Ottawa news

• City hall blog: Integrity commissioner finds no wrongdoing after budget investigation

  06-04-2018 23:58 via ottawacitizen.com
  The city’s integrity commissioner has found no wrongdoing after investigating a complaint from Coun. Catherine McKenney involving the budget review board.
  In a report released Friday, integrity commissioner Robert Marleau says he has no jurisdiction over the budget review board as the city’s meetings investigator. He’s also satisfied with the reasoning provided by Coun. Allan Hubley, whose comments about 2017 budget projections during a CFRA interview raised concerns for McKenn
  
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• ICYMI: Money being raised for crash victim's children. #Ottnews ottawamatters.com/local-news/mon… https://t.co/VOP8tKW1rH

  06-04-2018 23:52 via twitter.com
  
  ICYMI: Money being raised for crash victim's children. #Ottnewsottawamatters.com/local-news/mon… https://t.co/VOP8tKW1rH
  
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• Oklahoma teacher walkout stretches into 5th day. ottawamatters.com/world-news/okl… https://t.co/SMN6EUStoy

  06-04-2018 23:45 via twitter.com
  
  Oklahoma teacher walkout stretches into 5th day.ottawamatters.com/world-news/okl… https://t.co/SMN6EUStoy
  
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• 50 charges for two teens after cottages trashed. #ottnews ottawamatters.com/police-beat/50… https://t.co/2KA2oHPrRP

  06-04-2018 23:39 via twitter.com
  
  50 charges for two teens after cottages trashed. #ottnewsottawamatters.com/police-beat/50… https://t.co/2KA2oHPrRP
  
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• Pitre's family grateful for support, requesting privacy. ottawamatters.com/local-news/pit… https://t.co/pAU25bDlYH

  06-04-2018 23:30 via twitter.com
  
  Pitre's family grateful for support, requesting privacy.ottawamatters.com/local-news/pit… https://t.co/pAU25bDlYH
  
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• 'Jonathan Pitre was a hero in every sense of the word': A remarkable young man remembered

  06-04-2018 23:14 via ottawacitizen.com
  Tributes poured in from across the country Friday for Jonathan Pitre, whose joyful and courageous life with an unimaginably terrible disease touched millions of people.
  Pitre, 17, died in a Minnesota hospital Wednesday from rapid organ failure bought on by septic shock.
  He had spent almost two years in Minneapolis in pursuit of an experimental treatment for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), the corrosive skin disease that afflicted each and every day of his life. 
  Pitre was remembered for what he
  
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• Families of children with EB salute 'amazing and courageous' Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 23:03 via ottawacitizen.com
  Families of other “butterfly children” mourning the loss of Jonathan Pitre say the courage he showed through his young, difficult life brought them strength, inspiration and a sense of hope.
  Pitre died Wednesday at age 17 from complications caused by epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
  DEBRA Canada, the advocacy and awareness group for which Pitre served as ambassador and the group’s most recognizable champion, called it “the worst news possible,” saying Pitre had &ldq
  
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• Reevely: Barricaded ByWard Market walkway shows off every urban Ottawa foible at once

  06-04-2018 22:54 via ottawacitizen.com
  A public pedestrian walkway into the ByWard Market has been locked for over a year, a victim of crime, bad design, a broken contract and failed corporate memory at city hall.
  The city isn’t even sure who owns the gates that have been sealed tight since February 2017, when the board at the Place St. George luxury condo building closed them for the night as usual, locked them up and left them that way.
  “There were good intentions when it was built back in 2003 or so by the city,”
  
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• Two teens arrested after replica gun pointed out of car in Carlington area, police say

  06-04-2018 22:36 via ottawacitizen.com
  Two teenagers were arrested Thursday after a replica handgun was pointed out of a vehicle in the Carlington area, Ottawa police said.
  Police said a gun was pointed out of a vehicle near Summerville Avenue at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. When police later spotted the vehicle and tried to pull it over, a pursuit ensued.
  Police arrested one suspect near Baseline Road and Fisher Avenue, where the vehicle had been abandoned. A K9 unit found and arrested the second suspect.
  Police said they confiscated two rep
  
