Apartment613

All the news that's fit to print.

Last Thursday, workers from the Museum of Civilization and War Museum voted 92% in favour of a strike. The union and the employers give themselves at least 3 weeks to come to an agreement before the strike would begin. The 420 guides, hosts and other floor staff represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada have been without a contract since April 1st.  The union said it is seeking working conditions similar to those at other museums in Ottawa, and that job security is a major issue, as many workers go from contract to contract.

Have you ever heard of the Ottawa blog Zeromeanszero? The blog, run by Jane and John Smith (of course, fictional names), discusses local political issues with a bite. If you thought we were hard on Mayor O’Brien, read their articles! But to be honest, they are hard on everyone.  Someone at City Hall, not Larry O’Brien, has decided to try to oust these bloggers. Brian Bowman, a privacy lawyer, accused the blog of “false and damaging” content and said his “client is being purported to have done things when they were not in the province at the time.” Bowman is engaged in talks with Google Inc. who runs blogspot. Google could either close the site without giving out the bloggers’ identity or be forced to reveal their names. If this happens, there could be a class-action lawsuit for anyone who thinks they’ve been defamed by the blog, which brings up a very interesting debate around the right to privacy vs. the rights of others.

If you’ve walked or driven by Lansdowne in the last year or so, you might have noticed a modern looking building across the street, right before the bridge to Old Ottawa South. Called EcoCité, these condominiums were going to truly be eco-friendly with geothermal heating, rooftop gardens, low-flow toilets and sustainably harvested building materials. Unfortunately, the nearly completed debt-ridden building has been seized by a mortgage company. Is this an unfortunate trend in eco-building, or just a bump along the road? From the comments I’ve read in the CBC article, much improvement needs to be done in eco-construction but considering it is a relatively new area, should we allow room for mistakes?

Moving across the street to Lansdowne… While the Lansdowne Live group is moving forward with its proposal, councilor Clive Doucet  held a well-attended unveiling of Ottawa architect Lester Johnson’s vision for Lansdowne Park at City Hall Thursday. Johnson’s plan for Lansdowne is not all green space. There would be shops and residential space, a restored Civic Centre, a cultural building, space for a permanent Farmers Market, a restored horticulture building, green space and Frank Clair Stadium would be torn down. According to Johnson and Doucet, this concept would help bring a few thousand people to the area everyday; they hope that presenting an alternative idea to Lansdowne Live will restart the design competition that was suspended by the city when the Live proposal arrived. For any change to happen, they reminded everyone to contact their city councilors.