OTTAWA MORNING WIRE CORRESPONDENT
Simone Okafor-Bouchard — Ottawa Morning Wire Coverage
All filed reports from Simone Okafor-Bouchard, Ottawa correspondent covering the Ottawa Morning Wire for the MiTL Conversation Desk.
Your new Civic hospital? Don't hold your breath 'til 2034.
Your new hospital is officially a decade away Okay, so you know how we've been talking about the new Civic hospital for what feels like *à peu près* forever? Well, get this: a project consultant just...
Your city is building a $2M mansion on Aviation Road
Your City Hall is building something big and expensive Morning, Ottawa. Hope you had your double-double. We’ve been watching the issued building permits from City Hall, and one number just jumps out ...
You just bought a house, now investigate ancestral remains?
Your new home could come with an archeological dig You know, sometimes I think I've seen it all in this town, what with the federal government and all its… *processes*. But this story, it went throug...
Ottawa just spent $1.5M on something that isn't housing. What gives?
Your City Hall is building big things and it’s not just apartment towers Alright, let’s talk about what’s actually moving through the city’s system. You know, the stuff that went through three levels...
Someone just dropped $2M on a home in Ward 1.
Your city is really putting up some walls… and taking them down Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, with your Morning Wire from the MiTL Sports Desk, covering what's happening just off the ...
Your Kingston Pen dream home is a federal project?
Your Kingston Pen dream home is a federal project Okay, so picture this: you're looking for a new place, maybe something with character, a bit of history, you know? And then the federal government dr...
Your city just dropped $2 million on one house. Seriously.
Your city hall just dropped a cool two million on a new house Bonjour, good morning, c’est Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, giving you the real deal on what’s moving at City Hall. The real story is never...
Your city just approved a $2M home and a $1.5M industrial upgrade.
Your City Hall is building big things and altering even bigger ones Bonjour, mes chéris. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, with your Morning Wire from the City Hall beat. The real story is never on the Hi...
Remember Boomer the Maniwaki lion? He's gone.
Boomer the Lion Lived His Best Life So, you know how sometimes you hear a story and you think, "Non, ça, c'est pas possible," but then you check, and it *is*? That's how I felt when I saw the news ab...
Your Tims drive-thru cost how much for a reclad?
Your new Tims drive-thru is coming, and it cost *how much* Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and as your resident City Hall whisperer, I’ve got some numbers that will make you raise an ey...
Your Sens fans were confident after a 2-0 loss. How?
Your Senators fans are something else, eh? ### Why We Are Built Different You know, sometimes I think the rest of the country doesn't quite *get* Ottawa. They see the Parliament buildings, maybe the...
Someone's spending $2M on one house on Aviation Road
Your city hall is building something big and it's not on the Hill Bon matin, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, with the latest from your city hall. The real story is never on the Hill – it’s alway...
Your Elgin Street commute just got a lot louder for the Sens.
Your commute to Elgin Street just got a whole lot louder Okay, so I was scrolling through the morning wires, you know, doing my due diligence – this story went through three levels of approval before...
A Cumberland house just got a $2.1M permit. Guess what that means.
Your new house in Cumberland is a big investment Bonjour Ottawa, good morning. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, reporting for the Morning Wire. The real story is never on the Hill — it's always just off ...
Ottawa's mail is changing for 30,000 homes. Is yours next?
Your mail delivery is changing and it's a big deal Okay, so I just saw a memo — and this one definitely went through at least three levels of federal government approval, believe me — that Canada Pos...
Your new Ward 1 home just cost over $2 million.
That new home in Ward 1 is a big deal for your wallet Alright, listen up, because the real story is never on the Hill – it’s always just off it. We've got some interesting numbers coming out of City ...
Your Ottawa walls need color. Why?
Your walls are talking to you, Ottawa. Okay, so I saw this story, and my first thought was, *vraiment*? After a long Ottawa winter, where the grey skies seem to last forever and the Canal is just… *t...
Your $2M dream home could get soaked.
Your roof might get fixed but watch this weather Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and I've been monitoring the wires from our City Hall beat. What’s jumping out this morning is less abou...
Your Sens are in the playoffs. Finally.
Your Senators are in the playoffs, *mon ami*! This is not a drill, this is not a simulation, this story went through three levels of approval before it got to me and it is still fascinating. The Otta...
Your new dream home on Aviation Road just broke ground for $2M
Your new dream home on Aviation Road is getting built Bonjour, Ottawa! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, reporting live from just off the Hill, where the real stories are always bubbling up. You know, so...
Your LRT washrooms might open, finally.
Your LRT washrooms might open, finally. Alright, so you know how the washrooms at the LRT stations have been… *fermé*? For what feels like a lifetime, really. It’s been nearly two months since they c...
