Five Tips to Keep Your Bluesfest Rockin’!

 Ottawa Life’s Festival City Series is back! We'll provide a unique look at some of your favourite events. We’ll go beyond the music with artist interviews, volunteer profiles, concert reviews and spotlights on the tastes, sights and sounds of the festival season.  Your city! Your festivals and events! Like a good sunscreen,

Set The Moose Free

 There is no better time to brush up on lesser-known Canadian history. You might be forgiven for wanting to hit the snooze button when you hear “Constitutional law” but here’s one for you. Two clauses in the British North American Act may determine the way you get to work or

The Other Side of Reason: An OC Transpo crash survivor’s struggle with PTSD

 I used to think about work, or if we needed groceries… Now, my steps are less assured, almost hesitant. I think about my family farewells, hugs and kisses — did I remember to say I love you? With every step, a painful memory of what was in time a bright

Opinion: Something is Rotten in the State of Ottawa

 It has been said that the reason nothing changes in the criminal justice system is due to the ‘four horsemen’ of political inaction: inertia, ignorance, apathy and cost. When it comes to the Ottawa Police Services Board and their lackadaisical attitude to the issue of carding, it appears all four

Heal the Rail

 photo by Frederic Dekkal When rail charters were first extended in the 1800s, the great gift of expropriated land came with expectations— that far-flung communities would be well-served, that grain would get to ports quickly and affordably, that goods would be moved efficiently for the betterment of the economy, and

Rail Safety in our Community

 photo by Frederic Dekkal Trains are as much a part of the fabric of Canada as the maple leaf. The railways are the steel ribbon that has connected Canada economically and socially from the post-Confederation days to the present. The majority of Canadians have been on a passenger train at

Light Rail Transit Western Extension: Either Build It Right or Don’t Build It at all

 When one thinks of all the money spent on foolishness by the City of Ottawa, their efforts to keep a lid on LRT costs are baffling. To reduce costs, the City wants to build the western extension of the LRT through an area west of Tunney’s Pasture where few people

Bette’s Etiquette Beat: OCivility and Bus Etiquette

 Letitia Baldridge, aka The Doyenne of Decorum, was an American etiquette expert and public relations executive. However, she is probably best known for serving as Jackie's personal social secretary during the Kennedy administration. Affectionately called “Tish” by her nearest and dearest, Ms. Baldridge passed away last October and, in my

Light Rail: Fast trains for Ottawa will be slow in coming

 JUST IMAGINE THE TRAVEL OF THE FUTURE IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL. YOU'VE FLOWN IN FROM EUROPE. AFTER CLEARING CUSTOMS AT OTTAWA MACDONALD-CARTIER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, YOU TAKE A SHUTTLE SERVICE OVER TO THE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT (LRT) STATION BUILT RIGHT NEXT TO THE MAIN AIR TERMINAL, AND HOP ABOARD A SLEEK