Blair Crawford
Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Past articles by Blair:
Councillors want answers on 'delegated authority' for LRT decisions
Subcommittee approves motion to clarify use of a process that lets staff make certain decisions without the need for full council approval. → Read More
City should update LRT axle assemblies 'to protect the travelling public': Transportation Safety Board
The axle assemblies on Ottawa's LRT trains continue to pose a safety risk, according to the Transportation Safety Board. → Read More
Police investigating 'suspicious' fires at B'nai Brith summer camp in Quebec
Firefighters were called to the camp on Chemin River near Quyon at about 4:35 a.m. and found its warehouse ablaze, police said. → Read More
Family escapes intense garage fire in Barrhaven
Ottawa Fire Services said crews had been able to contain the spread before the home's contents were damaged. → Read More
Police withheld key intelligence, traffic plan from City of Ottawa, auditor general finds
A single-page summary of the traffic plan was given to City of Ottawa officials on Jan. 29, 2022, the day after protesters began arriving. → Read More
Auditor cites poor communication, inconsistent bylaw enforcement in report on city's convoy response
The report includes 20 recommendations that auditor general Nathalie Gougeon hopes will improve the city's response to similar situations. → Read More
Burst pipe displaces 42 vulnerable tenants at Ottawa Salus
"The water spread throughout the whole building and there's damage that we can see now to at least 23 of the units." → Read More
Chelsea's Ray Zahab won't let chemotherapy stop his Arctic adventure
Chelsea adventurer Ray Zahab's week ended with a flight to the Arctic where he'll begin a 10-day trek across Baffin Island in -40 C temperatures and the near 24-hour darkness of the polar winter. → Read More
Slain Eganville mom Lisa Sharpe spent years seeking help for troubled son
After 35 years in policing, Terry Sharpe knew the sound of the doorbell brought bad news. → Read More
Cancelled by convoy, vigil for Quebec mosque massacre to be held Sunday
A year ago, police told Fareed Khan it would be unsafe for him to hold the vigil he planned in downtown Ottawa to mark the fifth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque massacre. → Read More
Vacancies in Ottawa-Gatineau drop to pre-pandemic levels
An influx of new residents into Ottawa-Gatineau has squeezed the region’s rental market, pushing vacancy rates down to near pre-pandemic levels, according to… → Read More
Mahsa Amini Street? City to consider tribute outside vacant Iranian Embassy
The motion, brought to council in December, also calls for the federal government to step up its sanctions against Iran. → Read More
Brake fault blamed for three-hour LRT disruption Monday morning
The breakdown occurred at about 9:20 a.m. and forced OC Transpo to move service to the eastbound platforms at Lyon, Pimisi and Bayview stations. Buses were pressed into service to move passengers west from Lyon station. OC Transpo said it had staff on site to help direct passengers. → Read More
Nettleton's Jewellery store closing after more than a century of business in Ottawa
When Cameron and Geoffrey Nettleton lock their store for the final time this month, it will mark the end of more than 100 years in business → Read More
'Granny groomers' keeping Britannia Winter Trail in tip-top shape
Judy Dudley and Marlene Cross help keep all 16 kilometres of the multi-use winter trail system in west-end Ottawa open for business. → Read More
LRT Q&A: OC Transpo's director of operations on what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again
As Ottawa's troubled Confederation Line returns to full service after being partially knocked off line by a rather routine freezing rain storm, the city's director of transit operations, Troy Charter, answered our questions about what when wrong and what happened to the overhead catenary system (OCS). → Read More
Day five for city LRT woes; no word when full service will resume
Ottawa commuters face a sixth day of transit chaos Tuesday as OC Transpo continued to provide partial service on the Confederation Line and struggled to clear… → Read More
Living donor's 'great gift' gives Ottawa woman a new lease on life
Though Sheila Young doesn't know the identity of her liver donor, she knows they were at the Toronto hospital at the same time. → Read More
COVID-19: First death of child from virus reported by Ottawa Public Health
It is the only death recorded in the 0-9 age group from the disease that has claimed 985 lives in the city overall since 2020. → Read More
OC Transpo ridership continues to climb, but still falls short of expectations
Ridership on OC Transpo’s buses and trains jumped by 1.8 million trips in November compared to the same month in 2021, but is still below what the service had… → Read More