It cost uOttawa student Allison Rudback $350 to get her van back after the property management company ordered it towed from the driveway of her Wilbrod Street apartment.

Too bad, so sad — end of story, right?

Not this time. With persistence, some research and the help of her dad, Rudback pulled out a win for the little guy, getting an apology and a refund from the company, which agreed it had the van towed without proper warning.

Talk about man bites dog.

“I’m pretty relieved. It was taking up a lot of head space,” Rudback said Wednesday, the day after learning she would be reimbursed by the property manager, TC United (TCU).

Rudback, a third-year accounting student, has lived in the Sandy Hill apartment for two years. The property had been recently renovated and her first lease included parking in the new driveway, with space for two vehicles to park side by side.

Rudback, 20, didn’t notice when she signed a new lease for a second year that the parking spot wasn’t included. She didn’t have a car this term, so that lack of parking went unnoticed, even though her boyfriend and other tenants would occasionally use the spaces, first come, first served, without any problem.

That changed after reading week when Rudback came back to Ottawa from Toronto with her parents’ van. She and her boyfriend parked in the driveway for a few days, but on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 27, the van was gone.

Rudback called her dad, Steve Rudback, for help. Steve, a York police officer, began running through all the possibilities. Had police towed it? Had it been stolen? He called Ottawa police to find out, but ran into dead ends because of privacy concerns.

“I said, ‘Look, I just want to know if the van’s been stolen’,” he said. “Should I call it in? If it’s stolen and they’re running amok and it’s involved in an armed robbery, you guys might like to know. All he told me was, ‘Don’t report it stolen.'”

Eventually, the Rudbacks learned the van had been towed by Park Safe, the Ottawa parking enforcement company that has been under contract to TCU for two years. Rudback took an Uber to Park Safe’s Laperriere Avenue lot, paid the $350 fee, and got her van back.

But the Rudbacks weren’t taking the tow lying down. There had been no warning. There wasn’t a “no parking” sign. No one had even knocked on the door to ask them to move it.

“Once they’ve got you on the hook, you’re playing catch-up,” Steve said. He started gathering evidence: copies of his daughter’s lease; photos of the driveway showing the absence of a “no parking” sign; even the photo TCU had sent Rudback that showed her where she could park.

“I put together a complete synopsis with all the files. It was pretty much what disclosure would be if I ended up trying to sue them,” he said. “I sent it to the entire TCU management team.”

“Park Safe is off the hook. They’re just doing what the owner asks them to do, but why would the property manager want it towed? What’s in it for them? They know they’re all just university students.”

As it turns out, TCU’s hand had been forced by the City of Ottawa. The new driveway parking that Rudback and others in the building had been using was an illegal front yard parking spot and city bylaw officers had warned TCU to stop using it or face fines. Rudback had seen bylaw officers on the street a few weeks ago taking pictures.

TCU told the Rudbacks that all of the tenants had been warned that the parking rules had changed, a warning Rudback said she’d never received.

“I said (to TCU), ‘OK. I don’t know. Maybe she’s lying,” Steve said. “But I said forward me the email you sent her. I’d like to see it.”

The challenge worked. Tuesday night, TCU emailed to acknowledge that Rudback and several other tenants had never got the emailed warning and offered to cover the cost of her Park Safe fee. The company said it had ordered the tow after being fined by the city for having an illegal parking space.

“Because we didn’t receive any replies acknowledging the new parking rules, it appeared to us that you had no intention of complying,” TCU wrote in the email. “When we officially received a ticket for parking on March 20, we made the decision to tow all vehicles in the lot. We now know that the error was in the mailouts on our part.  

“With all that being said, I sincerely (apologize) for the inconveniences this has caused you and we will be happy to reimburse you for the Uber and the tow.”

TCU did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Rudback has gathered up her receipts and is sending them off to TCU. The company promises to pay “ASAP.”

“It’s nice to not to have to worry about it,” she said. “It’s a month worth of groceries.”

bcrawford@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/getBAC

Related

• Saturday night impoundment fee unfair, Kanata woman argues
• Gone in 30 seconds: The murky world of private parking enforcement

A wind alert has been issued for Ottawa, with wind gusts expected to reach as high as 80 to 90 km/h late this afternoon or early this evening.

The winds could produce power outages, while damage to buildings, such as to roof shingles and windows, may occur. Loose objects may be tossed by the wind and cause injury or damage.

Rain and snow may accompany the wind, with a low tonight expected to reach -11 C.

Environment Canada urges people in the Ottawa area to take necessary safety precautions. The warning extends from Eastern Ontario to Hamilton.

Ottawa house prices climbed eight per cent to an average of $447,600 in March compared to a year earlier, while prices for condominiums edged up just 0.7 per cent to $275,600, according to data published Thursday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board.

These averages reflect the sale of some 1,660 residential properties sold last month through the board’s multiple listing service. They do not include data from the sale of new homes.

The number of properties available is somewhat constrained, with some 4,600 active listings at the end of March compared to nearly 6,000 a year earlier, which may have contributed to the rise in prices. To put the number of listings in context, the board represents some 3,000 sales reps and brokers in the Ottawa area.

Properties are selling faster, suggesting the market may be shifting in favour of sellers.

Residential properties sold in March had averaged 39 days on the market compared to 47 days in March 2017, while it took 58 days on average to sell a condominium compared to 78 days a year earlier.

Prices fetched through the sale of condominiums varied considerably by district. In March, these jumped fastest in the east (up 7.4 per cent to an average of $284,200) and were weakest in the downtown core (down 5.1 per cent year over year to $392,500).

Condo prices improved 4.3 per cent in the south (to $236,900) and 3.3 per cent in the west (to $330,700).

The board also provided more detailed data Thursday on the sale of single-family homes using benchmark prices — which are based on an index that standardizes housing features and is considered a better barometer of underlying trends.