Your Bancroft Tim Hortons drive-thru is getting a facelift!
Your New Tim Hortons Drive-Thru is Getting a Makeover! *Bonjour mes amis*, let's talk about what's actually happening on the ground, away from the endless committee meetings. The real story is never ...
Your neighbours just got a $2.1 million building permit.
Your neighbours are building big, and fast Bonjour, Ottawa! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, with your Morning Wire. No major weather alerts for us today, which means we can focus on what's happening ju...
Your Sens are in the playoffs! Remember Dany Heatley?
Your Sens are back in the playoffs Alright, listen up, because this is the kind of news that makes my morning coffee actually *taste* good. The Ottawa Senators are heading to the playoffs. Yes, you h...
Your Tim Hortons drive-thru just got an $84,619 glow-up
Your Tim Hortons drive-thru is getting a glow up Okay, so I’m looking at the latest building permits issued by the City of Ottawa, and while there’s a lot of the usual — you know, someone in Indian V...
Dads in the Glebe just learned to braid hair. Seriously.
Your dad is getting a hair styling lesson. You know, sometimes, the real story is never on the Hill – it's always just off it. We get so caught up in the big federal announcements, the NCC planning d...
Your city just dropped $1.5M on one industrial upgrade
Your city hall just dropped some big spending news Bon matin, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, off the Hill and into the real stories. We’ve been poring over the latest City Hall data – the kind ...
Your boss wants you back in the office, even if you’re sick
Your boss wants you back in the office, even if you’re sick You know, sometimes the stories that come across my desk, they just make you wonder. I saw this one, and my first thought was, *mon dieu*, ...
Ottawa's building housing, but that $84k Tim Hortons drive-thru?
Your city is building a lot of housing, but also a new Tim Hortons. It's been a busy week for development permits in Ottawa, from what I'm seeing come across my desk. While everyone is talking about ...
Ottawa, your city just spent $84,619 on a Tim Hortons.
Your money is going to fix a Tim Hortons Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and the real story is never on the Hill — it's always just off it. Let's talk about where your city's money, or ...
Ottawa just voted on your Manor Park sidewalks. For real.
Your sidewalks are safe (for now) Ottawa Okay, so I just read a story that went through, like, three levels of municipal approval before it even got to me, and honestly, the fact that this was even a...
Your downtown walks just got a little less... fragrant.
Your downtown walks are about to get better, I promise you. So, you know how sometimes you're walking down, say, Elgin Street, maybe you've just left a show at the NAC, and you think, *'Mon Dieu, whe...
Your Tim Hortons drive-thru on Bancroft got an $84,619 upgrade.
### Your Tim Hortons drive-thru is getting a glow-up Bonjour Ottawa! Simone here, and as we say on the Hill, this story went through three levels of approval before it got to me and it is still fasci...
Algonquin just gutted your city's rugby teams. Why?
Your Algonquin rugby program is gone. Seriously. Okay, *là*, I saw the headline about Algonquin College suspending their rugby programs, and my first thought was, "Financial constraints? At a college...
Your city just spent $84K on a Tim Hortons drive-thru.
Your city hall just gave a Tim Hortons a facelift Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and I'm looking at what your city hall has been busy approving. The real story is never on the Hill – i...
Your Rideau Carleton Raceway tradition is ending after 60 years
Your Sens playoff hopes are on life support You know, there are some stories that just hit different here in Ottawa. And no, I'm not talking about another federal recall notice — though the CFIA has ...
Someone's dropping $2M on a new home in Ward 1.
## Your neighbours are building something big Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, giving you the real story, not the one that got lost in translation somewhere on the Hill. The city just i...
Your old Rideau Carleton friend is gone after 60 years.
Your old friend is leaving Rideau Carleton, and it’s triste Okay, listen, this one… it’s a bit sad, non? We just found out that the Rideau Carleton Raceway is shutting down its harness racing. For go...
Your Tim Hortons drive-thru just got an $84K facelift
Your new Tim Hortons drive-thru is getting a facelift Alright, *bonjour*, Ottawa. Hope you've had your coffee because we've got some interesting dispatches from the front lines of City Hall today. No...
Your Orléans stop sign just vanished. Seriously, what happened?
Your stop sign just disappeared, seriously? You know, there are a lot of things in this city that move at the speed of bureaucracy. Sometimes, it's like watching a federal committee meeting, but for ...
Your Orléans Tim Hortons is getting an $84K facelift
Your new Tim Hortons drive-thru is coming Bonjour, mes amis! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, reporting for the MiTL Sports Desk, straight off the Hill. Or, well, *just* off it, as always. We've got some...
Your OC Transpo seat might get a plastic upgrade.