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• Scanlan: Hockey world devastated by loss of favoured son, Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 22:26 via ottawacitizen.com
  Of all the hockey players who came into Jonathan Pitre’s too-brief life, Kyle Turris was his favourite.
  Jonathan, 17, who died in Minnesota on Wednesday from septic shock following procedures to treat his epidermolysis bullosa (EB), was often pictured with hockey heroes. Turris, though, a former Ottawa Senators centre, was one of the few who kept in contact with him via email, which brought Jonathan great comfort in his often lonely battle against a horrendous skin disease.
  Kyle and his wi
  
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• 'Our generation's Terry Fox': Russell Township remembers Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 21:46 via ottawacitizen.com
  In Jonathan Pitre’s hometown of Russell, there are butterflies in windows, butterflies in gardens and butterflies in storefronts — symbols of a community’s support for its famous son.
  “You see them everywhere. Everyone was buying them,” said Joanne Arsenault, a server at the R&R Pub and Grill on Castor Street. “Just drive around Russell and you’ll see them.”
  Jonathan’s mother Tina Boileau and her husband are frequent customers at the R&am
  
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• Youths face 56 charges after series of cottage crimes

  06-04-2018 20:14 via ottawacitizen.com
  A pair of 17-year-old youths jointly face a total of 56 charges laid in a string of break-and-enters at cottages in South Frontenac and Central Frontenac townships.
  The OPP started investigation amidst a “significant” number of burglaries to seasonal properties around Bob’s Lake, St. Andrew’s Lake and Craig Island, in the Westport area about 140 kilometres south of Ottawa.
  The properties were ransacked and damage done to doors, windows and property totaling about $20
  
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• It's a zoo (with a sloth included!) at the Nepean Sportsplex this weekend

  06-04-2018 20:14 via ottawacitizen.com
  Alpacas, anacondas, bearded dragons — and perhaps the biggest attraction of all, Linus the sloth — will be taking over the Nepean Sportsplex this weekend for a massive wildlife exhibit. 
  Animal rescue shelter Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo — in collaboration with Animal Ambassadors and the Monalea Petting Zoo — are running the event at 1701 Woodroffe Ave., which started Thursday and lasts until Sunday.
  Thousands of people are expected to pour into the 21,000-squ
  
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• Kristjan Randalu CD reviewed

  06-04-2018 20:07 via ottawacitizen.com
  Absence (ECM Records) Kristjan Randalu 
  Pianist Kristjan Randalu might not be on the radar of that many North American jazz fans, given how far they live from his homeland, Estonia, where the 39-year-old formidable powers as a composer and performer are most celebrated. However, Absence, Randalu’s just-released debut as an ECM Records artist, should help bring him the increased attention that he deserves.
  The album is a trio recording, featuring Randalu in an airy but potent musical p
  
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• Omari Newton brings hiphop-inspired play to NAC

  06-04-2018 20:00 via ottawacitizen.com
  Omari Newton is the creative force behind The Lamentable Tragedy of Sal Capone, the tale of a hiphop crew that loses its DJ in a police shooting. Triggered by a real-life police shooting in his hometown of Montreal, the 38-year-old playwright, now based in Vancouver, tells a story that touches on issues of misogyny, homophobia and injustice, but also contains plenty of music. “It’s not a full-on musical,” says the former MC for the Montreal acid-jazz outfit, Kobayashi. “I
  
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• A total of six teens are facing charges in connection with an alleged human trafficking incident east of Toronto. ottawamatters.com/around-ontario…

  06-04-2018 19:45 via twitter.com
  A total of six teens are facing charges in connection with an alleged human trafficking incident east of Toronto.ottawamatters.com/around-ontario…
  
