Star stories were passed down orally through generations providing instructions to future generations about the origins of creation, the timing of the seasons, when to hunt and more.

“If you want to understand Indigenous peoples, you need to know the geography,” says Will Morin, an Anishinaabe astronomy knowledge keeper from Michipicoten First Nation. “My elders speak of Indigenous knowledge as human knowledge and if I went to Africa and spoke with Indigenous tribes, their knowledge would be Indigenous knowledge from their geography.”

Recognition of Indigenous astronomy has grown in recent years as Indigenous people reconnect with their cultures and learn about Indigenous constellation stories. Through learning about these stories, they hope to revive Indigenous culture and languages to be able to share with future generations.

When European settlers arrived in the Americas, they imposed their own ideologies on the land including their astronomy, disregarding the star stories that Indigenous people had told for over 10,000 years that were sensitive to their geographical location and ecosystem.

Repression of Indigenous teachings has had dire consequences for the natural environment and the wellbeing of other species that live alongside humans in the Americas, says Morin.

“There are multiple examples right across the Americas of Indigenous tribes, but also other Indigenous tribes in Africa, Australia and Asia, where there is old knowledge that has been the guide and the instrument of the value systems of many of these peoples, but has been oppressed for generations now,” Morin says. “And some of that knowledge is getting lost. So both non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples are suffering.”

A prime example is climate change. Many Indigenous constellations stories teach humans how to live alongside other species to ensure the wellbeing of the natural world. However, Morin says that settlers have mostly dismissed Indigenous knowledge as primitive, believing their ways of knowing are superior.

“It’s a call for humility for the main dominant society to recognize that there are other ways of seeing in this geography called the Americas,” says Morin.

Kahante Horn-Miller, who is Kanien:keha’ka/Mohawk from Kahnawake, says Indigenous cultures are bringing life back to old traditions.

“Colonization has hugely impacted our ability to know our traditions,” says Horn-Miller, an Indigenous studies professor at Carleton University. “We have managed to survive but a lot has been lost. So we’re now in a time of change and revitalization where we are working really hard to bring back our language, our traditions, our culture and help our people survive into the future.”

An important constellation that many Indigenous cultures use throughout the winter is the Pleiades. For both the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, the constellation marks the wintertime and the door to the spiritual world.

For the Anishinaabe, Michael Waasegeiizhig Price explains that the Pleiades is known as the marker for winter in addition to the Bagone-Giizhig hole in the sky which tells their creation story.

He said the universe has four layers: earth, sky, stars and spirit world — all connected by a cedar tree. At the beginning of creation, ancient ancestors climbed down the tree from the spirit world to populate the earth.

Waasegeiizhig Price said that he learned about this story in his 30s after hearing stories from an Anishinaabe elder from Winnipeg. He was raised in Oklahoma with his father’s family, but his mom was Anishinaabe from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation in Manitoulin Island, Ont.

Waasegeiizhig Price came across the story of the hole in the sky when he was trying to figure out what his last name meant. He found that “Waase” meant bright and “geiizhig” meant both sky and cedar tree. At first, he was confused about how “geiizhig” could mean both sky and cedar tree until an elder explained to him that “it goes back to an old creation story we don’t tell anymore, and it talks about how our ancient ancestors came down from the star world,” he said.

“I have a much deeper appreciation of the skies and the cedar tree and the stars just by hearing these couple of stories,” he says.

Samantha Doxtator, Haudenosaunee Oneida, tells the story of the story of seven young men who danced through the doorway to sky world and became the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades.

The men had wanted to have a feast in the forest, but their moms didn’t want them to be taking food into the woods. So the young men said to each other, ‘Don’t worry, we will still dance without our feast,’ and started drumming and dancing with so much energy that they started to lift off the ground. Knowing their mothers would call them home if they looked back, they kept dancing all the way into to the stars.

“Even though there’s some grief in that story, where those parents had to lose their children, those children became a huge marker for our people,” Doxtator says. “They represent the doorway to sky world.”

Doxtator started learning about Haudenosaunee astronomy after her sister, Sasha, who was interested in this research, passed away from cancer in July 2021. She says that continuing Sasha’s work has helped her make peace with her sister’s passing.

“It’s part of my grief recovery, that I can continue my sister’s work,” she says. “In the stars, when we talk about them, we talk about birth and death because stars have that same life cycle. Stars are born, and when a star passes away, it explodes and it turns into dust and it’s called the supernova.”

She says this story has helped her understand that the ceremony of death is just as special as the ceremony of life.

“It’s a reciprocal relationship,” she says. “We come from the stars and then we go back to the stars.”

