City Council Votes to Sell Vanier to Hull

By: Keegan On

Ottawa City Council met last week to formulate a budget for 2016. The city is facing a record-setting deficit, and has been investigating creative ways to bolster municipal earnings. Some Councillors argued that cutting arts programming could save money, but since no one dared propose a tax increase, the Council ultimately decided on a dramatic move: selling Vanier to Hull for 22 million dollars.

“The City of Ottawa is growing. When a population rises, so do costs.” said Gregory Scott, Councillor for Nepean, “The decision to sell Vanier solves a lot of problems for us. The money from the sale will pay off Ottawa’s debts, giving us a fresh start for the new fiscal year. Additionally, a slightly smaller Ottawa means less roads to plough and less potholes to fix. Finally, our significant police forces that have been allocated for Vanier will be distributed elsewhere, making the city safer for everyone.”

The sale came as a surprise to residents, as something of this nature has never been done before. One has to wonder what those who live in Vanier think of the decision, but we were unable to obtain a statement from anyone, as none of our staff wanted to go there.

RedBlack Friday Causes Confusion For Bargain Seekers

By: Rob Attrell

Black Friday has its roots in American Thanksgiving sales, but many Ottawa businesses will be offering major discounts this weekend as well. The Ottawa RedBlacks got their name from Ottawa’s previous CFL team’s colours, Red and Black.

With the RedBlacks capturing a spot in this year’s Grey Cup on Sunday, there has been a lot of confusion as to what customers and fans can expect to find while they’re out today. The city has declared today to be “RedBlack Friday”, with restaurants and bars in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South offering specials through this weekend as Grey Cup hype builds.

Businesses in the area are understandably having some difficulty explaining deals to staff and customers. Jared McDonough, a manager at Crust and Crate at Lansdowne, arrived to work early this morning to find over 150 people lined up expecting door crasher sales. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “I think they might not realize this isn’t Crate and Barrel. We advertised drink specials as a part of RedBlack Friday, but I never would have expected this.”

By later today this confusion should all be sorted out, but it may happen all over again if the RedBlacks are able to win on Sunday. Kettleman’s has already said it plans to offer discounts and special deals on Monday if Henry “Cyber” Burris wins Grey Cup MVP.

#80 - Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey re-joined us this week, making him our first official repeat guest (and well deserving of that title). We dicussed the upcoming release of his new book, The Productivity Project, coming out in January. We also got deep into discussion about working effectively and being productive.

We also have a galley proof (limited edition pre-release) of his book to give away to one of our lucky listeners. All you have to do to enter is tell us your favourite word, on any social network, as long as we can see it (you'll have to tag us), and you'll be entered in the draw. If you're using Twitter, be sure to tag us (@ottawhatpodcast) and Chris (@wigglechicken) in the Tweet! Good luck!

BREW DONKEY CONTEST (Week 4):
We're running a contest this week in partnership with Brew Donkey, where each week you can enter to win a free Brew Donkey brewery tour ticket. Find out right now how you can enter at ottawhatpodcast.com/brewdonkey! It's so easy to enter, why wouldn't you?

---

Sponsor -
This episode is also brought to you in part by Audible.com. Visit audibletrial.com/ottawhat today and get a free audiobook and free 30-day trial, and feel good in helping support the show.

---

Links:
A Life of Productivity
Pre-order Chris' book!

Beverage:

Listen to enter our Brew Donkey contest! (Opening at 12 PM Eastern)