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• Violinist Christian Tetzlaff revels in the dark-to-light journey of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas

  06-04-2018 19:17 via ottawacitizen.com
  Christian TetzlaffWhen: Thursday, April 12, 7:30 p.m.Where: Dominion-Chalmers United ChurchTickets: $30 to $59 at chamberfest.com or by calling 613-234-6306
  Christian Tetzlaff says that when he was growing up in Hamburg, Germany, the sound of music around the house was “part of the normal surroundings — like food.”
  The son of amateur musicians and choir singers, Tetzlaff began playing recorder, when he was four. A few years later, he took up the piano and violin.
  
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• Canada adds 32,300 jobs, all full time, as jobless rate stays at record low 5.8%. ottawamatters.com/around-ontario… https://t.co/j7OHcR4798

  06-04-2018 19:15 via twitter.com
  
  Canada adds 32,300 jobs, all full time, as jobless rate stays at record low 5.8%.ottawamatters.com/around-ontario… https://t.co/j7OHcR4798
  
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• Debra Canada expecting awareness will only grow in wake of Pitre's passing. ottawamatters.com/local-news/deb… https://t.co/lfliTYsWtt

  06-04-2018 19:10 via twitter.com
  
  Debra Canada expecting awareness will only grow in wake of Pitre's passing.ottawamatters.com/local-news/deb… https://t.co/lfliTYsWtt
  
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• Toronto among cities to be visited as FIFA evaluates 2026 World Cup bids. ottawamatters.com/around-ontario…

  06-04-2018 18:36 via twitter.com
  Toronto among cities to be visited as FIFA evaluates 2026 World Cup bids.ottawamatters.com/around-ontario…
  
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• Nation-wide warrant for man known to visit #Ottawa. Police describe Kyle Keon as a white man, 29, at 5' 10" (178 cm… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  06-04-2018 18:23 via twitter.com
  Nation-wide warrant for man known to visit #Ottawa. Police describe Kyle Keon as a white man, 29, at 5' 10" (178 cm… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Spotlight: 'The Beatles, Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot … they're all in my DNA'

  06-04-2018 18:10 via ottawacitizen.com
  Spotlight is a weekly look at some of the people who are part of the Ottawa area’s arts community. This week, Bruce Deachman talks with folk singer, radio host and Ottawa Folk Festival co-founder Chris White.
  “The Beatles, Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot … they’re all in my DNA.
  “I grew up in a musical family. There was a piano in the living room and my dad played. I remember him coming home late at night, when we were just falling off to sleep, and
  
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• Meet the Ropot: Ottawa company creates 'intelligent robot cooker'

  06-04-2018 18:05 via ottawacitizen.com
  When Lu Yang finishes work and returns each night to her east-end Ottawa home, she invariably cooks using two table-top appliances — one that you’ve likely heard of and another that you almost certainly have not. 
  The much better-known one is an Instant Pot, the developed-in-Ottawa, next-generation pressure cooker that in recent years has built up an enthusiastic global following and is now supported by third-party cookbooks and recipe bloggers galore. 
  Yang’s other g
  
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• Ramin: Running and so much Moor — Trip to terrain of Sherlock Holmes fame a chance to bond with kindred spirits

  06-04-2018 18:01 via ottawacitizen.com
  We had been running along the Moor, through darkness, for about fifty minutes when I found myself completely alone. We had started the day running through thick fog, picking our way through the gorse bushes, the jagged rocks and the pools of water. We were ending the day with a night run through thick sheets of falling snow. The other runners had teased me as we set out. “Your friends in Canada will ask why’d you have to go all the way to England to run in the snow?”
  But there
  
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• The @rick_gibbons Show for Friday, April 6th: 1:08: @MeladulHaq 1:20: @JimWatsonOttawa 1:30: @sindyhooper 1:45:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  06-04-2018 17:59 via twitter.com
  The @rick_gibbons Show for Friday, April 6th: 1:08: @MeladulHaq 1:20: @JimWatsonOttawa 1:30: @sindyhooper 1:45:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Train Yards and Heron Gate – a tale of two neighbourhoods? 