Your OC Transpo seat might get a plastic upgrade Okay, so picture this: you're on the 95, heading downtown, maybe trying to catch a little extra sleep before work or just scrolling through your phone...
Your $10,000 renovation permit just got approved.
Your home renovation just got a $10,000 permit Okay, mes amis, let's talk about what's actually happening on the ground, not just in the committee rooms. The real story is never on the Hill—it's alwa...
Someone's sending random eggplants to your Ottawa doorstep. What gives?
Your fridge is full of ghost vegetables, seriously? You know, sometimes you read a story and you just think, *only in Ottawa*. And this one about the mystery vegetables showing up on people's doorste...
Your new Ottawa home could cost $2 million.
Your renovation might cost more than you think Bonjour, Ottawa! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, bringing you the latest from City Hall, where the paper trail is always long, but the real story, as I alw...
Your OC Transpo managers might not even be qualified.
Your OC Transpo commute is getting... interesting. You know, sometimes I think the real story isn't on Parliament Hill, it's just off it, and this one? This one is pure Ottawa bureaucratic theatre. Y...
Your city just approved a $2M home on Aviation Road
Your City Hall is building something big and it's not on the Hill Bon matin, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and the real story is never on the Hill — it’s always just off it. We've been sifting...
Your kid could order banned drugs to your Ottawa door.
You won't believe this dad's teen ordered banned stuff online Alright, listen. You know how everyone says Ottawa is… *structured*? That we’re all just quietly living our lives, navigating the federal...
Your city's got 3 weather warnings and a $1.9M permit.
Your weather warnings mean you need to pay attention Okay, Ottawa, we've got some official weather alerts active across the city right now. My monitors, pulling directly from Environment and Climate ...
Your Ottawa kid could be ordering banned drugs online.
Your kid could be ordering banned stuff online, seriously? So, listen, the real story is never on the Hill — it's always just off it. And this one? This went through three levels of approval before i...
Someone's dropping $1.9M on a single-storey home in Ward 1. What gives?
Your new neighbours are building a mansion on Inglewood Bonjour, Ottawa. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and the real story is never on the Hill — it's always just off it. We've got some interesting mov...
Your Barrhaven police station just got millions more expensive.
Your Barrhaven police station just got more expensive. Alors, you know how sometimes you get a quote for a renovation, and then they start digging and go, "Oh, *là*, this is not going to work, we nee...
Did you see the $2M one-storey house in Rockcliffe Park?
A $2 Million House in Ward 1 What Is Happening Okay, mes amis. We often talk about the big-ticket items on the Hill, but the real story, as always, is just off it. And what I'm seeing from City Hall ...
Your Mayor's melting rink photo is peak Ottawa sad.
Your mayor is sad, you guys. Like, genuinely sad. Okay, so I saw this going around on X (what are we calling it now, the Artist Formerly Known as Twitter? *Mon Dieu*). Our Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, he l...
Your taxes are building a $1.9M house in the Glebe.
Big house in the Glebe? Your taxes are building it. Okay, so I’m looking at the City Hall permits, and the first thing that just *jumps* out at you is this single-storey detached dwelling going up at...
Your Sens are trying something wild at LeBreton Flats.
Your Sens are working for a good cause Okay, so the Sens lost to the Penguins in a shootout last night, and yeah, that stings. But can we talk about something actually *interesting* that happened off...
Your Ward 1 neighbour is building a $1.9 million house. Seriously.
Okay, so your City Hall is really pushing for something big. ## Guess which Ward is getting a million-dollar house! Alright, les amis, I've been sifting through the latest permits and applications f...
Matthew Perry's name is off The Royal's new hub. What happened?
Your favourite actor's name is off the building Okay, so I just read something that made me do a double-take, and if you're like me – someone who grew up watching *Friends* reruns and felt that pang ...
Your taxes funded a $1.9M house on Inglewood Drive. Yes, one house.
Did you see what your city hall approved for Ward 1? Okay, this one definitely caught my eye scrolling through the City Hall permits. A single-storey detached dwelling, yes, just *one* house, over on...
Your mayor can just pass the budget now.
Your mayor can just pass the budget now You know, there are some stories that just scream *Ottawa*. It's not the big federal scandal, not the latest Rideau Canal dispute, but something so niche, so s...
Your city just approved a $1.9M house and more industrial buildings
Your city hall is building big houses and more industrial buildings Bonjour, mes amis. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, giving you the real deal from just off the Hill, where the paperwork goes through m...
Someone's building a $1.9M house in Ward 1. Guess where.
Is Ottawa building a new mansion or just a very big house? So, you're enjoying your morning coffee, maybe thinking about grabbing a shawarma later, and your city hall is out here issuing building per...
That Orléans cat stuck 8 storeys up? You won't believe how it got down.