However, Theresa Tam said that 2030 elimination is within reach.

“I really think we can do it if we all tried really hard together,” she told about 100 advocates and other spectators gathered on Parliament Hill for the raising of the flag bearing the symbolic red ribbon.

Last summer, the UNAIDS organization released a report detailing a vision to end AIDS by 2030. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day, ‘Let Communities Lead’, is a centrepiece of the proposed goal.

To reach the UNAIDS proposed 2030 target, Canada must improve the diagnosis rate of people with HIV-AIDS, said Khalid Salam, executive director of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa. More than 63,000 people in Canada are living with HIV and an estimated 11 per cent of people with the virus are undiagnosed.

Salam outlined multiple solutions to continue working to eradicate AIDS, which include tackling social determinants of health such as the housing crisis, food insecurity and unemployment. These policy changes must be accompanied by destigmatization and increasing access to medication, treatments and testing, he said.

Letting communities “continue” to lead is critical, said Patrick O’Byrne, a nurse practitioner at an Ottawa Public Health clinic. “Communities have always been at the forefront”, he explained. 

“They started the fight against stigma. They demanded that governments start research and provide treatment. They invented harm reduction,” he said.

In terms of meeting UNAIDS 2030 goal, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said that the city of Ottawa is here to provide support.

“We’re certainly here to listen and understand what we might be able to do to help,” he said. “We work with community groups like the AIDS Committee to make sure that we’re doing everything we can.”

The annual World AIDS Day ceremony, organized by the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, consisted of a mixture of performances and presentations to mark the day and the beginning of Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week. 

“World AIDS Day first and foremost, is about honouring the millions of lives who have lost over the last four decades and standing in solidarity with people living with HIV AIDS,” said Salam. “It is also a time for reflection on what we have achieved with regards to the local, national and global response to HIV AIDS, and a time to recommit to what we must still achieve to eradicate HIV AIDS.”

The flag raising ceremony not only raises awareness about AIDS, but also showcases community solidarity with those living with HIV-AIDS. Margaret Kisikaw Piyesis, the CEO of CAAN, said that annual day is a show of support for the end of stigmatization, ignorance and discrimination of those with HIV-AIDS.

Raphael Herbert, a representative from ViiV healthcare, which focuses on HIV-AIDS, agrees. “If we want to really eradicate HIV from the planet, it is not alone that we will be able to do this, but in collaboration and in partnership.”

“We are at a heightened risk of developing mental health injuries,” said David André, president of Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, Local 162. “We believe investment in the form of mental health specialists will pay for itself.”

As a public delegate at Friday’s emergency preparedness and protective services committee, André spoke on behalf of 960 full-time firefighters for the city. He said his association would like Ottawa Fire Services to have a dedicated mental health specialist who could work on prevention by offering resiliency training.

“If the chief says, ‘You know what, we really need this investment,’ then I would be inclined to support it.”

Coun. Riley Brockington

A new hire would help relieve the burden on the training division, made up of 12 individuals, which is “under more pressure every year to deliver more, with the same number of staff,” André said.

In response to Andre’s account, Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill said at the end of the meeting that he plans to put forward a motion to city council to hire a devoted mental health specialist for the fire department.

Committee chair Coun. Riley Brockington, who represents River ward, said he wants to hear more from Ottawa fire, specifically the chief, on the current situation before he would support the motion. “If the chief says, ‘You know what, we really need this investment,’ then I would be inclined to support it,” he said.

The committee heard from three public delegates and city staff before approving its portion of the city’s 2024 draft budget. The committee is currently looking at a $259.4 million budget for 2024, representing a $12.7 million increase from this year. City council will vote to approve the budget on Dec. 6.

The largest planned budget increase overseen by the committee is directed at Ottawa fire, which is setting aside $2.2 million for a new fire station for Kanata North and South March and $4 million for equipment renewal, including a transition to battery-powered equipment where possible.

The city’s paramedic services will get the second largest piece of the pie. It will receive $2.4 million to hire new paramedics and $503,000 for equipment and vehicles, including greener emergency response vehicles.

Though he supported the budget, Brockington didn’t pass up a chance to ask the head of the paramedics about offload time.

The service’s offload delay at local hospitals got worse this year compared to 2022, Chief Pierre Poirier told the committee. “Overall, it’s been a difficult year for us,” the chief said. “Our call volume is up. Our responses are up.”

The city plans to hire 23 new paramedics for each of the next three years. According to Brockington, this is not sufficient to bring down response times, due to paramedics being “stacked up at hospitals” waiting to offload their patients to hospital staff.