  06-04-2018 17:48 via ottawacitizen.com
  The proposed residential development at the Train Yards, and the current re-development at Heron Gate, are giving the Alta Vista community a lot of pause for thought. Both developments will bring thousands of new people into the ward, provide critical funds for the enhancement of city infrastructure and create additional economic opportunities. That’s a good thing. 
  But the question of how, exactly, these developments and surrounding areas will respond to the real-life needs of existi
  
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• Coming up 11:45: @BarryDavis_ joins @_MarkSutcliffe to talk @BlueJays: 📻: 1310 💻: bit.ly/2oQd8u1… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  06-04-2018 17:40 via twitter.com
  Coming up 11:45:@BarryDavis_ joins @_MarkSutcliffe to talk @BlueJays:📻: 1310 💻: bit.ly/2oQd8u1… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Coming up on the Power Lunch at 12 p.m. @KurtStoodley & @MelAdams1310 join @_MarkSutcliffe in studio: 📻: 1310 💻:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  06-04-2018 17:34 via twitter.com
  Coming up on the Power Lunch at 12 p.m.@KurtStoodley & @MelAdams1310 join @_MarkSutcliffe in studio: 📻: 1310 💻:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Independent engineer agrees former Lester B. Pearson home should be torn down

  06-04-2018 17:29 via ottawacitizen.com
  Another engineer has confirmed that a Sandy Hill building once home to Lester B. Pearson should be torn down.
  The city asked John G. Cooke and Associates to examine the building at 231 Cobourg St., along with the existing engineering reports on the property, after the built-heritage subcommittee expressed skepticism about a demolition-and-development plan pitched by the Ugandan High Commission. In February, the subcommittee rejected the application and directed staff to order an independent
  
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• Marc Lepine of Ottawa's Atelier restaurant named Canada's most innovative chef

  06-04-2018 17:25 via ottawacitizen.com
  Ottawa’s Marc Lepine, the chef-owner of Atelier on Rochester Street, will be honoured April 10 in Toronto with this year’s “Most Innovative Chef” award by Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants magazine.
  Lepine, a two-time winner of the Canadian Culinary Championships, will be recognized at a ceremony along with renowned Canadian chefs Lynn Crawford, who is to receive a lifetime achievement award, and Michael Smith, who is to receive and award for the best farm-to-table rest
  
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• Coming up at 11:30: Jay Wilson of @DEBRACanada joins @_MarkSutcliffe on Jonathan Pitre: 📻: 1310 💻:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…

  06-04-2018 17:25 via twitter.com
  Coming up at 11:30: Jay Wilson of @DEBRACanada joins @_MarkSutcliffe on Jonathan Pitre: 📻: 1310 💻:… twitter.com/i/web/status/9…
  
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• Gormley: How – and why – to give expat Canadians a voice in government

  06-04-2018 17:16 via ottawacitizen.com
  Before advocating a radical change to Canadian elections, we ought to defend a slightly less radical change. Let’s first establish that Canadians of voting age should be allowed to vote. Then, let us give them electoral districts based on where they live.
  To the first question: The Supreme Court is presently considering various specious arguments in favour of disenfranchising the roughly 10 per cent of the Canadian population residing outside the country should they remain outside for more
  
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• The Senators added a butterfly to their Twitter account in honour of Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 17:08 via ottawacitizen.com
  Jonathan Pitre meant a lot to a great many people in this city.
  There was, however, a very special bond between him and his favourite team, the Ottawa Senators.
  (They did, after all, sign him as a pro scout.)
  No matter how much pain he was in, Jonathan never stopped cheering for the Sens.
  And the Sens never stopped cheering for him.
  The Ottawa Senators’ Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan visit with Jonathan Pitre and his mother, Tina Boileau.
  When news of his passing spread on Frida
  