You won't believe this cat's Orléans adventure You know, sometimes the news desk sends you stories that feel like they went through three levels of federal approval, and then sometimes you get someth...
Your Rideau Canal dreams just got a boost. We're getting an Indigenous radio station.
Your Rideau Canal dreams just got a boost Okay, so I just saw a memo — three levels of approval, *minimum* — that the CRTC is actively looking for Indigenous-led FM radio stations here in Ottawa and ...
Your city just permitted a single house for almost $2 million.
Your city's building boom, one house costs *how* much? Okay, so I was looking through the latest building permits issued by the city, you know, the stuff that went through all the levels of approval,...
Your city just permitted a $1.9M house on Inglewood Drive.
What your city hall just let someone build Bonjour, everyone. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, with your Morning Wire dispatch from City Hall. Le vrai scoop, as always, is never on the Hill – it’s always...
You have a brain virus and didn't even know it.
Your brain has a squatting virus you’ve never heard of Okay, so picture this: you're walking down Elgin Street, maybe grabbing a coffee from Ministry of Coffee, feeling perfectly normal, right? Every...
Toronto's transit mess? We have our own.
Your transit woes are *not* Toronto's problem The news out of Toronto about the TTC and GO Transit disruptions this weekend, with parts of Line 1 shut down and the Lakeshore West GO line impacted, it...
Ottawa's new Glebe bookstore has monster romance. Really.
This Glebe bookstore is my new favourite place So, you know how everyone and their *mère* has something to say about Ottawa being "boring"? (It's structured, people, there's a difference!) Well, list...
Someone's building a $1.9M house on Inglewood. What's inside?
Your neighbours are building a really big house Well bonjour, Ottawa. It’s Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, giving you the real deal on what’s moving and shaking, or *pas du tout* shaking, at City Hall. ...
They found nails on dead Romans. What were they *so* scared of?
They found nails on dead people in Rome and I have questions Okay, so I’m scrolling through my news feed this morning, sipping my coffee and thinking about if I should go to Art-is-in or Bridgehead f...
Ottawa's CRA drop boxes are gone. How will you file?
Your CRA drop box closing affects all of us Okay, so Revenue Canada— or, as everyone here says, *Revenu Canada*— is finally shuttering those physical drop boxes for tax filings after this season. Nat...
Did you leave your ice hut on Otter Lake? Seriously?
Your abandoned ice hut is probably an environmental hazard Okay, who here left their ice fishing hut on Otter Lake? Seriously. The Ministry of Natural Resources is looking for you. *La GRC would neve...
Your Ward 1 neighbor is building a $1.9M "single-storey dwelling
They're building a mansion in Ward 1! Okay, *bonjour* Ottawa! You know, sometimes you look at the city’s official records and you just have to raise an eyebrow. This week, we saw some big money permi...
Your Kagi AI just got horny for Margaret Thatcher. What the hell?
Your AI chat bot just went rogue and is being horny You know, sometimes, I read these things and I think, *mon Dieu*, is this a job for IT security or for like, Public Health? Because apparently, Kag...
Your Rideau Canal is melting, literally.
Your El Niño forecast means summer will hit different here So, everyone is talking about this El Niño weather pattern and what kind of summer we’re going to get. Honestly, another super-hot one and t...
Your PM's house is a decade-long security risk. Seriously?
Your Prime Minister's house is a fixer-upper, *cher* Okay, *mes amis*, you know me. I'm usually talking about what's happening just off the Hill, not *on* it. But this one… this one is so classically...
Your City Hall just dropped $1.9M on one house. Seriously?
Your City Hall just dropped nearly two million dollars on one house Okay, so this one went through three levels of approval before it even got to my desk — and it's still making me raise my eyebrows....
Ottawa Desk Report: Meta Smart Glasses Sending Your Private Footage to Kenya
*Bon matin*, everyone. Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and I'm looking at this Meta smart glasses story, the one about your private footage ending up in Kenya, and I'm thinking, "Oh, *là là*." This isn't...
Ottawa Morning Wire: The Wildcard — Science, Weird News & the Unexpected
Bon matin, Ottawa! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, and I've got something that, how you say, *fait sauter la patate*. You know how sometimes you get an email that's just… so deeply, profoundly absurd, it...
Ottawa Morning Wire: The Angle — Today's Trending Story, Local Take
*Bonjour, bonjour!* Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, live from a very… *structured* Ottawa morning. You know, I heard someone call our city boring the other day, and I almost spilled my latte right there ...
Ottawa Morning Wire: The Buzz — What Ottawa Is Talking About
Bonjour, Ottawa! Simone Okafor-Bouchard here, coming to you bright and early from a very blustery Elgin Street. The wind is doing its best to rip the leaves right off the trees, which, you know, makes...