He said it’s up to Ontario’s Ministry of Health to increase resources in emergency rooms and hospitals so that paramedics can have a faster turnaround. “I’ve been on council for nine years,” Brockington said, adding “offloading delays has always been an issue.”

He attributed the crux of the issue to the province-wide challenge of having a population that is both increasing and aging. “It’s like a double whammy for us here.”

Starting Friday, the association – which has teamed up with Muslim student associations at Algonquin College and University of Ottawa – is hosting four weekend programs throughout December that deal with Muslim identity.

The first event is called “You as a Muslim in the West.” Tickets for the in-person lecture, which will be held Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. at Algonquin College, have already sold out, but organizers say the program will also be available online.

Friday’s lecture explores the experiences and challenges of Muslims in Western societies and how they can thrive while maintaining their Muslim identity. Speaker Abu Umar Abdul Azeez, an international speaker and scholar, will speak about Muslim identity. 

Ali Abdur Raheem, a fourth-year electrical engineering student, said he is not a club member, but he usually participates in its events. He said he benefits from the support the club provides to Muslim students. 

“The safe prayer room at Paterson Hall is one such support,” he said. “We also come together for Jummah (Friday) prayers every week at Norm Fenn Gym.” 

Abdur Raheem said he will attend Friday’s lecture online and added that he and Muslim students come together in the prayer room five times a day, pray and chat with each other. He said that events like “You as a Muslim in the West,” as well as the various other supports offered by the Muslim association on campus, are essential to maintaining a strong sense of identity.

Club member Mariem, who did not want her last name published, said she plans to attend Friday’s lecture. “As an international student, events featuring Muslim academics and speakers raise my awareness of the challenges I face as a Muslim,” said Mariem, who is studying psychology at Carleton University.

Mariem, who also volunteers at some club events, said the club supports the community by providing a safe space. “The association regularly posts on social media, and if you follow its Instagram account, you will be aware of many events related to the Muslim community. We also regularly put up announcement posters on the notice board opposite the prayer room,” she said.

Carleton’s Muslim student association aims to represent Muslim students within the Carleton community, promote civic engagement and organize events and services, according to Ruqiya Ahmed, a spokesperson for the club. It serves the Muslim student community at Carleton by organizing book clubs, travel programs, regular prayer meetings and other forms of support. 

“Support is a key part of community, and we aim to provide it for one another to balance our social and work life,” Ahmed said. “Working with sincere intentions enables us to have what we believe to be blessed and fulfilling experiences.”

Ahmed said she encourages all students who are interested in the upcoming events to register online.

The club is also organizing a bracelet-making workshop for Muslim women on Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. and a trip to Toronto later this month to attend the annual Reviving the Islamic Spirit convention. 

Mariem said these types of events, including the bracelet-making workshop, help her connect with other Muslim students and foster a community on campus. 

“I come together with students with whom I share the same emotions and thoughts,” she said. “This is the most effective way to protect my Muslim identity and I am proud of it.”

And yet, outside The Merry Dairy – an ice cream shop in Hintonburg – a line of customers, some still wearing pajamas, forms soon after sunrise.

Ice cream? In the dead of an Ottawa winter?

Yes, says the shop’s owner, Marlene Haley.

“People think it’s too cold for ice cream,” she said in an interview. “But ice cream in the winter is a great treat.”

“We have a line of customers waiting outside in their snow suits, winter coats and caps in the cold, hoping to receive a hot chocolate, coffee or ice cream on a freshly-made waffle.”

The annual event, dubbed IC4B, which stands for Ice Cream for Breakfast, is just one of the innovative ways The Merry Dairy tries to remain in the hearts of its customers in the off-season.

The winter months are hard for many small businesses in Canada, grappling with a variety of difficulties, including low sales, labour shortages and supply disruptions. But it can be a particularly challenging time for small businesses that depend heavily on or are generally associated with warmer weather.

To confront this challenge, many small businesses use the winter months to get ready for the upcoming spring, explore new merchandising opportunities or take advantage of e-commerce to reach customers who don’t want to leave the warm and cozy confines of their homes.

Stocking up or shutting down?

Brandon Chin Quee, who manages Tall Tree Cycles, an independently-owned bicycle shop on Sunnyside Avenue in Old Ottawa South, said one big challenge during the winter is that business is slow, with the majority of the shop’s sales made in the spring and summer seasons.

Since there are hardly any sales during the winter, he said the business has to refocus and plan for the warmer months, which are its busiest periods. “Winter season is a time we stock up on bikes for sale. The season is tough for small businesses,” he said.

