Rose's Cantina

Dearest Mayor and Ottawa City Council: Congratulations! You managed to piss off an entire city with your bone-headed agreement to go ahead with a ghastly addition to the iconic Chateau Laurier. Ottawa now boasts a population of one million people, and I reckon, the only people who agreed with the addition were you lot and the owners. You chose to ignore the wishes of the populace of Ottawa, ignoring calls of Shame and boos from the gallery and a hasty petition of 8,500 people, and went ahead and gave the deal the green light. Did it even occur to you, as you tried to manage the torrent of angry emails from constituents, that maybe you needed to pause and reflect? The whole situation reminded me of a scene from the movie Father of the Bride 2 when George Banks decides to sell the family home to a guy named Mr. Habib because George was going through a mid-life crisis. Mr. Habib immediately begins to topple the home where George sketched the heights of his kids growing up, and bu...

Embed from Getty Images The only thing the owners of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier could do worse is slap a Trump sign on the venerable Lady on the Rideau. Nobody I know likes the new design. Nobody, at least, in Ottawa. And yet, their proposed monstrosity of an addition to the grand hotel is slated for construction as early as this fall. The owners will tear up the backside of the building, blocking traffic for months, and months, keeping their customers awake half the day and night for something that has the aesthetics of the Trump Border Wall. Or an Amazon warehouse. To be fair, this reno idea has been bopping around Ottawa for years, probably ignored by people because they were distracted by the LRT fiasco and the anxiety inducing talks to put a hockey arena on LeBreton Flats. The delays of these projects have demonstrated the absolute ineptitude of the National Capital Commission and Ottawa Council and have cost taxpayers millions. So it's understandable that Larco...

Sixty-three years ago today, my mom had just put a roast in the oven, when the bun decided to come out instead.  The day was as hot and sticky as a cinnamon bun; it was Dominion Day as they used to call it, and Vera was irritated that baby Rosalie had ruined her holiday. It was the first time, and it definitely wasn't the last. Even though I was actually born on July 2nd, not the real holiday, the grand day was being celebrated on my birthday because it was a Monday. I got a kick out of that. The government moved the holiday in my honour. That was the law back then, to celebrate it on a Monday so people could get a three day weekend. Not like today, when Canadians celebrate what is now called Canada Day on whatever random day it falls on. Like a Wednesday, or worse, a Tuesday. That seems so wrong. In 1956, because it was a holiday, my dad was probably in the pub hoisting a few when he got called to the bar. Vera always knew where to find him. He was either under a car wo...

In November, I will graduate from Carleton University as part of the Class of 2019. As always, I'm a bit late. Forty years late. Oh well, I was busy back in the late 70s forging a new career for myself. I didn't have time to finish that journalism degree. To the taxpayers of Ontario, who bankrolled my education, I offer my sincere apologies. I was just so excited to get out into the world, I had neglected to complete my "thesis". And I meant to finish it, I really did. But life got in the way. Career. Motherhood. Singlemotherhood. Yadda, yadda. Never got around to it. Kids, take this as a lesson. You can't go back. After I lost my job due to my lack of educational credentials this past spring, I realized that I needed that degree. I couldn't qualify for all the jobs I was qualified for. That piece of paper was a deal breaker, the difference between me being a bona fide public servant, and a Walmart greeter. Truth is, I don't have my Grade 12 d...

It's been three long years since Ashley disappeared into thin air, three Mother's Days for her mom Cindy, three Father's Days for her father John.  There has been little progress in her case, no body, no arrests, only disturbing rumours. But I have to say, I'm cheered by all of the volunteers who continue to hunt for Ashley in the air with drones, on the ground with ATVs. As anyone connected with Ashley's case knows, there is plenty of bad in the world, but there's also plenty of good. This week, John and Cindy cheered another great development.  One of our family members has given $10,000 to post as a reward for information leading to her whereabouts, or information that leads to the arrest of any person(s) who might have done Ashley harm. That's going to make a few people nervous, I'm guessing, and maybe a few people scared. The perps might have thought they got away with murder, but people talk, don't they? Other people k...

As a family member of Ashley Simpson , I welcomed the release this week of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by the federal government.  https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/ I hope that it helps.  Clearly, it's taken too long to do a 'deep dive' into why so many women and girls have been savaged, raped and murdered at home, and when they go out into the world. My main hope is that the police in these rural communities get more resources, and better training, because until this happens, more women and girls will be slaughtered and never found. I feel so deeply for the Indigenous community, and for their stolen sisters. It was, in fact, the First Nations community women who embraced Ashley as one of their own. That is their way, they show their wisdom, doggedness and commitment to righting the wrongs of the past. They are so strong and their spirit should make the rest of us ashamed for not caring enough, or not educating ourselve...

Embed from Getty Images I was teaching my puppy, Viggo, to pee outside yesterday when a man motioned to me to come to the fence. He introduced himself as the local Conservative candidate and asked if he could count on my vote. Wiping the pee from my hand, I extended it, and he handed me a pamphlet, my first in the run-up to next fall's federal election. Poor fellow. Who convinced him to run against the McGuinty Dynasty in Ottawa South? I felt sorry for him, so I decided to allot him five minutes of windbaggery. Clearly he hadn't realized to whom he was speaking. Fly meet spider. "What's your climate plan?" I asked. A smile spread on his Cheshire mug, and he began to extol the virtues of his party's plan to cut The Dreaded Carbon Tax. "I've been hearing from your neighbours that many people detest the Trudeau Tax," he began. Given the fact my house is surrounded by crackheads and cranky pensioners, I have no doubt. I also have no ...