Across the city, the benchmark price for single family homes jumped 8.4 per cent year over year in March to $413,500. Not surprisingly in a city that covers so much territory, there was considerable variation in the 46 real estate districts tracked by this newspaper.

The top gainer, Rockcliffe Park, also happens to be the wealthiest. Nevertheless, not much should be read into the 36 per cent year over year jump in benchmark prices to $1.6 million.  This was based on the sale of just one property.

More revealing was the 29.1 per cent gain to $790,000 in benchmark prices in nearby New Edinburgh-Lindenlea — the city’s second wealthiest enclave. This data reflected seven sales in March — still relatively few but enough to form a reasonable sample.

Most the the top 10 districts in terms of year over year price gains were in the west — in a band stretching along the Ottawa River from Churchill Avenue to Kanata. This has been a consistent pattern for months as prices have responded to a number of factors including the opening of the National Defence headquarters at 60 Moodie Dr. and the consolidation of much of the city’s tech industry in Kanata. 

Indeed, Kanata has experienced double-digit increases in the benchmark price for single-family homes in each of the past two months. A year ago, the district was among those reporting the slowest growth in resale house prices.

Districts more favourable to homebuyers, at least in terms of price, were scattered throughout the east, south and downtown core. The smallest price gain was recorded in Carlsbad Springs (single-family homes sold for $331,700 — up 1.2 per cent from March 2017) while price hikes in Blackburn Hamlet were a modest 4.1 per cent (to $399,300). 

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. They include 11 people who, according to DNA testing, are the physician’s biological children, the lawyers said.

“In some cases, the intention was for Dr. Barwin to use the sperm of the male of the couple. In others, a specific anonymous sperm donor had been selected. Instead, it turns out that Dr. Barwin himself is the biological father,” Cronyn and Shapiro Munn said in a release.

In addition, the lawyers said they have become aware of more than 50 people whose parents received fertility treatment from Barwin and whose biological fathers are unknown. Sixteen of them were to be conceived using their father’s sperm, but are not a biological match to their father. The lawyers said an additional 35 were to be conceived using anonymous donor sperm and may not be a biological match with the intended donor. Their biological fathers are also unknown.

Numerous men who stored sperm at Barwin’s clinic have also contacted the law firm with concerns. They are worried their sperm may have been used to inseminate other women.

Cronyn said the case is the only one he knows of in Canada in which a physician has allegedly inseminated fertility clients with his own sperm. He said he would not be surprised if more people come forward.

The people involved are “very distressed,” he said.

“My heart goes out to all of them. Many have demonstrated tremendous courage and are trying their best. It has been very hard.”

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

The lawyers said they are amending the statement of claim previously filed to include the new information. Once it is certified as a class action, the next step will be to establish a process for claims to be adjudicated and resolved, they said.

As part of the resolution process, they said, they are working on a way to help people who were conceived with unknown sperm to find out who their biological fathers are and get in touch with half-siblings. They said they want to be sure those conceived with Barwin’s sperm can collect health information they may need.

Among them is Kat Palmer, 26, whose parents sought treatment from Barwin. He acknowledged in 2015 that he was her biological father based on a paternity test.

Cronyn said the law firm is working with a geneticist to help find a resolution for those whose biological fathers are unknown.

During his career, the South African-born gynaecologist and medical professor was popular and helped thousands of patients conceive children. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997 for having a “profound impact on both the biological and psycho-social aspects of women’s reproductive health.” He resigned from the Order of Canada in 2013.

As far back as 1995, he was sued by former patients for using the wrong sperm. He was found guilty of professional misconduct by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 2013.

He was hired in 1973 as director of the Ottawa General Hospital’s high-risk pregnancy unit and co-director of its fertility unit. He worked at the hospital — now known as The Ottawa Hospital’s General campus — until 1984 when he set up a private practice at the Broadview Fertility Clinic.

Barwin’s lawyer Karen Hamway said he had no comment.

At least two men are in custody following a high-speed chase that ended near the intersection of Carling and Merivale avenues around noon Thursday .

Police said they received a call reporting men in a car pointing a handgun at pedestrians at around 9:30 a.m.

Police began canvassing the area and spotted the car a while later, giving chase.

Police would not reveal when the suspect vehicle was spotted, how long the pursuit lasted or where it began.

However, the chase ended at around 12:30 p.m. near the Westgate Shopping Centre.

At least one man reported seeing the vehicle that police were chasing blow out a tire during the pursuit.

The investigation is ongoing.

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 wife, Julie, now live in Nashville where Turris is a member of the Predators. They learned of Jonathan’s passing Friday morning, hours after the Predators had clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for most points in the NHL regular season.

“Ah, man, he was just an amazing person, one of the most incredible people I’ve met,” Turris said, from Nashville. “He was the most positive, upbeat and optimistic person – and in a situation where he had every reason to be mad and frustrated with the cards he was dealt in life.”

This was where Jonathan had the power to inspire us all.

“His attitude made you rethink your attitude towards things in life, because if HE could have that kind of attitude, then there was no excuse for you,” Turris said.

Jonathan was an old soul who saw things from a unique perspective that other teens and adults did not, and had a special connection to hockey. He followed his home team with a zest few could match. In late November of 2014, the Senators made him a “professional scout for a day,” signing him to an honorary contract during a media conference.

Bryan Murray, then the Senators general manager, beamed sitting next to Jonathan, who giggled in joy. Sadly, they’re now both gone. Murray died of cancer in the summer of 2017.

Senators broadcaster Gord Wilson asked scout Jonathan if he would be focusing on any particular player that night, as Ottawa faced the Predators.

“A team isn’t made of one player,” Jonathan said, “so I will be watching the whole team.”

He sounded as though he’d been on the road bird-dogging for years.

Turris remembers a particular post-game conversation he had with Jonathan in the dressing room.

“He had a good eye for the game. He told me, ‘You need to shoot more,’” Turris said, laughing at the memory. “I passed on a couple of opportunities when I should have shot the puck. He was right.”