A 2023 survey from KPMG reported by the Canadian Press said 60 per cent of small businesses are affected by the weather, with 44 per cent seeing a direct hit to revenue.

Artistic Landscape Design, a garden centre on Bank Street near Greenboro station, is another business that feels the drop in temperature, both physically and in its sales.

Mostafa Fallah, the garden centre’s horticulturist and general manager, says the outdoor gardening industry during the winter is non-existent because most plants cannot survive the cold weather. That sometimes forces shops like his to make difficult decisions.

“Sometimes shutting down is better than not because a huge amount would be spent on labour and operations, which are more expensive,” he said.

Fallah said the garden centre has ventured into the sale of Christmas trees and decorations. But unfortunately, according to the horticulturist, there is not a big demand in Ottawa for artificial or regular Christmas trees, hence, the business is not making a lot of sales.

Exploring innovative solutions to thrive in winter

Josephine Mensah, a business advisor at Oneness Career Coaching Inc. in Ottawa, urged small business owners to proactively develop solid plans for the winter season to avoid being caught off guard.

“Businesses should carefully evaluate their business plans and have exceptions for these kinds of emergencies,” she said. “They should have an inventory where they take stock of the business activities and confirm the kind of verification they have on their website.”

Mensah also said close monitoring of the weather and anticipating the losses that can occur during the winter season would enable business owners to plan adequately.

The use of e-commerce has helped boost small businesses, said Bowen James, a professor at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.

James, whose research work is focused on small businesses, including start-ups, as well as teaching practical applications of technology, said buying and selling goods and services over the internet has helped small businesses achieve a large clientele.

In his opinion, e-commerce sales platforms would help to expand the reach of small businesses during the winter. “The commerce environment is one of the attractions in the wintertime because of free shipping or the emphasis on same-day delivery,” he said.

Another method of survival for small businesses is reducing prices to keep customers coming, he added.

“People want to go somewhere warm and have an interesting shopping experience,” James said. “Small businesses should reinvent their business and start selling beverages and food products so that when people go to the store, they can have some hot apple cider.”

James said the challenge of the winter months is that an interruption of the customer’s buying pattern could be permanently disruptive, adding that what small businesses need to do is reestablish those buying patterns as quickly as possible.

Thriving despite the storm

While many businesses slow down or shut down during the winter, some reinvent themselves.

Haley, whose shop, The Merry Dairy, is known for its hand-made, original-recipe premium ice cream and nut-free frozen custard, uses clever marketing to capitalize on the winter season.

The Merry Dairy has attempted to adapt and overcome the winter lull by introducing festive flavours just in time for Christmas. In addition to the holiday-themed flavours and annual Ice Cream for Breakfast event, Haley has delved into business ideas like delivery services, as many individuals find it difficult to leave their homes at night during the colder months.

“We offer ice cream delivery from Wednesday through Saturday, which has significantly increased our sales,” she said.

Storytelling is also part of the strategy the business has explored, using beautiful photographs of ice cream that make people excited to want a taste, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia.

Haley pointed out there are few businesses making ice cream cakes, and that’s something she sells a lot of in the winter because people still have birthdays in the winter.

“Every single winter has been different,” she said. “And that has influenced customer buying patterns for ice cream.”

“One in three women will face gender-based violence in their lifetime,” Sutcliffe told the audience of city councillors, MPs and advocates, who had been invited to witness the signing of an official declaration marking 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, an annual campaign lasting from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

Ottawa City Council previously declared intimate partner violence an epidemic on International Women’s Day back in March, following a recommendation that came out of an inquiry that investigated the deaths of three women who were killed in the Ottawa Valley in 2015.

Meanwhile, in the past 12 months, at least 62 women in Ontario were victims of femicide, according to a report from the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses. This means, on average, one woman has been killed in Ontario every five days  since November 2022. The report does not account for unreported deaths and disappearances.

Monday’s event in the mayor’s office came weeks after city council announced its 2024 draft budget, which includes a $13.4-million increase to the Ottawa police. In fact, council will vote on the budget on Dec. 6, the 34th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, in which 14 women were killed at l’École Polytechnique.

Gender-based violence is a critical issue in Ottawa, Ontario and globally. With community members and organizations working tirelessly in the fight against sexual violence, some criticize the substantial increase to police funding. In a time when intimate partner violence is an epidemic, advocates instead are calling for culturally appropriate response initiatives, early intervention and a critical look into the systemic issues behind these acts.

‘Much more we need to do’: Sutcliffe

Here in Ottawa, there have been 5,815 reports of intimate partner violence in 2023 so far, compared to 6,544 in 2022 and 6,385 in 2021.