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• UPDATED: The world reacts to the passing of Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 17:07 via ottawacitizen.com
  Jonathan Pitre, an inspiration to so many, passed away on Wednesday, April 4.
  Jonathan touched countless lives. He gave hope to not only other children with epidermolysis bullosa but to this city, this country and people all over the world.
  FULL STORY: ‘I can’t imagine my life without him,’ says Tina Boileau after the death of son Jonathan Pitre
  The outpouring of love, sadness and condolences on social media has been overwhelming:
  Jonathan was the most positive, inspiring,
  
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• 'Thank you for your outpouring of love and support': Tina Boileau

  06-04-2018 16:51 via ottawacitizen.com
  Jonathan Pitre’s mother has spoken out to thank the public for the “outpouring of love and support” but to also ask for privacy as his family grieves “a fearless warrior.”
  Tina Boileau posted a message on Facebook Friday morning as messages of condolences flowed in from people who had followed the 17-year-old’s inspiring battle against epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
  He died Wednesday evening.FULL STORY: ‘I can’t imagine my life without him,&
  
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• Capital jobless rate drops below five per cent, lowest since 2009

  06-04-2018 16:50 via ottawacitizen.com
  It took nearly a decade but the capital region’s job market has finally returned to its pre-recession strength, at least by one key measure.
  Statistics Canada reported Friday that the jobless rate in Ottawa-Gatineau tumbled to 4.8 per cent in March from 5.1 per cent in February. This reflected a net gain of 2,600 jobs while the labour force, which includes people looking for work, grew by just 400.
  It was the first time since January 2009 that the region’s unemployment rate registere
  
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• In her own words: Author Ann Shortell offers a Thomas D'Arcy McGee history with a mystery

  06-04-2018 16:28 via ottawacitizen.com
  Thomas D’Arcy McGee died 150 years ago. But the Irish-Canadian orator, poet, journalist, politician and Father of Confederation lives for me still — in a fictional sense.
  In fact, I’ve been living with him daily for years.
  And there’s a further twist to the tale — in writing Celtic Knot, a novel about the aftermath of McGee’s assassination, I have been channeling a blend of history and events that never took place.
  McGee became a character in my mind’s e
  
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• The world reacts to the passing of Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 14:37 via ottawacitizen.com
  Jonathan Pitre, an inspiration to so many, passed away on Wednesday, April 4.
  Jonathan touched countless lives. He gave hope to not only other children with epidermolysis bullosa but to this city, this country and people all over the world.
  FULL STORY: ‘I can’t imagine my life without him,’ says Tina Boileau after the death of son Jonathan Pitre
  The outpouring of love, sadness and condolences on social media has been overwhelming:
  Jonathan Pitre was the toughest kid I ever
  
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• Another wintry wallop to start the weekend

  06-04-2018 14:10 via ottawacitizen.com
  If we can have any faith in the fickle forecast, spring weather starts next Wednesday.
  Until then, bet on more unseasonably chilly weather. The weekend begins with periods of snow starting Friday afternoon that will drop 2 cm even as the mercury rises from the morning’s -4 C to 3 C.
  Environment Canada predicts 2-4 cm more white stuff to fall overnight then a 40 per cent chance of flurries and northwest winds at 20 km/h gusting to 40 and a low of -2 C.
  Nor will it be much of a spring-like S
  
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• Editorial: Jonathan Pitre's legacy of optimism

  06-04-2018 14:01 via ottawacitizen.com
  In his moving appreciation of Jonathan Pitre in today’s Citizen, writer Andrew Duffy describes the teen from Russell this way:
  “He desperately wanted the most normal of things. Friends. Hockey. Birthday parties. Dog walks. A driver’s licence.
  “A day without pain.”
  It is this last sentence that stabs at us. Jonathan, who died this week at age 17, spent his life fighting epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a devastating skin disease that causes ongoing blistering, scarri
  