Turris took the advice to heart. How could he not? For his age, Jonathan had an astounding presence, commanding he be heard.

“He got the attention of everyone in the room when he spoke,” Turris said. “He was an intelligent, powerful person.”

After his dream of being a professional player passed, scouting or broadcasting seemed the perfect avenue for a boy whose skin condition made it impossible for him to play a lot of sports.

“I like seeing the skill, the talent of the players,” Jonathan said. “It seems like second nature for me because I’m always watching other kids play. I just always look at different people and pick out the better ones. As I’m watching them play, I figure out their strengths and weaknesses.”

Jonathan blushed with pride when he was honoured – to his utter surprise – at the 2015 NHL Awards Show in Fort Lauderdale. In advance, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins sent him a custom suit to wear.

Related

• The world reacts to the passing of Jonathan Pitre
• 'Thank you for your outpouring of love and support': Tina Boileau
• Love, courage and inspiration: Photos from the tremendous life of Jonathan Pitre
• 'Our generation's Terry Fox': Russell Township remembers Jonathan Pitre
• 'I can’t imagine my life without him,' says Tina Boileau after the death of son Jonathan Pitre

On stage with a group of current and former Senators including Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Karlsson, Jonathan was introduced and told by Karlsson on national TV that he would be the NHL’s guest at the following year’s All-Star Game in Nashville.

“To us,” Karlsson told Jonathan, “you’re a hero.”

Karlsson, who suffered great personal loss in his family recently, is at home with wife Melinda while the Senators finish their schedule on the road. The captain tweeted a salute to Jonathan on Friday.

“It was a privilege getting to know you … thanks for sharing all of your great qualities with us.”

Teammate Zack Smith tweeted: “I will never forget how much inspiration one person can bring to this world.”

Owner Eugene Melnyk said on Twitter he was heartbroken at the news and that Jonathan “was like family to our team.”

In a nice touch, the Senators added a butterfly to their Twitter account logo. To many, Jonathan was known as the “Butterfly Boy,” a name that touches on the fragility of EB patients.

Jonathan was extremely close with many media personalities, including this newspaper’s own Andrew Duffy, who chronicled his inspiring journey from the beginning and in his obituary assigned Jonathan his rightful place among the stars in the sky.

Jonathan also came to know Brent Wallace and James Duthie of TSN as close friends, among others.

On Twitter, Wallace called Jonathan “brave, smart, kind, funny and rare … I’m heartbroken for his mom (Tina).”

Duthie noted Jonathan’s courage and role as an advocate for EB.

Julie Turris cited Jonathan’s numerous qualities, including his maturity, kindness and compassion.

“His strength was only matched by his incredible mom,” Julie tweeted. “Sending Tina so much love. He made this world a better place, looking to the Northern Lights for you, Jonathan.”

wscanlan@postmedia.com

The Society of Beer Drinking Ladies (SOBDL) is bringing its women-only beer-tasting party to Ottawa’s allsaints Event Space April 14.

The SOBDL has been holding exclusive testosterone-free drinking events, or “bevies”, in Toronto since 2014. Men are allowed in after midnight.

Erica Campbell, society co-creator and co-organizer, told us more about the society and what to expect from its first Ottawa bevy.

How did the Society of Beer Drinking Ladies start?

Campbell said she was meeting “interesting women colleagues that worked at other breweries” and thought it would be cool to “create this secret society.” She pitched the idea to four women in the industry – Jen, Jaime, Renée and Magenta – who “rolled with it.”

“We put tickets on sale on Eventbrite, thinking it might be like 10 women or something, and we sold like 95 tickets in like 72 hours.” She said they had to quickly rent a venue, get a special occasion permit and insurance and buy “a lot more beer.”

“That then turned into this really fabulous company.”

Why women only?

“We carved a niche for ourselves,” she said, adding that they’ve always allowed men in after midnight so they can’t claim sexism.

“I think it’s really refreshing to meet new friends and to be in a place without men staring at you or trying to hit on you or just being generally creepy. We’ve all had that experience, being a woman at a bar.”

Campbell added that they “have a really amazing contingent of LGBT attendees that come out.” She said SOBDL events have always been “a safe place for those folks.”

 What feedback do you get from men?

“It’s rare,” but they get the occasional comment on Twitter or at a festival by a man who says, “This is sexist,” Campbell said

“I actually try and have a little teachable moment. I just kind of very positively explain what we’re doing and that we don’t hate men – we love dudes – we just have this unique business. And men have had their own spaces and their own private boys’ clubs forever.”

She said most men get what they’re doing, “and men in the beer industry have been extremely supportive.”

What drew you to the beer industry?

 “So I was perusing Craigslist and I saw a job for working Toronto Festival of Beer with Great Lakes Brewery.” She had never served before so, she said, she got her Smart Serve and “poured beer for a weekend with drunk people” and thought, “This is really ridiculous and really fun.”

She said her interest in beer snowballed from there. She now works in sales at Henderson Brewing Co. and is a certified beer sommelier.

What is a beer sommelier?

 “It’s geeking out about beer,” she said. “It’s learning about the history of beer, different styles, learning how to taste and evaluate beer.” It’s just like wine sommelier training, she said, only with beer.

“We kind of joke that we do swallow beer. It’s not snobby. It’s much more chill than being a (wine) som.”

Have you experienced barriers as a woman in the beer industry?

 “I think the Craft beer industry has been pretty welcoming for me,” said Campbell, but added: “I don’t know if that’s the same experience for all women.”

She said the brew house is still “lacking a big female presence.

“I’ve heard it can be a little bit more of a rough go. Because it is more working in a factory, it’s much more male-dominated.”

What brought the first non-Toronto bevy to Ottawa?

“It made sense to launch at the nation’s capital,” she said. “There’s a really exciting beer scene in Ottawa.”