Insp. Peter Jupp, a specialized investigator for the Ottawa police, said the current statistic does not mean there is less domestic violence. “There’s so many things that can impact reporting,” he added.

Jupp explained one of the OPS’s biggest problems is people not reporting due to lack of faith in the authorities. He said the force is currently working on a new strategic plan that specifically addresses domestic violence.

“We’re consistently told from our community and advocacy groups that domestic violence is one of our biggest community concerns,” he said, pointing out the importance of working with advocates.

In his comments during Monday’s event, Mayor Sutcliffe said the increasing rate of gender-based violence in Ottawa was a priority in hiring new police officers. “We know there is so much more we need to do.”

The 2024 budget draft proposes a hiring of 555 new police officers and civilian employees over the next three years.

Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women publicly critiqued the funding increase, calling for more funding to community-based initiatives, affordable housing, transit and immigration support.

Prevention must address root causes

Other advocates say more work needs to be done to prevent gender-based violence instead of relying on a police response.

“Police don’t prevent anything, they react,” said Marlihan Lopez, an activist and expert who worked on the development of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. “The first thing is deconstructing what prevention is and the idea that police prevent violence.”

Lopez said prevention looks like “addressing the root causes of gender-based violence,” like intergenerational trauma. “Our communities need a lot of healing,” she said. She noted a way of prevention is having access to mental health and resources that help engage healing while acknowledging cultural and historical factors.

Lopez also mentioned the importance of youth and how, by enforcing their agency, they can be empowered to interrupt violence.

“If you go to a youth that comes from a racialized background and you tell them their culture enforces less women’s rights or is more misogynistic, that’s not going to empower them to interrupt violence,” Lopez explained.

Alexandra Bishop, a social worker with CALAS de l’Outaouais, expressed a similar sentiment, pointing out how education and early intervention is necessary for prevention.

CALAS de l’Outaouais is a non-profit organization fighting against sexual violence in Ottawa-Gatineau. Bishop said her organization educates secondary and mature students, social workers and police to ensure everyone knows what sexual violence is and how to prevent it.

“Every student, every person should have the same content,” she said, pointing out the importance of consistency in education.

She said CALAS is working towards more wide-scale events to get the message across. Recently in September, CALAS co-hosted the Take Back the Night March, an annual action encouraging people to stand against sexual violence.

 “A lot of prevention is necessary,” she pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre is providing over 500 survivors of sexual violence with crucial supports, according to service navigator Caron Cuff.

Cuff said the organization is trying to be as preventive as possible but mostly works with survivors. “Our role is to support them as an individual through counselling, access to safe accommodation, basic needs,” she explained.

She said a lot of clients choose not to report to the police and instead seek support in the community.

Cuff said healing looks different for everyone. “We support whatever that individual’s perspective of healing looks like in any capacity that we can.”

She noted some survivors do wish to report to see a measure of accountability, but for some, it’s not that important. Cuff noted sometimes the perspective changes, depending on where someone is in the healing process.

According to Statistics Canada, 94 per cent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. Fifty-seven per cent of sexual assault survivors said their primary reason for not reporting was not wanting to involve the police or the criminal justice system.

Jupp said the mandatory charging guidelines in Ontario, established in 1999, do not allow police to suggest a non-criminal resolution to incidents of domestic violence.

Police-alternative approaches needed

Those advocating against gender-based violence are asking for more non-police involved approaches to intervention and response.

For Lopez, responding to gender-based violence looks like equipping survivors with what they need to leave violent situations, like urgent financial support, secured Canadian citizen status and secure housing. Lopez said transformative prevention involves addressing the systemic issues that allow for gender-based violence to occur.

“The only response that governments really are invested in are responses through the criminal legal system, which does not prove to reduce or address gender-based violence, and according to most survivors, do not provide healing that they need,” she explained.

When it comes to restorative justice, Indigenous leaders are looking to return to the original teachings.

Carol McBride is the president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada. She said getting back to a “cultural approach” of serving justice is important to renewing law enforcement’s credibility.

“Indigenous people are overrepresented in police-involving death. That’s serious,” McBride explained. “Indigenous people represent one third of people shot to death by police. There’s definitely something wrong there.”

Murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women, with more than four out of five Indigenous women and girls experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime.

McBride said restorative justice looks different for each community. “We have not been at the same level of trauma, of cultural shock or identity,” she said. “On an Indigenous level, lawmakers need to engage in a meaningful and collaborative discussion with the community they serve.”

