,” Dorman said.
Mental Wellness
The BOD wants to make sure the support services being offered match the specific needs of students.
They will work on a system to lower wait times for counselling services and provide more effective support to all students.
Arlo Jordan, a second-year business management and entrepreneurship student, believes mental health is an important issue for the SA to address because it’s been a growing problem since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The mere fact that they’re going to address mental health is really awesome, because many students have had mental health problems as of late,” Jordan said.
The Thanksgiving dinner was a celebration of a Canadian cultural experience
Linda Verreault
Photos: Linda Verreault
October 17, 2024 Revised: October 17, 2024 3:02pm
Photo: Linda Verreault
A group of Intenational students that quickly became friends at the dinner.
InterVarsity hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for international students in the AC Hub on Oct. 11, creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere to celebrate a Canadian cultural experience.
Carmen Hurst, 61, is a volunteer at the college and a former teacher in the nursing program.
“They are international students who are far from home and so having a traditional meal…(and) Thanksgiving tradition is just exciting,” said Hurst.
InterVarsity held a contest to see which student was farthest from home. Some students from Hong Kong were 12,400 kilometers from home.
“We had lots of fun. Awesome. It’s a good place to make friends. It was a great dinner,” said CiCi Ruan, 36, a construction engineering student.
Christy Dagenais, 41, is a campus minister with InterVarsity, a non-profit organization that is a faith community on campus. It’s an official club that is student-led and gets involved through the Spiritual Centre with college departments.
InterVarsity is active on campus and provides creative prayer and discussions on faith that allows for dialogue and shared opinions. They also provide a traditional Bible study.
“Intervarsity is both active for students that are practising the Christian faith and those that are also curious about faith and want a safe place to talk about it,” said Dagenais.
Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful and students sat in a gratitude circle to share what they were thankful for.
“Family, because they were always there for me and I was there for them,” said Mohamed Taous, 23, a student in the web design program.
Students who are far from home expressed their gratitude for the event.
“I think events like this are important for the international community. It’s like a door that opens into this new country… it’s like a hug,” said Abigail Soto, a computer system technician programming student.
A beautifully decorated pie entered in the pie tasting contest. Photo credit: Linda Verreault
They also held a pie-making contest with prizes for the best looking and best tasting pie. This was hilarious as some rushed to make their pie only to realize they had 15 minutes to make it. The crowd was boisterous as they drummed on the tabletops waiting for the announcement of who won. There were prizes of Tim Horton gift cards.
The event was a huge success, and some participants even got to leave with a pumpkin pie at the end of the evening.
Students living in west Ottawa neighbourhoods are worried about the rerouting of a key bus line
John Hopper
Photos: John Hopper
October 17, 2024 Revised: October 25, 2024 3:23pm
Photo: John Hopper
Students getting on a Route 88 bus at Baseline Station.
Earlier this year, OC Transpo announced a new bus network during its announcement of a five-year roadmap. The updated bus network features service changes to 123 existing OC Transpo routes, including the busy 88 bus route.
According to OC Transpo, the decision to redesign the bus network was to promote better inter-community transportation and stray away from downtown-focused bus routes.
“You will see a shift from downtown-focused bus routes to routes that improve connections to community hubs and key destinations,” OC Transpo told CTV Ottawa last March.
Algonquin College is a major transportation hub in the City of Ottawa. Baseline Station, located adjacent to the ACCE building, is serviced by a multitude of bus routes. The station is one of the busiest in the network because of this.
The 88 is one of the busiest bus routes in Ottawa. It is the main route that connects passengers from west Ottawa to many important destinations in Nepean and the Southeast Transitway.
Tyler Dubois, who works at College Square, relies on the 88 bus route.
“I usually take the bus to work because it’s easier to use during rush hour. I don’t like having to worry about driving home in traffic,” said Dubois.
The 88, which currently ends at Terry Fox Station in the heart of Kanata, is now expected to end at Bayshore Station, adjacent to the Bayshore Mall.
The alignment of this rerouting will reflect the route that of future Baseline Transitway line.
The new route will result in drastic service changes for Algonquin College students who live in west Ottawa. Kanata, Stittsville and Bells Corners will no longer be serviced by the route.
Ewin Blagna, a game development student, said the service changes will negatively affect students living west of Algonquin College.
“I usually take the 88 to school. Getting home from school is going to be more difficult,” said Blagna.
Service changes made to the route will also affect riders from communities neighbouring the college.