Campbell said they were selling merchandise at Beau’s Brewery’s for Oktoberfest and “one in three ladies were likem ‘You have to bring this to Ottawa.’ ”

She said they had already been thinking about branching out, “so we decided to just go for it. And we’re pretty stoked.”

She said tickets are moving well and she anticipates the event will sell out.

What can Ottawa expect for its first bevy?

“It’s going to be just like a really kind of chill party. It’s a cool energy that you can’t really describe until you’re there.”

Unlike other bevies, which typically run from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., Ottawa’s will run from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Campbell said she was told Ottawa is more chill and not as rowdy.

Breweries will also be pouring their own beer, instead of SOBDL volunteers. Meaning men might be present.

“I love having guys (working) there, to be honest,” said Campbell. “They get really blown away by the whole thing.”

What made you team up with Canadian Women’s Foundation?

“We were running these great events and we wanted to embed a charitable component,” she said, adding that she loves the CWF’s programs.

“They help to stop sex-trafficking in Canada. They create really great programs in low-income neighbourhoods for disadvantaged girls and teenagers. They do a lot of cool work, so we’re happy with them.“

The society raised $10,000 in 2016 and $15,350 in 2017 for the CWF.

Ottawa’s first bevy takes place on Saturday, April 14, at Ottawa’s allsaints Event Space at 10 Blackburn Ave. It will feature an Ottawa women’s artisan market, food by Craft Beer Market, and beer from Bicycle Craft, Flora Hall, Beau’s, Big Rig, Tooth and Nail, Cowbell, Collective Arts, Nickel Brook, Great Lakes, Muskoka and Sawdust City.

Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite and will not be available at the door.

The SOBDL also run festivals, holds tap takeovers and pop-ups at other events. To stay up to date with SOBDL news, go to ladiesdrinkbeer.com or follow @ladiesdrinkbeer on social media.

Interview edited for brevity

An Ottawa author and military historian has won the 2018 John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize for his book Vimy: The Battle and the Legend, published by Allen Lane/Penguin Canada Group.

Tim Cook, who has worked at the Canadian War Museum since 2002, will be honoured with the award on May 29 in Winnipeg.

Cook has published 10 books and is no newcomer to being recognized for his work. He has won plenty of local and national awards, some twice, for his writing and research. They include the Charles Stacey award, the Ottawa book award, the Charles Taylor Prize and more. Cook is already a previous winner of the Dafoe Prize for his book At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914-1916, which he received in 2008.

The award, named after a Canadian journalist, is given to the best non-fiction book regarding Canada, Canadians or Canada’s overall presence in the world that has been published the previous calendar year.

Cook’s latest book was released in mid-March 2017, just weeks before the 100th anniversary of the Battle Of Vimy Ridge, which took the lives of about 3,600 Canadian soldiers and injured more than 7,000.  

Vimy: The Battle and the Legend was a book Cook had considered writing for a while. When he was 17, he visited Vimy and instantly felt a sense of importance and grief, but also of history and power. He returned last year for the centenary, along with 25,000 other people to honour the Canadians lost, but also to serve as an on air commentator for the event. 

“It has always mattered to me,” said Cook. “It is an important story to tell.”

Cook, who comes from a family of historians, wanted to capture Vimy in a way that was new.

“I wanted to explore the idea of Vimy over 100 years,” he said. “It’s different than people who write just about the battle.”

Cook aimed to convey how Vimy is a symbol for Canadians and a huge part of the country’s history. The book looks into how Vimy has been remembered and how its memory has evolved and changed throughout the years. He was interested in the stories and relations Canadians have with the place, and wanted to tell it in an engaging yet truthful way. 

Cook, who released his first book in 2002, specializes in Canada’s military role and history in the First World War.

An Ottawa pair have been fined and banned from caring for animals for a decade after police discovered an emaciated dog, who’d been reported missing months earlier, in their east-side apartment.

The “puggle” – a beagle and pug mix – is now safely back with her rightful owner, said the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in a release on Tuesday.

Charlie Lapointe, 30, and Chantel Stoneburner, 36, were found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty March 22 for permitting distress and failing to provide adequate and appropriate medical attention. 

A justice of the peace handed them to a 10-year prohibition on owning, caring for or living with animals. They were also fined $500 each and were required to pay $349 in restitution to the society.

In February 2017, Ottawa police alerted the Ontario SPCA of conditions in an apartment where the dog, who had been reported missing in September 2016, had been found in need of veterinary attention.

The dog was reunited with her owner who immediately took her to the vet. She was “severely emaciated,” infested with fleas and had an infection in her right hind foot that caused the pad of her paw to fall off. She has since recovered.

“This was an unusual case that had a positive outcome,” Ontario SPCA senior Insp. Lynn Michaud said. “The individuals who were responsible for this dog’s neglect faced justice for the neglect of this dog. Happily, she is fully recovered and back in the care of her loving family.”

The society asks that people report suspected animal cruelty to their provincewide hotline at 310-7722.

The mystery of the viral hockey tribute illustration has been revealed.

Author and journalist Kerry MacGregor, who is from Kanata and now lives near Nice, France, acknowledged she was the one who posted a cartoon of Humboldt Broncos players in heaven, reaching out to Jonathan Pitre.

“Hey, you play?” one of the Broncos says to Pitre in the drawing.

Pitre, 17, of Russell, died last week of complications related to his treatment for epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Two days later, 15 people died in a bus/truck crash in Saskatchewan. The bus was carrying the Broncos junior hockey team to a scheduled playoff game in northeastern Saskatchewan.

MacGregor’s moving illustration captures an uplifting idea — that Jonathan, who was unable to play hockey due to his horrible skin disease, could jump onto a heavenly sheet of ice with members of the fallen Broncos.

Stories and tweets have been circulating ever since the drawing was posted online Monday, many erroneously crediting Kingston artist Silvia Pecota with the illustration. Pecota did do a tribute depicting a single Broncos player ready to step on the ice under radiant light.