She mentioned there is money allocated to develop a legislative framework for First Nations policing. She said she hopes the discussions reflect the community they serve and are culturally- and trauma-informed.

“I think that they have a long way to go,” McBride added. “I’m feeling hopeful.”

McBride said communities must be actively involved in the discussions to ensure they receive appropriate services.

“I’m a grandmother and I have four grandchildren that are growing up,” McBride said. She added she “wouldn’t want them to go through a lot of the discrimination” brought on by assimilation and settler-based approaches in the criminal-justice system.

A vigil for The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in remembrance of the l’École Polytechnique massacre will be held in Minto Park on Dec. 6.

Thomas, a former Paralympian and power-chair user, knows the long travel times all too well. A lot of Para Transpo riders in Ottawa share the feeling. Though the system is designed for Ottawa residents who cannot take conventional transit due to varying disabilities, many riders often feel frustrated over its lack of punctuality, inflexibility and restrictive, outdated booking system.

In October, Thomas invited Coun. Glen Gower, the chair of the Transit Commission, to join her in a ride-along to understand how a small errand can be a time-consuming ordeal for Para Transpo riders.

The pair went out to pick up a bottle of distilled water for their test. It took them two hours for a journey that would normally take less than 15 minutes by car, because the transit service does not allow customers to book two trips within a 90-minute window, forcing riders to wait for a return trip after they have finished shopping. Thomas had to book two separate trips.

“After that trip, I contacted OC Transpo staff and I said, ‘What’s the rationale for this? Why can’t you book within a one-hour window?’ I haven’t heard back from them yet,” Gower told The Capital Chill.

The 90-minute waiting period is just one roadblock for Para Transpo riders.

“People in this community say you should be grateful that there is a service. But it’s not much of service. It’s not providing what I need on a regular basis and it’s very inconsistent,” Thomas said.

Punctuality woes

In November, OC Transpo released a report that boasts an on-time performance of over 90 per cent for Para Transpo service in 2023 to date. The satisfaction among riders paints a different picture.

“They are always late,” says Jay Baldwin, a Carleton student who uses Para Transpo every week. They were interviewed while waiting more than 30 minutes for their ride to the pharmacy. OC Transpo would consider the ride only three minutes late because the clock doesn’t start until after the first half hour.

For riders like Baldwin and Thomas, a recurring issue is that their rides may technically meet the company’s criteria for punctuality, but that often does not align with their needs.

“If a person with a disability is 30 minutes late to work as often as Para Transpo is 30 minutes late to pick me up, they would not have a job,” Thomas explained.

Kyle Humphrey is another long-time Para Transpo rider and disability advocate. Para Transpo’s delayed service has put his employment at risk in the past by making him late for work. He says he will take the LRT if he lands an interview during his current job search. “I want to get there on time,” he said.

Long-standing requests for same-day booking unmet

When it comes to providing service for Para Transpo riders, the city has come a long way from when it limited riders to only booking four trips a day. Despite this progress, the reservation-only policy remains a problem for some: riders must book buses at least one day in advance, creating yet another barrier on their journey to independent mobility.

“People with disabilities also need to go to work and school and hang out,” Baldwin said. “But the system considers us as unproductive people who never go out.”

Unlike able-bodied people, Para Transpo users are still routinely excluded from moving spontaneously, whether for work or entertainment.

During the Ottawa Accessibility Advisory committee meeting last month, Humphrey said that he hopes people with disabilities could also have “equity in terms of transit,” which is why he has been pushing for a same-day booking system for more than four years.

For some, the struggle has been even longer. “We’ve been demanding same-day bookings for decades, and it hasn’t happened,” said Jerry Fiori, the former chair of Ottawa Disability Coalition.

Winter brings additional challenges

Para Transpo riders “have major issues year-round, but especially in the wintertime,” Fiori said.

Para Transpo’s application form for registering as a customer says that Ottawa’s conventional transit service “may be a better alternative for those who want greater independence and flexibility.” Some riders do use conventional buses. But in the winter, Para Transpo can be the only option for a lot of them.

Thomas explained that she cannot use conventional buses at all when there’s snow on the ground. She said she cannot get to the bus stop on her power chair “as soon as it snows more than a centimetre,” and only Para Transpo can provide “door-to-door service” helping riders to and from the buses.

Fiori seconds Thomas’s experience. “Getting about is really difficult when we have more and more snow and ice events,” he says. “And sometimes you cannot actually get out because there are no rides available for you in the wintertime at peak periods.”

