LeBreton Flats: Ottawa doesn't need another shrine to millionaires

Just what Ottawa needs -- another hockey arena.
And more shopping.
And more concert venues.
A car museum? A beer museum?
An aquarium to babysit the kids while the guys can go to the beer and car museums while the ladies shop for designer togs?
It's like a bunch of guys got together after a midnight pickup hockey game to decide what Ottawa needs more of. One woman on Twitter last night wondered if any women were actually involved in putting together the two proposal to develop LeBreton Flats, that fetid black hole eyesore that sits in the middle of Bytown.
Don't get me wrong, I like the Senators, don't love them, but like them. They do some good in our community it's true by visiting kids in the hospital and building community rinks. But for heaven's sake, do we have to reward them by letting them take up prime downtown land to build yet another shrine to a bunch of millionaires?
I don't know about you, but even if the rink was built downtown, I still wouldn't be able to afford to go to it. Two weeks ago, Scott and I won hockey tickets that were worth $250 bucks a piece and we still were out of pocket $50! By allowing the Sens to build downtown, it would mean I'd only save, let's see, THE PARKING and THE GAS. Wait, if we took OC Transpo, it would be the equivalent to the parking, so really we're saving gas money.
Come on.
We don't need another sports venue.
We already have that monstrosity in the middle of the Glebe. It has a hockey arena, sure, not a fantastic hockey arena but still. It also has a stadium and prime shopping. Maybe not a car museum, but it has cinemas. At least I think it has cinemas cause I haven't been there yet. Can't afford anything they sell there.
Here's a point. I used to go to the Ottawa Farmer's Market which was located near Carleton University. Then they moved it to the Glebe and built a Whole Foods beside it. Now I don't go to the Farmer's Market anymore because I have to pay to park there. So the 100 mile diet is no longer accessible to me because I have to spend the $10 I would have forked over for cheese -- on parking.
So I walk to Loblaws and buy it from California.
I won't be able to buy anything at the new LeBreton site, either. So there's nothing for me in either of these proposals.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but we're lower middle class. Not middle class enough to buy stinky cheese and pay for parking, not upper class enough to buy Sens tickets.
We walk our dogs, eat at home, and watch the Senators on the television.
I feel I'm not alone in this. A lot of the people who live around LeBreton live in public housing. Lucky for them, I suppose, they will be able to hear concerts for free. But they won't actually be able to SEE the concerts.
It's too bad that the proposal writers didn't throw a bone to the poor, like they did in the days of the
Canterbury Tales. Perhaps they could hold free public executions in the square.
Look up the Knight's Tale, you'll see what I mean.
Tell you what I'd like to see at LeBreton.
Instead of a car museum, I'd like to see an auto plant which pays its workers living wages not the minimum wages that will be paid to the people who will sell designer clothes to rich people at the new shrine.
That's what we need in this town, good jobs for the people who don't work in the tech sector or in government.
We don't need another shiny penny, or a reminder that there are two classes in Ottawa, those who can afford $500 a pair hockey tickets and those who serve the popcorn.

Ashley Simpson: Don't Let Her Die in Vain

Six years ago, I was combing through my Facebook and I saw post from my cousin Julie Major. Her brother and his wife were frantically looking for their daughter Ashley who just days before had Facetimed her mom saying she was planning to return to her home in Niagara. Ashley never made it home. She was murdered in cold blood in her home in Salmon Arm then buried in a nearby field. It would be five and a half years before her body was located, and her boyfriend was charged with second degree murder. Today, Ashley's urn has a sacred spot in her parents' home, and Derek Favell is in jail awaiting trial by judge and jury. The trial is expected to go into next year sometime. This has been an agonizing journey for Ashley's friends and family. The pain has never stopped, and the wounds are broken open every time the family has to sit through a series of pre-trial proceedings. Fortunately, this ordeal will end but the pain will never wane for the people, including me, who have b...

Ashley Simpson: A Father Remembers

I have asked Ashley Simpson's family and friends to give us a glimpse into the life she lived before going missing nearly a month ago. Here is how her father John remembers his sweet girl. Ashley was a treat when she came into this world, a smashing 9lbs 8 ounces with a head full of hair and nails that needed to be clipped. She has made many friends in her journey of life and continues to make them as we speak. She has made this world a better place by her love of mankind and this place we call Earth; unfortunately this life she has lived hasn't been the best for her. She has suffered through unbearable pain and suffering through her menstrual cycles. She has cysts on her ovaries that make those 10 days a living hell. She had one of her ovaries removed when she was just 14; the other they won't take out till she is 40 or older. Years of hell for my Ashley. I so feel her pain every month but she doesn't quit, doesn't give in. That'...

What Bell isn't telling you about Fibe TV

Update: This week, we switched back to Rogers after spending far too long using Bell's crappy television service. For those with Bell, read and weep. For those considering Bell, think twice even if you hate Rogers. RS I've always been an early technology adapter. I had a Betamax. That tells you everything (if you're over 50 at least). My first computer was a "Portable". It weighed 40 pounds and I had to lug it around town on a gurney. I've been through probably 15 computers in my lifetime. Apple is the best. It's also too expensive so I have a piece of shit HP, the one I'm writing this blog on. I've had cable, internet and now Netflix. American Netflix . That's how far ahead of the curve I am. I get all the newspapers for free. How? I disabled my cookies so they can't track me when I'm on the newspaper sites. Even the New York Times hasn't cottoned on to that trick. Hahaha. That will be a fifty buck consulting fee. Bein...

Rose's Cantina

Search This Blog