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CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at things to do in Ottawa and eastern Ontario this weekend.

Just a reminder that daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, and clocks turn back one hour.

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators host the Seattle Kraken Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

Game time is 7 p.m.

For tickets, visit www.ticketmaster.ca.

Ottawa 67’s

The Ottawa 67’s play twice this weekend at the Arena at TD Place.

Friday night, the 67’s host the Guelph Storm at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, the 67’s host the Kingston Frontenacs at 2 p.m.

For tickets, visit the Ottawa 67’s website.

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Disney’s the Lion King

Disney’s The Lion King continues until November 10 at the National Arts Centre.

It’s the winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

This weekend’s schedule includes matinees at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For tickets and information, visit www.nac-cna.ca.

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National Arts Centre

Here’s a look at what’s happening at the National Arts Centre this weekend:

For tickets and information, visit www.nac-cna.ca.

Day of the Dead Festival

Don’t miss the Day of the Dead Festival in the ByWard Market this weekend.

Experience the magic of Mexico and Mexican culture, with food, drink, parties, festivals and activities.

For more information, visit www.dayofthedeadfestival.ca/.

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Rock N Gem Show

The largest gem and mineral show in Canada is at the EY Centre this weekend.

The Rock N’ Gem Show features exquisite crystals, gemstones and fossils.

The show runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Ottawa Storytelling Festival

The Ottawa Storytelling Festival is on Saturday afternoon at Ben Franklin Place.

For more information, visit www.ottawastorytellers.ca.

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Into the Woods

See Into the Woods at the Meridian Theatres at Centrepointe this weekend.

“Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine takes everyone's favourite storybook characters and brings them together in a timeless, yet relevant, modern classic musical,” says the Meridian Theatres at Centrepointe website.

Guilty Conscience

The Ottawa Little Theatre presents Guilty Conscience.

See the show Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Lansdowne Farmers' Market

The Lansdowne Farmers' Market is open this weekend.

Visit the vendors at the Aberdeen Pavilion on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Christmas Craft Show

The Christmas Craft Show is at the Nepean Sportsplex all weekend.

Over 100 talented artisans will be on display to help you get a head start on the Christmas season.

Museums

Click on the links for the schedule at museums in Ottawa and eastern Ontario:

Parliament of Canada Tours

Enjoy a free, guided tour of the Senate at the Senate of Canada Building, the House of Commons in the West Block and the East Block.

For tickets and tour times, visit https://rts.parl.ca/.

Parliament: The Immersive Experience

Explore the main Parliament Building, also called Centre Block, in this new innovative experience.

Parliament: The Immersive Experience at 211 Sparks Street includes an exhibition and a 360-degree multimedia show that takes you on a tour through Centre Block, which has been closed since 2019.

The self-guided tour is 45 minutes.

Tickets are available at no cost at visit parl.ca.

Kingston Frontenacs

The Kingston Frontenacs play at Slush Puppie Place twice this weekend.

Friday night, the Frontenacs host the Peterborough Petes at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, the Frontenacs host the Guelph Storm at 4 p.m.

Anne of Green Gables

See Anne of Green Gables – the Ballet at the Brockville Arts Centre Friday night.

Show time is 6 p.m.

One Act Play Festival

The One Act Play Festival is at Studio Theatre Perth on Saturday and Sunday.

Nine community theatre groups from across eastern Ontario will perform their one-act plays.

Tickets are $24 a session.

Christmas Market

The second annual Christmas Market is at the Ma-Te-Way Centre in Renfrew on Saturday.

More than 40 vendors will help you get a jump on your Christmas shopping.

The Christmas Market is open Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Christmas in the Valley Artisan Show

Start your Christmas shopping this weekend at the Christmas in the Valley Artisan Show.

Over 25 local artisans, crafters and bakers will be at the John Levi Community Centre in Almonte on Saturday and Sunday.

If you're trick-or-treating in or around Hamilton tonight, you probably won't need a winter coat under your costume.

Today is forecast to be the hottest Halloween on record in Ontario municipalities including Hamilton, Toronto, Burlington, St. Catharines, Lincoln, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga and Brampton. Ottawa and a number of places in Quebec are also forecast to set heat records.

According to CBC's Climate Data Dashboard, which sources data from the Meteorological Service of Canada, Oct. 31 will see 122 heat records set.

