Ottawa's People to Watch 2016: Politics not as usual, gearing up for 2017 — and more local beer

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In 2016, these key players will influence everything from city council’s power base to how much local beer we can buy:


CITY HALL

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Ward 10 Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans during budget talks at Ottawa City Hall, December 9.


Diane Deans and Tobi Nussbaum

If Ottawa city council had an official opposition, this pair would be co-leaders.

Deans, a council veteran, and Nussbaum, a rookie, led the charge against Mayor Jim Watson’s 2016 budget, which failed to secure the unanimous vote that his five previous budgets did.

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Mayor Jim Watson (L) discusses with Ward 13 Rideau-Rockcliffe Councillor Tobi Nussbaum during budget talks at Ottawa City Hall, December 9.


As chair of the community and protective services committee, Deans fought unsuccessfully to secure additional cash for struggling community agencies and questioned whether millions of dollars in proposed “efficiencies” — or cuts — could really be achieved without hurting front-line services. Nussbaum, meanwhile, was focused on freezing transit fares next year. His effort also failed to win enough support.

Earlier in the year, Nussbaum tried unsuccessfully to persuade Watson and the rest of council to ban corporate and union campaign donations. Deans, meanwhile, came up with a novel idea for revitalizing the Heatherington-Albion neighbourhood, only to see it scuppered at the last minute when council instead voted to spend the money on a study before choosing which neighbourhood to target for revitalization.

While the duo may not have racked up a lot of wins in 2015, their efforts to go against the grain could inspire other councillors to raise their voices or put forward ideas in 2016 that may not necessarily have the support of the mayor’s office. And should this year’s budget produce another multi-million dollar deficit or if transit ridership drops significantly because the price is simply too steep for some people, we won’t have these two blame.

– Matthew Pearson

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Executive director of Ottawa 2017 Guy Laflamme speaks about the Ottawa 2017 project at City Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday, December 8.


Guy Laflamme

The clock is ticking for Guy Laflamme.

As head of the Ottawa 2017 Bureau, he and his team have just 12 months left to plan a year-long party to mark the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation.

Some big pieces have already fallen into place. CIBC has signed on as lead sponsor, the Junos are coming back to town and plans are underway for Ottawa and Gatineau to co-host an interprovincial picnic on the Alexandra Bridge.

Meanwhile, the National Arts Centre and the Museum of Science and Technology are undergoing major facelifts to be completed in 2017, and the new Ottawa Art Gallery is also targeted for completion next year.

But all eyes are on Laflamme to deliver the kind of events that will attract millions of tourists, impress the hometown crowd and help Ottawa to finally shed its image as the sleepy city that fun forgot.

– Matthew Pearson

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Yasir Naqvi, MPP for Ottawa Centre (second from right), announces funding for three Ottawa initiatives supporting refugee sponsorshi. Organizers of those initiatives included (from left): Carl Nicholson, Executive Director for the Catholic Centre for Immigrants, which received $800,000; Katie Black, a lawyer with the U of O Refugee Sponsorship Support Program, which received $225,000, and Louisa Taylor, Director of Refugee 613, which received $300,000 in funding.


Refugee 613

The federal government has said it hopes to settle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada by the end of February, including about 700 people here in Ottawa. As the city gears up for their arrival, Refugee 613 is playing a crucial role in helping newcomers set up new lives for themselves and their families.

Founded by Leslie Emory of Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization, Jack McCarthy of Somerset West Community Health Centre, Carl Nicholson of the Catholic Centre for Immigrants and Louisa Taylor, a former Citizen reporter, Refugee 613’s goal is to channel the outpouring of concern for the plight of refugees into tangible action and to build on the work of the Ottawa’s robust settlement sector.

In just a few short months, Refugee 613 has positioned itself as the main conduit locally for information about sponsoring, volunteering and donating, and supports the on-going efforts of settlement agencies, sponsorship groups, immigration lawyers, fundraisers and ordinary citizens. It will also continue to work closely with United for Refugees, the fundraising initiative coordinated by United Way Ottawa, Community Foundation of Ottawa and the city.

– Matthew Pearson


HEALTH

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Rob Boyd, director of the Oasis program at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre for people to watch in 2016 – he is behind a push for a supervised injection site.


Rob Boyd

Up to 50 people die of drug overdoses in Ottawa every year, and with the ominous introduction of fentanyl powder into the city in recent months, those numbers could very well increase.

And yet, Rob Boyd is optimistic. After years of lobbying for a supervised injection site, the director of the Oasis drug treatment program at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre believes 2016 could be the year that dream moves closer to reality.

“There is definitely a sense of optimism that if we do our work and put together a good solid application, there is a pretty good chance.”

The Conservative government passed Bill C-2 last March, which made it difficult or impossible for anyone contemplating a new supervised injection site. But the new Liberal government appears more open to the concept.

There would still be hurdles, but Boyd says he doesn’t see Mayor Jim Watson’s long-time opposition, for example, as a barrier that can’t be overcome.

— Elizabeth Payne


BUSINESS

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Ontario energy minister Bob Chiarelli, left, gets a view of the solar panels on the roof of Solantro Semiconductor with the company’s president and CEO Antoine Paquin.


Antoine Paquin

Antoine Paquin is the founder of Solantro Semiconductor Corp., one of a handful of Ottawa companies finding a place in the growing green energy spotlight.

Well known in Ottawa for his successes during the tech boom, Paquin started Solantro in 2009 to, as he put it, “solve a problem that nobody seemed to be solving.” That was to find an efficient and cheap way to convert the direct-current voltage produced by “distributed energy generation” systems such as photovoltaic solar panels into the alternating current required for the power grid. The solution developed by Solantro is a chip-based technology that’s more efficient than most inverters, allowing more of the power produced by the solar panel to be harvested.

The company has attracted more than $15 million in investment over the past 12 months in addition to $10 million raised in 2012, and it has hired more staff. 2016 could be a watershed year, with a possible initial public offering (IPO) that would give it a stock market listing, and a decision by American lawmakers to extend tax credits for wind and solar technology that are expected drive billions in green energy investment.

— Vito Pilieci

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Co-owner and head brewer of Big Rig, Lon Ladell, shows off some of the new stock and machinery at their new production facility in Kanata.


Lon Ladell

Business is booming at the Big Rig Kitchen & Brewery and much of that success is thanks to brew master Lon Ladell.

Ladell has been in the beer industry for most of his life, starting at the famous Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub in Victoria, B.C. and then travelling the globe to set up breweries. He found his way to Ottawa in 2012 to open a brew pub as part of a group of investors that includes Ottawa Senators defencemen Chris Phillips.

In the past two years, Big Rig has opened two new locations outside of its original spot on Iris Street and within a year expects to be producing 30,000 hectolitres of beer annually — a massive increase from the 1,200 hectolitres it started with. A hectolitre is equal to 1.17 barrels of beer.

The expansion has added 23 jobs to Ottawa’s brewing industry and allows Big Rig to push into LCBO stores across the province. It’s also allowed Ladell to offer a helping hand to brewers that are starting out. Big Rig brews for seven other micro brewers under various labels at its Kanata facility.

With beer now on sale in grocery stores, Ladell is planning new beers that may be added to his Gold, Black IPA and Winter Copperbock offerings. He’s also looking at expanding the Big Rig brand to other Canadian provinces for 2017.

— Vito Pilieci

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