“It’s going to be harder to rely on the bus if you live out west (of Baseline Station). A lot of students might end up driving instead,” said Dubois.
While Baseline Station serves many Algonquin College students, it also serves the rapidly developing surrounding area. Destinations include College Square, Centrepointe and the Navaho neighbourhood. The realignment of the 88 will also affect residents and workers in those areas.
Taylor Hoffman, a contract worker in Centrepointe, said the rerouting will negatively affect how he gets to work.
“I live in Stittsville, and take the bus at Terry Fox. The rerouting is probably going to affect how I get to work. It will probably affect how a lot of people get to work,” said Hoffman.
The adjustments to this route will be put into effect alongside the long-delayed Trillium Line expansion, also known as O-Train Line 2. The delayed rail project has attracted concern from students because a date for the changes hasn’t been established.
“The (Trillium) Line is going to open up who knows when? These changes can go into effect tomorrow and no one will be prepared. I feel this could have been handled better,” said Blagna.
The 88 will continue to serve its current route until the Trillium Line’s expected opening once final testing ends in November.
Update Oct. 25: OC Transpo said the future Route 68 will serve customers in west Ottawa. Route 68 will operate between Terry Fox and Baseline stations. Route 88 will operate between Bayshore and Hurdman stations, via Baseline Station. Customers who currently travel to the college on Route 88 from areas in the west will still be able to with Route 68, according to OC Transpo.
Students, staff and volunteers came together at the AC Hub to share a festive meal, play bingo and celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving
Itel Sapozhnikov
Photos: Itel Sapozhnikov
October 16, 2024 Revised: October 16, 2024 12:11pm
Photo: Itel Sapozhnikov
Poling Chan (left) rocking her new hoodie with Fiona Li (right).
Poling Chan walked away from the Harvest Breakfast with a new hoodie, a full stomach and new friends.
It was her first time attending the event. She was accompanied by her classmate, Fiona Li.
“We didn’t expect that it is such a wide variety of foodthat we can have,” said Li. “We had hot dishes, we had fruits and we had croissants…we are really, really full.”
Chan and Li are second-year baking and pastry arts students.
The AC Hub hosted the annual Harvest Breakfast on Oct. 11. This is the second year the event has been a breakfast, rather than a lunch.
Samantha Therrien, an events officer at Algonquin College, plans student events on campus.
“This is an annual event we do before Thanksgiving every year,” said Therrien. “Just to show our appreciation for students and feed them.”
Therrien said the event provides an opportunity for students who can’t spend Thanksgiving with their families. The Harvest Breakfast allows students to share a meal with their friends, while also making new ones.
“I love the setting, face-to-face, that’s why we talked to people that we met today,” said Chan.
Two long tables had cups, plates, utensils and fall-themed decorations. Student volunteers helped assemble the setting.
The table setting that includes fall themed decorations, bingo and a take-home mug. Photo credit: Itel Sapozhnikov
“It’s like bringing the whole college together,” said Jasmine Grewal, a student volunteer and computer programming student. “As an international student, it feels empowering.”
The free event featured a buffet breakfast, bingo, a take-home mug and a leaf-shaped card for the participants to write what they’re grateful for. The card also served as an entry to a draw for prizes.
“We always do different activities that engage them during the breakfast, so it’s not just eating,” said Therrien.
Winners of bingo and the draw had a choice between a gift card to different food services around campus or Algonquin College merchandise.
Chan was one of the 10 winners of bingo. She chose the trademark green hoodie as her prize. She said she was surprised to win because, although the rules of bingo are simple, it’s not easy to win against a full room.
Aravind Santha, a computer programming student was also a bingo winner. He chose to claim the gift card.
“I know fall events are happening around the country…so I wanted to experience it,” said Santha. “I know I can meet different people from different countries.”
Xinghan Xu, Santha’s friend and classmate, found the event posting on the international student newsletter. He attended the event with Santha and Amimdu Udawatta, a fellow classmate and friend.
Towards the end of the event, Therrien pulled names out of a box to give away more prizes. Santha’s name was drawn, but in true Thanksgiving spirit, he declined the prize to give someone else a chance.
“I just believe it’s my lucky day, usually I never win,” said Santha. “I might buy a lottery (ticket) when I go home.”