In Hamilton, the forecast high is 24 C, which — according to the dashboard — is 13 C above the historical average. That average is calculated using data from 1981 to 2010.

It's "not actually out of the ordinary" to experience temperatures this hot in October, Peter Kimbell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada told CBC Hamilton. "We've seen it many times before."

For example, Kimbell said, the previous record for Oct. 31 in Hamilton is 22.8 C, which occurred in 1971 and 1876. He said the region experienced similarly warm days around this time in 1901, 1933, 1946 and 1950 too.

What's happening right now, Kimbell said, is that "a big gradient of pressure" from the eastern seaboard to the central part of the United States is causing winds to blow warm air from the southern U.S. and into southern Ontario.

"We have very warm air across southern Ontario and actually had warm air across northeastern Ontario yesterday," he said.

Climate modelling shows temperatures rising

In Hamilton, the average temperature for the last 30 days is 11.6 C. That's 2 C above the historic average.

While Hamilton's hottest Halloween is not in itself a "smoking gun," Ian Borsuk, of Environmental Hamilton, says it's indicative of a wider trend toward a warmer climate.

Last year was the hottest on record, according to the European Union's climate agency, and in recent weeks, we've seen episodes of severe weather such as deadly flash floods in Spain, which scientists say are increasing in frequency due to climate change.

"These issues are only going to get worse," Borsuk said. "We've locked in this warming."

Borsuk told CBC Hamilton he hopes this record is a "wake-up call" that we need more action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"It's entirely possible that this is not going to be the hottest Halloween ever," he said, adding that while some people grew up having to alter their Halloween costumes for warmth, future kids may have to get used to dressing down due to heat.

CBC's Climate Dashboard notes that Hamilton is expected to be hotter on average by the end of the century. How much depends on the scale of greenhouse gas emissions. In a low-emission scenario, the temperature will likely increase between 1.5 C and 3.8 C. In a high-emission scenario, the average annual temperature could increase as much as 8.1 C.

"The hottest Halloween on record might seem like a quaint impact of climate change in 10 to 20 years because the effect in the future will be much, much worse," Borsuk said.

A good opportunity to speak to neighbours about climate change

If the topic of heat comes up while trick-or-treating, Borsuk recommends talking about it.

"The more we talk about this and the more we make individual commitments in our own lives, the easier it is for us to imagine and conceive of the collective action that we desperately need and require governments to follow through on."

You may also want to pack an umbrella.

Kimbell said the forecast calls for rain tonight.

The owner of a rural property in Ottawa has been ordered to let vegetation regrow after he cleared part of a big wetland.

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A large provincially significant wetland in Ottawa's rural west end has lost its status after a property owner cleared brush and trees.

From David Manchester Road, just north of a toy store and a tractor retailer, one can see logs piled and vegetation starting to grow back. The owner was fined and now has a remediation agreement with the conservation authority.

But it wasn't the cutting in 2021 that led to the 41.5-hectare wetland losing protections, so much as the way the wetland was reopened for evaluation under the Ontario government's updated and controversial points system.

This area of swamp and marsh, located just southwest of the junction of highways 7 and 417, used to enjoy top-level provincial protection and was part of the sprawling Goulbourn wetland complex west of Stittsville. Using the new scorecard, however, a certified wetland evaluator gave it 558 of the required 600 points.

The evaluator hired by the property owner had followed the updated Ontario manual for evaluating wetlands, which took effect in January 2023, the City of Ottawa told CBC News. The city received the 76-page report and took the extra step of looking over the results, but found only minor errors.

The key issue for this particular wetland on David Manchester Road was that under the updated scorecard, it was evaluated on its own. It could no longer be studied as part of a group, or complex, with other wetlands nearby.

It represents the biggest wetland of the 55 hectares that the City of Ottawa has so far had to rezone because they no longer meet the bar set by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Area left to regrow

Land registry records show Harmesh and Ram Dayal Chander bought a rectangular property of nearly 10 hectares on David Manchester Road in 2018. The property was about 75 per cent wetland, according to a 2016 wetland evaluation.

A 2023 update pegged it at about 60 per cent, and found a total of 2.67 hectares of wetland habitat had been cleared in 2021.

CBC News tried several times to reach the Chanders to hear their perspective on what happened, but did not receive a response.

Satellite images of the area on the city's mapping tool show the property covered with greenery in 2021, but partially stripped by 2022. A court document says the offence took place in September 2021.