Para Transpo could always use more investment

The city is set to spend more than ever before on public transit in 2024. According to the Transit Commission’s 2024 budget plan, $195.9 million is earmarked for “Bus and Para Transpo.” However, the lion’s share of this budget would be spent on the “Zero Emissions Bus Program” for buying new conventional buses, which would cost $179.7 million.

The city is going to increase Para Transpo’s services budget in line with inflation and purchase new Para Transport buses in the next two years, Gower says.

However, the specific budget allotment for Para Transpo is not clear because spending is “buried into other line items,” he says.

“If we roll out same-day booking, you have to make sure you have the resources to provide that service. And in a city as big as Ottawa, that could be a real challenge,” Gower says.

OC Transpo is “studying the feasibility of overnight service, same-day booking,” according to a written statement from Pat Scrimgeour, director of transit customer systems and planning. 

Para Transpo riders will persist in their efforts to turn the longstanding study of the issue into a reality.

Humphrey and Thomas have been running a Facebook group named “Let’s Make Ottawa Accessible.” Humphrey says that he wants to include more people in the conversation.

“At the end of the day, this shouldn’t be a battle of ‘us versus them,'” Humphrey says. “This shouldn’t be a battle of ‘LRT versus Para Transpo.’ This should be a battle of ‘Let’s make Ottawa accessible’.”

The section, called the Canadian Mortgage Charter, outlines non-binding recommendations to ease financial stress due to increasing mortgage rates.

Housing-industry analysts say the charter, which compiles existing initiatives into one document, could put pressure on financial institutions to ease the strain for homeowners who are in mortgage trouble. However, since it’s a non-enforceable package mainly comprised of existing measures, they assert that it probably won’t make a lot of difference in the lives of homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.

“I think it’s kind of the government saying, ‘OK, given the situation we’re in here are the ground rules that we want you to operate under,’” said Jason Burggraff, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association.

The stress of being able to afford a mortgage is a growing problem for many Canadians. Mortgage Professionals Canada reported in late November that 73 per cent of mortgages are uninsured, and one in five Canadian mortgage holders are up for renewal in the next year.

In a recent survey, the Angus Reid Institute found that the number of mortgage holders struggling to make payments has escalated this year. The October data showed 15 per cent said they found paying their mortgage was “very difficult,” a figure that doubled since last March.

Burggraff said the charter could create a framework to help those in the housing market. 

“We want homeowners to have every reasonable opportunity to stay in their homes, even if they experienced financial distress,” he said. “It’s infinitely better for everybody: for banks, for the government, for the general population to stay in our home if at all possible,” he said.

While some may feel the charter is a step in the right direction for mortgage owners, others disagree.

“Overall, I think it’s a political stunt,” said Robert McLister, an interest-rate analyst and mortgage planner. “I think it doesn’t deliver much new value to Canadians.”

Despite his concern, McLister noted that there’s a new, potentially helpful element in the charter that financial institutions should contact homeowners four-to-six months before their mortgage renews. “That was one new thing I noticed,” said McLister, who is a contributing writer for The Globe and Mail.

While the Canadian government asserts in the charter that they will closely monitor financial institutions’ implementation of and compliance with relief measures, McLister shares the concern that the charter is nothing more than a reiteration of already existing provisions.

The federal government wants “to make it look like they’re doing something positive,” he said. McLister added that many of the provisions had been previously announced but were packaged into a charter because it “has connotations of protecting people’s rights and looking out for the little guy.”

Another concern is whether the charter can have a legitimate impact on the average Canadian. Housing and mortgages “may be the number one issue in the mind of Canadians and the government is responding to that in any way they can,” said Dan Eisner, CEO of TrueNorthMortgage, a firm that helps clients find the best possible interest rates.

Eisner said he thinks clients would look favourably at the charter. “I would imagine they would see this as a good thing, the government’s responding to their worries,” he said.

Eisner said he envisions the charter as a way that Canadians can feel both heard and supported by the government, even though it is out of federal jurisdiction.

Burggraff, however, said the charter acts as an informal agreement between all parties involved in the mortgage process.

For Burggraff, the charter addresses financial institutions, and the government’s expectations that they will use the document as a guide to help people afford their mortgages, thus allowing Canadians to keep their houses.

Despite this, Eisner, Burggraff and McLister emphasize the charter is not legislation and cannot be enforced as such.

Instead, they say this is a way to remind Canadians what they can do about their mortgages, and for the federal government to remind financial institutions, mortgage brokers and those with mortgages that there are ways to remedy — if only temporarily — certain issues caused by mortgages because of the ongoing housing crisis.