MacGregor told this newspaper Tuesday that she intended the drawing as an anonymous gesture from afar, but decided to step forward after a cousin sent her an encouraging note about the drawing, having no idea Kerry was the artist. There is a subtle “K” for Kerry in the left-hand corner.

MacGregor posted the illustration on Twitter, but didn’t use her usual account, creating a new @hockeyheart17 account to discreetly get the drawing online. She said she never dreamed her post would go viral, and felt the need to clarify the matter when stories circulated about Pecota.

Ottawa Senators PA announcer Stu Schwartz posted the MacGregor image Monday evening and had 10,000 likes by Tuesday morning.

Speaking from France, MacGregor said she had been trying to work on her next “Ice Chips” book, the third in a children’s hockey series she co-authors with her father, Roy MacGregor. But she couldn’t concentrate while distracted by the deaths in Saskatchewan, and the loss of Jonathan, suddenly, in Minneapolis.

“It’s a kids’ book and it’s supposed to be happy,” MacGregor said. “I decided I had to get the idea out of my brain and put it on paper, and then maybe I’d be able to go back to my regular job.”

The twin tragedies have had MacGregor in tears, in part because they bring her back to a tragic highway crash in her own backyard 19 years ago. Five teenagers, all boys from Kanata, died in a collision with another 17-year-old from Kanata, on Highway 7 near Perth, June 27, 1999. Kerry’s younger brother, Gord, was a close friend of the boys.

Kerry, then 23, was supposed to be in Montreal that summer taking university courses but was so concerned about her brother, she stayed home in Kanata, the pair sleeping in the same living room quarters for comfort. She remembers the community sharing powerful hugs of support.

ALSO: #Humboldt in our hearts, sticks outside our homes

As to MacGregor’s background as an artist: “I won a school drawing contest when I was 12,” she said, laughing. She also did some clip art while going to school in Montreal, for which she was paid $15 per drawing.

In France, cartoon drawings are the chosen form of expression, she says.

“Art creates this separate space, sometimes for justice and sometimes for an alternate ending,” MacGregor said.

For example, following the terrorist attack in Nice, a popular French illustration showed a teddy bear — one had been photographed at the scene — caring for a child.

MacGregor wanted to create an alternate ending to the recent tragedies in Canada, including continuing the “wave” created by Pitre for sufferers of EB. The concept: Pitre joins forces with the Broncos for a game of shinny. MacGregor doesn’t consider herself religious, but for those who believe in the hereafter … “It was almost like he had a team sent to him.”

wscanlan@postmedia.com

Ottawa will honour the memory of Jonathan Pitre by naming a road, recreation centre or other important city facility after him, Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday.

Pitre died last Wednesday at 17 of an infection after a lifelong struggle with epidermolysis bullosa, a genetic disorder that kept the layers of his skin from staying connected. He brought international attention to the rare, painful and currently incurable condition, and his spirit and the devotion of his mother Tina Boileau to his care inspired thousands.

He’d been in Minnesota for an experimental treatment.

“The first thing I want to do is speak with his mother, but as you know, she and the family asked for privacy for a few weeks,” Watson said. “We will do something that is acceptable to his family and is respectful of his memory.”

Pitre was a sports fan, of hockey in particular, and the Ottawa Senators adopted him and his cause, including making him an honorary scout. Pitre’s condition made playing sports dangerous but he was an avid watcher and judge of talent.

People with epidermolysis bullosa are sometimes called “butterfly children” because they’re so delicate. When he died, the Senators players wore decals of butterflies on their uniforms. Watson had one on his lapel at Wednesday’s city council meeting, which began with a moment of silence for Pitre and the victims of the team bus crash in Saskatchewan that devastated the Humboldt Broncos junior-hockey team.

“I’m open to ideas from the public as to what kinds of recognitions we can do in honour of Jonathan and bring those to the family,” Watson said. “There have been a lot of good suggestions over social media and emails.”

Getting it right will take a little thought, he said.

“Whether it’s a rink or an arena or a road — where would that road be? Is it close to the Canadian Tire Centre, close to CHEO, or the east end because he’s from the east end?”

Strictly speaking, Pitre wasn’t an Ottawan, Watson pointed out. “Certainly we also have to be respectful of the Township of Russell, which is his home community,” he said.

Naming a rink or road in Cumberland after him wouldn’t be a good idea if Russell chooses to do the same thing just on the other side of the city boundary, for instance.

dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

No charges have been laid in a probe of the treatment of animals at the Papanack Zoo, according to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The society confirmed it had launched an investigation last August after Ottawa-based legal advocates Animal Justice released a video that allegedly depicted abuse at the zoo in Wendover, about 50 kilometres east of Ottawa.

“We reviewed all relevant details and evidence brought forth and exhausted all leads in our attempts to validate that information,” the Ontario SPCA’s Melissa Kosowan said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “However, witnesses have not been forthcoming. Without witness cooperation, there is not sufficient evidence to proceed with charges.”

She said the society asks that the public report any concerns about animal cruelty “immediately” to the society’s hotline at 310-7722 or to local police.

The Papanack Zoo did not respond to a request for comment.

Animal Justice protesters called on the province to licence zoos after releasing the video, which was said to have been made by a “whistleblower” witness to events that occurred at the zoo in the summer of 2016.

In the video, animals are seen pacing and rocking, and showing evidence of distress, according to Animal Justice. A man describes how a lion cub was allegedly repeatedly hit in the face to train it and how baby animals are taken from their mothers. A woman is heard describing how deer from a rare breed died running into a fence. Animals are also described as being held in small cages for the winter.

To get a taste of what paramedic dispatchers and call-takers do, I was given the chance to answer a simulated call at the Ottawa Paramedic Service. When asked what scenario I wanted to try, I opted for “woman giving birth.” 

Struggling to navigate three computers and the hysterical screams of the pregnant woman (a communications training officer) on the line, I began sweating, stuttering and losing the ability to type properly. The baby was “successfully delivered”. It was chaos.