When I went to the Arctic Circle alone on an expedition, I was shy and afraid. But I did it anyway - and I'm still feeling the benefits today
Ethan Macleod
Photos:
October 16, 2024 Revised: October 16, 2024 9:57am
"Without these experiences," writes the author, "I'd have never challenged myself as much as I did to moving out of my comfort zone."
I was a shy 15 year old standing on a stage in front of 200 people on a ship called the Ocean Endeavour en route to the article circle. I was as far out of my comfort zone as I was away from home in Mistissini, Que.
My roommate and new friend on the boat, Gaba Malik Lynge, were doing a comedy skit in a talent show. Lynge, an Inuk man from Greenland was my bunk mate and we got along very well right away. He had a friendly vibe that surrounded him and a goofy nature that I connected with well. We talked about our cultures. Lynge is Inuit and I am Cree. We showed each other how to speak each others’ language, what we hunted and what traditions we did. What made us different brought us closer together.
As we cracked a lot of jokes together, it helped put me at ease with being somewhere I’ve never been. When I think about our comedy show now, it made no sense. But we made people laugh.
It took a lot of guts for me to perform that night. Or to be on than ship at all. But I’m proud that I moved out of my comfort zone.
Without these experiences – and making a stranger into a new friend – I’d have never challenged myself as much as I did to moving out of my comfort zone. The connections I’ve made are proof of the rewards that have come from my risks.
Fast forward to 2024 and this experience still helps me a lot in my day-to-day life. Especially in my post-secondary studies. I would not be able to do a presentation in front of people if I didn’t start socializing early.
I was 14 years old when I first heard of the non-profit organization Students On Ice from my mother. Their goal is to educate those willing to learn about climate change and the effectsthe world is having today.
I saw this as an opportunity to explore and learn some things about myself, but I wasn’t expecting the terrible amount of discomfort that was to come.
Up to that point in my life, the furthest I’d travelled from home was to Florida but I’d gone with my family. This trip to Greenland and Nunavut would be different – I would be alone.
It cost around $13,000 to send me on this learning journey. We raised $2,000 alone but the rest came from sponsors that I was very fortunate to have.
As I set out to leave Canada, I had to overcome many emotions. I didn’t want to leave my family and I was scared I’d end up alone the entire time. I felt a heavy load of anxiety and the uncertainty of what this experience may turn out to be terrified me. At this point, there was no turning back.
We flew out from Ottawa and landed at a Second World War airstrip at Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Then we boarded a ship out onto Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord to make our first stop at Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland.
The expedition’s ship, the Ocean Endeavour, was basically a hotel on water. There were about 100 staff on board and 200 students that came from all corners of the world.
A 15-year-old Ethan MacLeod outside of Uummannaq.
All the new faces and backgrounds kept me on my toes as I did not want to embarrass myself in any way. That’s when I had my first conversation with my new friend, Lynge.
My friendship with him and the other human connections I made on that trip, moved me out of my comfort zone. The people I met helped me face my challenge. I’m not alone in this.
“I was a shy student one time and what helped me was having friends who would include me,” said Summer Wabasse, the events and communications officer at Mamidosewin Centre. “Being away from home is a huge challenge on its own.”
Rukundo Obed Junior, an Algonquin College international student from Rwanda studying fitness and health, agrees. Pushing outside of your comfort zone and having new experiences is important. But so are the people you meet along the way.
“I had no idea what Canada was like before I moved here, but I’m always excited to do new stuff,” said Junior. “Find friends from the same country, same region and speak the language from back home. It helps to get rid of the homesickness.”
Another thing that helped me throughout the expedition was journalling. I wrote down all the things I saw and felt. It kept me in touch with myself spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
I’d wrote a lot about what I did throughout each day so that I can look back at what happened when I was there. One of my favourite memories was watching a herd of musk ox graze upon the grass fields as I headed back to the ship after walking on an ice cap.
The time I spent with my journal also helped me to stay true to myself as much as possible when it came to conversing with other people. Also, emotionally-well connected to myself, I remember almost crying after leaving the people I met.
Without the experience I had on this expedition, I would not have made the much needed personal growth neither would I have met those incredible people from all corners of the globe.
The 2025 draft city budget is scheduled to be tabled on Nov. 13
Ben Fleguel
Photos: Ben Fleguel
October 16, 2024 Revised: October 16, 2024 9:41am
Photo: Ben Fleguel
Laine Johnson said to improve the transit system to the level people need "we absolutely require other levels of government."
College Ward councillor Laine Johnson said she has received mixed messages from her constituents about their transit needs.
