The man behind the road

On Saturday, the man many people called the "Father of Nepean" died at the age of 99. His funeral yesterday drew hundreds, including yours truly.

(For readers further afield than the Capital, Nepean is the municipality that bordered the City of Ottawa to the west until amalgamation in 2000 made it a part of the city. A city that, much to chagrin of many residents in the various burroughs, was decided left with the name Ottawa.)

In other news, I may be the last person in the Canadian blogosphere (there, I used the word) to note this, but because I haven't heard much talk of it, I thought it appropriate to raise it here, as a matter of interest for you. And for me, because blogs are sadly, inherently, 2:1 self-interest/public interest.

Lorne Gunter from the National Post recently wrote that the mother of the Polish man who died after being tasered by RCMP at the Vancouver International Airport last fall should bear some responsibility in her son's death. Yes, I agree, it's unreal. And the Maclean's Megapundit lets Gunter have it.

The temple turns 20

Despite my best intentions to write sooner, a long weekend spent at a windswept cottage on the shore of Lake Huron has otherwise distracted me until now. Well, that and the purchase of some much-needed and very svelte rubber boots.

Alas, in Ottawa, this long weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery of Canada in its current location on Sussex Drive. The gallery has been around for a long time, but as you can read here, many felt it wasn't until the building of the gallery that our dear nation finally had a place to celebrate our accomplishments in visual arts and the men and women behind said accoplishments.

My own personal jury is still out on how I feel about the building from an architectural point of view, but I would say it has certainly become an iconic part of the cityscape. Plus, I love Maman, who - as one thoughful source I spoke to pointed out - is a perfect symbol for the National Gallery, for what is it if not the mothership of art in Canada.

Pay the rent or feed the kids?

Yes, it's an oft-repeated line, and one that Mel Hurtig used a few years back for a book about the burgeoning issue of poverty in Canada. Still, that was the sentiment in the air yesterday at a news conference in Ottawa in which Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his government would invest $5 million into rent banks.

Unbeknownst to me, the program has been around since 2004. Folks can apply once every two years for a grant to cover up to two months rent. But as I learned yesterday - no doubt much to the chagrin of the poor AND single people in the province - families normally get funding priority.

On an unrelated note, those keeping close watch of The Citizen will notice the story appeared in the A section. Today, A11, tomorrow... well, we'll both have to stay tuned, won't we.

Shelter from the storm

Perhaps the best part of reporting is meeting people you might not have met otherwise in your day-to-day life in a city. Yesterday I attended the 75th anniversary open house of St. Mary's Home, a non-profit charity in Ottawa that provides residential and drop-in programs for young pregnant women, new moms and dads, and their small children.

The event drew hundreds of people, including this woman, whose story gets to the heart of what St. Mary's Home is all about.

As an aside, the six of you who read The Capital Letters may have noticed another shift in its evolution as of late. Because I'm writing a lot for The Ottawa Citizen now, I don't seem to be posting as many of my personal exploits in the city. Part of the reason is because I'm busy and therefore not having as many adventures, but more it's because much of what I'm writing for the Citizen engenders an even greater understanding, appreciation and - at times - frustration for what brings Ottawa to life and what makes it tick.

The personal exploits and opinions won't disappear completely. In fact, I'm hoping a weekend road trip will help free up some mental space to put some order to my scattered thoughts about the Polaris Prize and, more to the point, why Veda Hille's latest record This Riot Life should be amongst the ten finalists announced later this year.

Underpass unplugged

The Rideau Street pedestrian underpass - at the corner of Rideau and Sussex - is a seemingly endless source of debate amongst people in Ottawa. What to some is a blemish on the downtown core is to others a shelter from the storm.

A city committee will decide later this week what it thinks about a staff recommendation to shift the use of the space and allow local arts groups to use it to promote their efforts. I'll be interested in hearing what the committee decides and how the debate unfolds.

In the meantime, here's a story about the issue from the Citizen.

The food desert

I wrote this for today's Citizen about a local community health centre's efforts to bring back a grocery store to a neighbourhood in west Centretown. Eat up!