National public safety telecommunicators week, which runs until Saturday, honours the “first” first responders, or ambulance communications officers (ACO’s) as they’re officially called. This year, the Ottawa Paramedic Service is showing appreciation by shedding light on a job that doesn’t get much attention.

“People remember the people that were physically there. They don’t remember who was originally there for them,” acting paramedic commander Molly Kline said.

Call takers and dispatchers at the Ottawa Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC) cover medical emergencies in Ottawa, Cornwall, Prescott, Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry counties. The call centre takes more than 170,000 calls per year. During an average 12-hour shift, an ACO takes roughly 50 calls. Paramedics, by comparison, usually respond to around six calls a day.

“The dispatcher has to be able to change gears very fast many times a day,” says communications training officer Jennifer Roussel. “Whoever is talking to you is having one of the worst moments of their life. The person taking the call is exposed to that several times a day.”

Not only must call takers confirm basic information like the caller’s address and nature of the emergency, they must also determine the level of urgency of each call — all in a matter of seconds. 

Trainees go through an 18-month training program to reach communications officer status. New recruits attend a seven-week certification program before entering the live environment where they are mentored. Needing no previous medical experience, ACO’s come from a variety of backgrounds.

Trainee Kristen Bell-Lalonde worked in Ottawa summer camps before starting ACO training in January. Her mentor, Joanne Murphy, was a paramedic before she started working as an ACO 10 years ago.

On-the-job learning never ends. In addition to new rules and regulations which all ACO staff must become familiar with, they also have to learn to manage the emotional and mental stress associated with the position.

“If this job is going to affect your personal life, either in a negative or positive way, you kind of realize before you come in. They do a very good job of showing you what you’re getting into before it becomes real,” Bell-Lalonde says.

“You definitely have calls that stick with you for your whole life,” Murphy says. “Some are positive. It’s not all negative.” 

Our last warm days were in February. Just think of that. And with spring gone AWOL, our weather is not going to warm up anytime soon.

Environment Canada’s David Phillips has taken a look at what’s wrong with our spring weather. He has hope of a hot summer, but says we have to put up with more suffering first.

This doesn’t even touch on the immediate problem of an ice storm building up to wallop us this weekend. Phillips is taking the longer seasonal view, sent from sunny Florida where he is lucky to be on vacation:

“The warmest days over the past 50 days (since Feb. 21) all occurred in February,” he wrote on Thursday. “Feb. 28 had a max of 9.9 C, Feb. 27 9.1 C and Feb. 21 9.2 C … nothing warmer since. No double-digit positive temperatures at all so far in March and April. The last time with a maximum temperature above 10 C was Jan. 12 at 11.9 C.

“It is not that March and April have been record cold,” he continues, “it just has been so consistently miserable. Every day in April has been below normal.

RELATED: ‘High-impact storm’ may hit this weekend, Environment Canada warns

“On average between March and April one finds the greatest difference between daily average temperature … between mid-March and mid-April, the average temperature rises 8.6 C — the greatest rise in average temperature between (any) two months.

“Instead this year there is very little difference between March and April so far. On average, April is 0.5 C warmer than March, not the 8.6 C that usually occurs.

“I can’t recall a more consistent first two spring months (March and April),” he said. “Canadians love changes in the weather but March and April have been boringly similar with slightly melting days and freezing nights.

“For example, from March 1 to April 12, Ottawa normally sees 12 days with all melting temperatures around the clock. In other words, the day has no freezing temperatures. This year, there have been only two all-day melting days and they were in March.”

The cause, he says, is a “blocking system” of high pressure over Greenland. Normally our weather systems move off to the east, but this area of high pressure acts like a dam to block the flow of air over Canada.

“Unfortunately, nothing looks promising the rest of April,” Phillips says.

Our 30-day outlook to earlier May points to a continuation of below-normal temperatures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the U.S. weather service) outlooks tend to agree.

This weekend, there’s a real miserable system with lots of early notice just to make people feel more miserable than they already are. A full menu of precipitation types: rain, snow, ice pellets, freezing rain, mist, etc. Only uncertainty is how much of which precipitation type.

“I have a sense that this will be one of the shortest springs on record,” he says, as we will move quickly from cold weather to early summer. Environment Canada’s forecasts for the May-to-July period, and for June through August, both suggest warmer temperatures than average.

But not everyone is complaining. Mont Tremblant is cheerfully remaining open, and tweeted about it: “We will be 100% open with 40 cm of snow in the forecast. This will be a record breaking weekend for being open so late in the season. Come and ski it to believe it!”

Police are seeking the public’s help to find an Ottawa woman missing since March 29.

Joanne “Joni” Panipakoocho, 34, was last seen in the city’s downtown core near King Edward Avenue and Murray Street, police said Thursday.

Police described Panipakoocho as a slim 5-4 Inuk woman with brown eyes, and black and red shoulder-length hair (different than the picture provided by police).

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call Ottawa police at 613-236-1222. If you have information that could assist investigators, but do not know where she is currently, please contact the missing persons unit at 613-236-1222, extension 2355. 

Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or by downloading the Ottawa police app. 

Ottawa police teamed up with the ministries of transportation and environment to lay 54 charges in a commercial vehicle inspection blitz in the city’s west side Wednesday.

The inspections focused on the safety of commercial vehicles and their drivers.

Following 36 inspections, police said 10 vehicles were deemed of out of service and 54 charges were laid as a result of poor maintenance, improper load securement, missed annual inspections or moving violations.

Among the defective vehicles, police found a commercial truck with a cracked frame and a number of vehicles that didn’t respect environmental regulations.

Ottawa homicide detectives are investigating a jailhouse attack that left an accused killer, who allegedly beat a man into a coma last summer, in a coma himself and on life support.

Police are probing the violent jailhouse attack after Marco Michaud, 36, was severely beaten Wednesday afternoon by three other inmates at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre on Innes Road. No weapons are believed to have been used in the attack.