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• Ottawa’s separated LRT line will avoid Edmonton’s signal headaches, O-Train boss says

  06-04-2018 13:30 via ottawacitizen.com
  The LRT control system being installed on the Confederation Line is supplied by the same company at the centre of a major transit headache in Edmonton, but Ottawa’s rail office isn’t worried about using the technology.
  Thales Canada is supplying the “communications-based train control” system that will link the Ottawa LRT vehicles with the track signals, making the 12.5-kilometre line fully automated. It’s the technological backbone of the train operations. The
  
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• Kurl: Yes, dipping into deficit could hurt the Liberals over time

  06-04-2018 12:30 via ottawacitizen.com
  Not since the mid-1990s – a time when our deficit represented nine per cent of GDP, a time of credit downgrades, when the Wall Street Journal called Canada an “honorary member of the Third World” – have Canadians identified the deficit and government spending as one of the most important issues in the country today.
  In the wake of a federal budget notable for, among other things, running deficits until 2023, the Conservative Party has been loudly decrying the Liberals, wh
  
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• 'I can’t imagine my life without him,' says Tina Boileau after the death of son Jonathan Pitre

  06-04-2018 12:08 via ottawacitizen.com
  He found solace and strength in science fiction, and like those he read about, Jonathan Pitre had otherworldly qualities.
  He had one of the most painful diseases known to medicine, epidermolysis bullosa (EB), but was defiantly happy. He couldn’t scratch without tearing his skin, but dreamed of playing hockey. Ostracized by other children, he thrived in the adult world: poised, thoughtful and genuine.
  Jonathan found purpose in helping others with EB. He made himself the face of the disease,
  
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• Jonathan Pitre: a timeline

  06-04-2018 12:00 via ottawacitizen.com
  June 2, 2000: Jonathan Pitre is born and quickly develops life-threatening blisters in his throat.
  July 2000: He’s diagnosed with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a rare genetic disease. Those with the disease are missing a key structural protein that connects the two upper layers of skin; without that structural “glue,” the layers do not move together, but blister and tear.
  Sept. 2012: Jonathan attends an EB conference in Toronto that changes his life: He mee
  
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• Party flight fallout – timing of Gen. Vance’s announcement of new inquiry tied to PR strategy

  06-04-2018 06:12 via ottawacitizen.com
  Gen. Jonathan Vance has ordered a second investigation into the events surrounding a military flight in December that resulted in a sexual assault charge against former NHL player Tiger Williams, the Canadian Press reported Thursday.
  The new investigation is expected to be broader than the first conducted by the Royal Canadian Air Force soon after the flight, which was part of a tour aimed at boosting the morale of troops posted overseas, the news service noted. The Toronto Star published a simi
  
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• Former Rideau Tennis Club drops private memberships to attract community

  06-04-2018 00:38 via ottawacitizen.com
  While speaking about the atmosphere at the revitalized Rideau Sports Centre, chief executive Nicki Bridgland keeps coming back to the word “community.”
  As an only child who’d constantly look for new friends to play with, she said bringing people together is what drives her. It’s also the concept behind the reimagined facility, formerly the Rideau Tennis Club. 
  “The thing about an athletic centre like this, it really is about the glue of the social connection. I
  
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• Lawsuit against fertility doctor accused of using own sperm expands to 150 people 'adversely affected'

  06-04-2018 00:22 via ottawacitizen.com
  Dr. Norman Barwin is the biological father of at least 11 children whose parents went to him for fertility treatment, according to lawyers who are working on a class-action lawsuit against the high-profile Ottawa fertility doctor.
  Lawyers Peter Cronyn and Frances Shapiro Munn, of Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP, said Thursday they have been in contact with more than 150 people who have allegedly been “adversely affected” by Barwin’s fertility practice as far back as 1978.
  
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