“For some residents of College Ward, I’ve heard that transit is an area of concern,” said Johnson. “I also now have residents who are telling me they would be happy to pay a 10 per cent tax increase just as long as not one dollar goes to OC Transpo.”
Johnson said constituents’ perception is OC Transpo has mismanaged its portfolio, a perception she does not necessarily agree with.
Councillors Theresa Kavanagh and Sean Devine joined Johnson on Oct. 7 to consult the public on concerns for the upcoming city budget.
The city’s chief financial officer, Cyril Rogers, was also in attendance at the virtual meeting and attendees had their questions filtered through moderator Tim Abray, a senior policy advisor for the city.
The councillors and Rogers were asked why the budget directions report gave such a large range for transit levy and fare increases.
The budget directions report aims to give councillors recommendations to fix a $120-million deficit found in the transit budget.
“The rationale is that if we were to do (just) one thing, we would need a 37 per cent transit levy increase to cover the $120 million (deficit),” said Rogers, who opened the meeting with a presentation on city finances.
Rogers said choosing just one option to cover the deficit was likely not in the council’s plans.
Devine, who represents Knoxdale-Merivale Ward, said councillors would be using a blend of the different actions proposed in the budget directions report to ensure there would not be overly high increases in any one area.
“I believe if we raised transit fares 75 per cent we would be shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Devine.
Devine said if transit fares were to increase by the maximum proposed amount of 75 per cent, the transit service would lose riders.
Councillors were also asked whether Baseline Road would be getting a dedicated bus lane.
“When it comes to the city’s long term plans for transit, Baseline bus rapid transit is still high up there,” said Devine. “That being said, we are still waiting for significant investment from the federal and provincial governments for that to happen.”
Devine said the city could address the issue right now by removing one lane from each direction of Baseline Road and converting them to dedicated bus lanes.
This would speed up bus routes and encourage drivers to take public transit more often, according to Devine.
When the councillors were asked if they would vote against an increase in the Ottawa Police Service budget, Johnson said she would be comfortable asking the police to do more without a budget increase.
“I continue to be concerned about what feels like a double standard for the Ottawa Police Service,” said Johnson.
Johnson said the city asks all its institutions to justify their costs and often asks them to improve services without increasing funding.
“I will continue to likely vote against the police budget,” said Johnson.
The meeting peaked at 93 attendees and the recording was posted on College Ward’s YouTube channel.
Students are excited to lend a hand in their community
Mackenzie Cardinal
Photos: Mackenzie Cardinal
October 16, 2024 Revised: October 16, 2024 8:14am
Photo: Mackenzie Cardinal
Sarah Marsaw Courtois representing Volunteer Ottawa.
As Thanksgiving rolls around, Algonquin College students are interested in volunteering and helping the community. The Volunteer Fair showed students that’s possible.
Students came to E-building on Oct. 10, eager to look at all the volunteer booths. In total, 16 booths were at the Volunteer Fair.
“The organizations have come today to set up and talk about the services that they provide and to look for volunteers,” Pauline Thompson said. Thompson is part of the Volunteer Centre at Algonquin.
Some students decided to volunteer because it’s a part of their course, while others volunteered to help the community.
“I decided to volunteer because I want to do something meaningful for others,” Yanhong Yu, a construction student, said.
Many different volunteer organizations were at the Volunteer Fair. One of them was Shelter Movers, an organization dedicated to helping people relocate from abusive households. They help with the moving process and ensure people are in a safer environment.
Sophie Thapa was the representative at the booth.
“I love volunteering because we help people transition to a safe home. It feels like we’re making a difference in the community.” Thapa said.
Thapa was originally a volunteer herself before moving up the ranks to supervisor.
Along with helping the community through important needs, there were some volunteer booths with a unique premise. Bluesfest was one example.
“We’re a non-profit music festival who does a lot of musical festivals in the area. Our mission is to bring people together through music and showcase local artists,” Keanna Louis Charles said. She is part of the volunteer services for Bluesfest.
A prominent volunteer organization at the Volunteer Fair was Volunteer Ottawa, which has new volunteer opportunities every day on its website.
Sarah Marsaw Courtois, who is with Volunteer Ottawa, is very passionate about volunteering and the joy that it brings.
“Giving back to the community is such a rewarding feeling. It’s not only the personal satisfaction you get from it, but knowing that you helped a community that needs your assistance,” Marsaw Courtois said.