Michaud, who was in detention awaiting trial on a charge of second-degree murder, was taken to hospital Wednesday just before 3 p.m. after the attack that left him with severe head injuries. He remained there Thursday evening in an induced coma and was not expected to survive.

Michaud had turned himself in to homicide detectives just six weeks ago, on Feb. 24, after police obtained a warrant for his arrest for an ultimately fatal beating in Vanier.

Detectives allege Michaud attacked 53-year-old Gerald Leduc inside Leduc’s Selkirk Street apartment in July 2017. That drug-related beating left Leduc in a coma for six months. He succumbed to his injuries in January, at which point, police started investigating the attack as a homicide. Michaud had been housed at the jail since turning himself in.

Gerald Leduc died Jan. 18, six months after he was found beaten in his Vanier apartment.

Michaud’s family was by his bedside Thursday, where he was on life support. The family of his alleged victim had spent six months by Leduc’s side hoping he would recover after he’d been horribly beaten and left for dead. He never did.

“It’s all so very, very sad,” Leduc’s sister Noelle Trottier said in an interview Thursday. “Nobody wins and nothing is ever going to bring my brother back.”

Michaud, originally from Timmins, Ont., and a father of one, is a convicted drug dealer with a lengthy criminal record dating back nearly two decades. He has spent considerable time in an out of jail for convictions for drug possession, possessing a dangerous weapon, arson and robbery.

Related

• Inquest juries have made recommendations to prevent killings at Ottawa jail

In November 2015, having recently been released from a three-year custodial sentence and beginning a job with a drywall company, Michaud posted on Facebook about how good it felt to go Christmas shopping for his child with “legal money.”

“Thanks for my new way of life,” he told the friend who had hired him. By the following month, he had been let go and detailed his struggle “to be legit and honest” and stay gainfully employed in what appeared to be his first legitimate job.

He described himself as someone trying to stay on the straight and narrow after having only sold drugs and never having worked a regular job in his life.

In January 2016, he told friends he was heading out west to work and would be back in September.

By March 2017, he was on the East Coast posting pictures of the views. He returned to Ottawa sometime before July 2017, when police believe Leduc was beaten.

This newspaper has also learned that one of the alleged attackers in the jailhouse fight is also an accused killer awaiting trial.

Mohamad Barkhadle was charged by Ottawa police last year with killing a 35-year-old woman in her Mechanicsville apartment in March 2017 and leaving her toddler son to fend for himself for days on end.

Coincidentally, Michaud and Barkhadle were represented by the same criminal defence lawyer, Diane Condo, in their separate cases.

Mohamad Barkhadle.

Police believe Barkhadle and two other inmates attacked Michaud Wednesday. It’s not yet known what sparked the violence. No charges have yet been laid.

Barkhadle was charged with first-degree murder in July 2017 for allegedly strangling the woman, whose name is shielded by a publication ban.

Barkhadle, 31 at the time, was out on the streets at the time of the woman’s homicide after an Ottawa judge in October 2016 denied the Crown’s request to brand him either a dangerous or long-term offender. The first designation would have seen him behind bars for an indeterminate sentence; the second would have come with strict supervision conditions upon release back into the community.

A dangerous offender designation is typically sought when there are concerns about public safety, given a criminal’s violent and sexual tendencies, should he be released from custody.

Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey freed Barkhadle at the time, noting specifically that conditions in the jail were difficult and that there were no drug rehabilitation programs available for him there. Perkins-McVey hoped it would be a “wake-up call” for the now accused killer

After the woman’s homicide in 2017 but before his arrest in her killing, in May 2017, Barkhadle  was arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault for an attack on another woman in which she was choked. 

Barkhadle, also known as “Akon,” is a former Crips gang member, who has also been in and out of jail.

Following Wednesday’s attack, jail guards placed the three alleged attackers in separate cells.

A corrections ministry spokesperson confirmed that an inmate at OCDC was found in “an unresponsive state” Wednesday and immediately taken to hospital. The ministry said it would not publicly address any further details out of concern for the inmate’s personal health information.

The jail remained in lockdown for much of the day Thursday. Lockdowns are instituted when staff feel they are necessary to keep both staff and inmates safe, the ministry said, and can occur for several reasons including a search of the jail or for security reasons.

The ministry did not say whether it was investigating the attack.

With files from Gary Dimmock

syogaretnam@postmedia.com

twitter.com/shaaminiwhy

The suicide of an accused serial rapist at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre may have been “impulsive,” a forensic psychiatrist told an inquest looking into the man’s death.

Yousef Hussein, 27, was found hanging in his cell on April 12, 2016. He was one of three inmates in the jail to kill himself by hanging while in segregation at the jail within a 10-month period. 

Hussein had been placed on suicide watch in segregation on April 8, 2016. He remained there over the weekend, and was taken off suicide watch on April 11 at 3 p.m. Almost exactly 12 hours later, he was found lifeless in his cell. He was declared dead in hospital about 45 minutes later.

Dr. Derek Pallandi, who is a consultant at a number of Ontario corrections facilities and holds a staff position at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, spoke to the inquest on Friday.

Hussein lacked many of the factors that underline suicide risk — he did not have a pre-existing diagnosis of mental illness, a criminal record or a history of substance abuse or self-harm, said Pallandi. However, Hussein felt isolated as a result of spending time in segregation. And he was upset about a forced transfer to another jail in Lindsay, On. and feared he would be deported.

Screening tools for suicide risk ranked Hussein’s risk from a high of seven or eight out of 10 to zero out of 10 only hours before his death. It’s not uncommon to see these kinds of variations, said Pallandi. This was not a case where standard protocols were ignored. Rather, Hussein’s actions may have been difficult to predict. 

“It’s not a like a solid block of concrete. It ebbs and flows,” he said of suicide risk. “It’s more difficult to predict something that moves. It’s like weather prediction. There’s climate, but weather changes from day to day. Those changes can happen quickly.”