To that end, the charter may prove useful to those facing challenges, as it reminds those involved in the process that there is a uniting factor and everyone can be “a bit more flexible in the difficult economic situation we’re finding ourselves in, especially with high interest rates,” Burggraff said.

“The idea is that they can use their own money and they can purchase a piece to start their fine art collection or they can purchase a holiday gift for someone special,” said Kathy Brake, who is the gallery coordinator at the school.

The endeavour, called Kid’s Niche and intended for children under 12, is the latest addition to the school’s annual fundraising art sale which began Thursday night.

All pieces in the Kid’s Niche section of the sale range from $3 to $20. The art pieces include handmade Christmas ornaments, painted ceramic dishes and canvas paintings.

Brake said that the pieces are a mixture of donated works from local artists as well as donated pieces made by children who take classes at the school. The art made by these young students is identified with the label ‘Kids for Kids.’

The school’s administration officer Sheila Stark-Green said that not only is this an opportunity for children to buy and sell their art, but it encourages them to continue their artistic journey.

“We are trying to treat the children in the same professional manner and respect their art in the same way we would if they were adults,” she explained. “The Kid’s Niche was an idea that came from wanting to cultivate and nurture children in collecting and appreciating art.”

Stark-Green added that the initiative is an extension of what that the school already offers for kids, which include programs that run throughout the year.

“We have a large contingent of kids who take classes here and do our camps,” she said. “They’re not just learning the techniques, they’re learning the background. We felt this was an opportunity to help inspire them, to think about art as something they can acquire and continue to love.”

The Kids Niche is running alongside the annual art fundraiser that the school has put on for 39 years. The pieces in the general sale are all by members of the art school, and 65 per cent of the sale price goes back to the artist.

The other 35 per cent is retained by the school and is put towards bursary and outreach programs, Brake said.

Teresa Rozkiewicz, a third-year student at the art school and a volunteer at the sale, said that there seemed to be a lot of interest and excitement around the new initiative. 

“People seem really enthusiastic about it. There were three pieces from the Kids Niche that were already sold this morning,”  she said on Friday.

Brake emphasized that if the initiative is successful, the school will continue the idea next year and hopefully be able to move the Kids Niche display into its own room in the gallery. 

The art sale runs until Dec. 10 at the J.W Stellick gallery, which is located inside the Ottawa School of Art at 35 George St.

The Palestinian Youth Movement is crowdfunding costs to help bring people from as far away as Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Mississauga, Toronto, as well as Quebec City and Montreal, to participate in the 1 p.m. demonstration on Saturday.

“We are traveling from all across Canada to demand an immediate lifting of Israel’s 17-year long siege on Gaza,” said Palestinian Youth Movement spokesperson Yara Shoufani in a text.

“A ‘pause’ is not enough,” she added, referring to the temporary break in fighting that came into effect on Friday. “Thousands of Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s infrastructure destroyed, and 12,000 Palestinian prisoners are held as hostages in Israeli prisons.”

Oct. 7 marked one of the bloodiest days in Israel’s history with 1,200 Israelis killed and more than 200 taken hostage by Hamas.

In the ensuing weeks, authorities in Gaza say more than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Additionally, the United Nations has reported that more than 1.6 million people have been displaced due to the conflict and thousands of others remain trapped under rubble.

On average in Gaza, a child is killed and two more are injured every ten minutes during this conflict, according to the UN.

Currently, the Red Cross is facilitating the release of hostages held by Hamas and Israel. Despite the current pause in fighting, people across Canada have been preparing for a national march in solidarity with Palestine.

Jo El-Dik, who is half-Palestinian, half-German, is travelling from Kitchener-Waterloo with the Palestinian Youth Movement for tomorrow’s demonstration. “It’s really important to have a large amount of people in Canada’s capital,” the 21-year-old said in an interview.

El-Dik said being part of a large demonstration is “good for the soul.”

“It resonates more and you can feel the impact,” they said. “When you are cold, tired and exhausted, being a part of a large crowd helps you keep up your energy.”

After Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, El-Dik said they faced a new reckoning with their Palestinian identity and family history.

“Everything I can do from where I am now is what I have to do,” El-Dik said. “If everyone felt that way and used their feelings in this way, we could make a huge difference.”

El-Dik and others travelling to Ottawa spent part of Friday making posters and signs in preparation for Saturday’s march. When asked why it was important to get involved, El-Dik said, “It doesn’t really feel like a choice, rather something I have to do.” 

In a statement sent by email to The Capital Chill, Ottawa police said they are “working closely with our police partners and the City of Ottawa and have the necessary resources in place” for Saturday’s march. Police advised the public to monitor its social media feeds to learn more about traffic disruptions.