Pallandi later added that it is commonly reported after the fact that a suicidal person appeared more energetic with a better outlook just before they died. The renewed energy could be an “investment” in suicide, or it could be to distract others from their intent. 

Inquests are mandatory for all prisoners who die while in custody. Hussein died at a time when there was significant media attention on numerous lockdowns and overcrowding at the detention centre, as well as long waits for trial. Hussein had already spent almost two years in jail at the time of his death, and was anticipating another year there before he got his day in court.

This inquest is narrowly focused in preventing deaths under similar circumstances. The five-person jury cannot make findings of legal responsibility, but may make recommendations.

Pallandi estimated that inmates die by suicide at five to eight times the rate of the general population. Theoretically, it would be possible to almost eliminate suicides in correctional facilities by restricting liberty, he said. But that’s not workable because inmates would consider that intolerable.

“Many of these fellow have a strong sense of right and wrong and their own liberty,” said Pallandi.

Detention centres are more complicated than prisons because of the volume of people coming and going. Pallandi addressed some changes that might help reduce suicides, including standardizing or regulating the wait times for mental health treatment by having a health-care supervisor such as a nurse managing the triage system and using technology.

Telemedicine makes it easier for patients to consult with medical professionals, and it might also help recruit psychiatrists to work with inmates. Electronic health records might also be helpful, said Pallandi. As it stands, a lot of medical record-keeping in correctional facilities is done using a pen-and-paper system.

It should also be easier for inmates to get visitors, he said. As it stands, there are significant obstacles even to using a telephone.

The inquest, which was originally scheduled to last five days, heard it last witnesses on Friday. The jury is to begin its deliberations on Monday.

The owners of Fred Guy Moving and Storage Ltd. held a cryptic meeting with workers on Friday morning suggesting that the company’s future may be in doubt, according to one employee.

Daniel Babin, who has worked as a mover with the well-known firm for 18 years, said the meeting was short on details but seemed to suggest that new ownership may be announced on Monday morning.

“No one has actually approached any of us and said, ‘Look, here’s what’s happening,” said Babin. “All I could surmise this morning is that another company will physically take over operations on Monday and conduct interviews with former Fred Guy employees with a view to resume delivery operations on Tuesday.”

Fred Guy did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday.

Babin said he had not received a layoff notice from the owners. He said a firm representative from human resources did say that should notices be issued, they would go out to affected staff within the next two weeks.

Employees who have been laid off from a firm need a layoff or termination notice in order to apply for employment insurance.

Babin, who also had vacation time and benefits with the firm, was unclear how the company would be handling those entitlements. 

“Information of that nature isn’t available to any of us,” he said. “(I) was there (at work) this AM hoping to get concrete answers.”

The firm, which employs more than 50 people, has been a fixture in Ottawa for close to four decades. It held several moving contracts for federal government departments, as well as contracts for other commercial businesses selling furniture and other large items around town.

The company was also aligned with the CHEO Dream Home lottery for a while in the early 2000s, offering moving services to the winner. It won the 2003 Better Business Bureau of Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais’ Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in the big business category.

More than a third of long-term care homes in Ottawa have been flagged as medium risk, according to a long-awaited provincial risk assessment system released Friday.

Ten of 26 long-term care homes in Ottawa are rated as “improvement required,” according to the risk assessment tool. That could indicate the province has identified areas of concern or that there are “increasing numbers of complaints and incidents where residents are harmed or at risk of harm.” The ranking could also indicate the home has recently improved and is still being monitored. The performance levels do not specify exact concerns, but inspection reports are also available.

The remaining 16 Ottawa homes are considered in good standing, according to the ranking system, and none are ranked high risk.

Public access to the information has been a long time coming. The province initially refused to release risk information about Ottawa long-term care homes when asked to by this newspaper last year. At the time, it said it was reworking its system to make it easier for members of the public to get the information and compare the performance of long-term care homes.

The province has faced growing pressure to make the information public, especially in light of high-profile abuse cases at long-term care homes.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath pressed the province to release the information earlier this year, saying families have the right to it.

“Families with loved ones in care are now being left to wonder if their loved ones, their mom or dad, is in a facility that the ministry itself calls high risk,” she said at the time.

The performance-level system makes public which provincial long-term care homes are deemed high risk and in need of significant improvement and which meet provincial standards.

The province rates long-term care homes in one of four categories: in good standing, improvement required, significant improvement required and licence revoked. Ottawa homes only fall into the top two categories.

Significant improvement required indicates the homes deemed highest risk, with continued increases in complaints and incidents where residents are harmed or at risk of harm and the home has not demonstrated the ability to improve. Homes’ licences may be removed when high-risk concerns are ongoing, putting residents at risk, and the owner is unable to improve the situation.

Abuse and harm to residents is strikingly common in long-term care homes.

An investigation by this newspaper late last year found that every one of Ottawa’s 27 long-term care homes (one has since closed) has been the site of either violence, sexual abuse or death resulting from improper care since 2012.

Among those cases was the assault of 87-year-old Georges Karam at Garry J. Armstrong long-term care home. Karam, who has dementia and Parkinson’s disease, was slapped repeatedly by a caregiver who was later convicted of assault. The incident was recorded on video cameras the family had installed in his room.

Garry J. Armstrong, Peter D. Clark and Centre d’Accueil Champlain — all city-run long-term care homes — are among the 10 Ottawa homes considered in need of improvement. The others rated “improvement required” are: Carlingview Manor, Residence Saint-Louis, The Perley and Rideau Veteran’s Health Centre, The Salvation Army Grace Manor, Extendicare Laurier Manor, Sarsfield Colonial Home and Madonna Care Community.

“The new performance tool will enhance transparency in the long-term care sector and ensure that families have the information they need to make more informed choices about the care of their loved ones,” said Health Minister Dr. Helena Jaczek in a statement.

The online tool is available at www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/ltc/home-finder.aspx.

epayne@postmedia.com