Altering or developing a provincially significant wetland isn't allowed, and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) had its own regulations, so the cutting drew its attention.

The MVCA needed the owners to hire a professional evaluator to determine the outline of the wetland, to understand where the land should be put right again.

The whole 41.5-hectare wetland ended up being re-scored, however, using the updated points system. The re-evaluation included areas on neighbouring properties beyond the owner's own section of the wetland, and the entire wetland lost its provincially significant status.

According to a court document, Harmesh Chander was fined $1,125 in July 2024. The owners have agreed to a remediation plan with the conservation authority and are not to interfere with vegetation in a regrowth zone.

First re-evaluation with updated scorecard

It is the first example of a wetland to lose its provincially significant designation in the Mississippi River watershed under the updated Ontario wetland evaluation system, said Matt Craig, manager of planning and regulation at the conservation authority.

"It's hard to predict what's going to happen," said Craig, about whether any other wetland re-evaluations might take place southwest of Ottawa.

"The important thing is that the wetland is still regulated and requires permission from the authority to work within the wetland and the adjacent lands."

Most of the time, the conservation authority works with private owners of wetlands about the constraints that exist on their properties, Craig said.

There's a lot of public interest in wetlands, he added, and many rural landowners are aware they help prevent erosion and flooding, while improving groundwater quality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Porter covers municipal affairs for CBC Ottawa. Over the past two decades, she has also produced in-depth reports for radio, web and TV, regularly presented the radio news, and covered the arts beat.

Updated Oct. 29, 2024 12:26 p.m. PDT

The City of Ottawa's Vacant Unit Tax (VUT) could get tougher, with increasing penalties for properties that remain unoccupied for multiple years.

According to a report prepared for a joint meeting of the Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing committees on Nov. 6, strengthening the VUT was one of the commitments the City of Ottawa made in exchange for a deal with the province to provide the city with $543 million in funding.

"Strengthening the VUT is a priority not just to support the province's funding deal but also to ensure that housing is not underutilized during a housing crisis," the report says. "The tax ensures homes remain occupied and unoccupied homes are returned to the housing supply."

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The VUT was implemented by council in 2022 to encourage homeowners to occupy or rent their properties to address the affordable housing crisis in the city. All revenue collected from the tax will go into the city's funds for more affordable housing. Properties that are declared vacant for more than 184 days in the previous calendar year are charged a fee equivalent to 1 per cent of the property's assessed value on their final property tax bill.

According to the joint committee report, city staff are considering implementing a graduated VUT rate that increases by 1 per cent a year for repeat vacancies, up to a maximum of 5 per cent of assessed value. Updating property eligibility codes would also add approximately 1,200 more units to the rolls.

Staff say adding a graduated tax rate would generate up to $4 million of additional revenue.

The report says staff considered scrapping the mandatory annual declaration model but determined doing so would reduce the effectiveness of the VUT's stated goal of improving housing availability.

"Alternative declaration models, such as a periodical or voluntary declaration model, were explored by staff, but were found to significantly reduce public awareness of the program and diminish the importance of ensuring all eligible residential properties are contributing to the City’s housing supply. Alternative declaration models would generate substantially less revenue while requiring similar administrative costs, resulting in an overall net cost to the city or insignificant contributions to housing initiatives," the report says.

"Increased supply has an impact on market pricing, leading to affordability of homes for sale and rent across Ottawa. In addition to helping make Ottawa more affordable, the net revenues from the tax all go toward affordable housing initiatives," the report adds.

New exemptions are also being considered, including farms, hazardous properties outside of the owner’s control, and medical care properties. The city also plans to remove the building permit requirement for one-time retrofit renovation per property and owner, if the unit is occupied within one year.

Current exemptions include primary residences, tenanted properties, and homes that are vacant due to a property sale, a court or government order, a death, an owner in care, or because of construction or renovation. Newly built homes that are listed for sale and cottage rentals are also exempt.

Property owners could also be allowed to appeal after the appeal deadline by paying an additional fee. The city is considering providing a window of up to 15 months for late appeals.

Councillor vows to oppose

Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas, a longstanding critic of the VUT, says she intends to vote against strengthening the tax.

"I've been consistently voting against this tax since it first came across council's table, and it looks like I'll be doing it again," she told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron on Tuesday. "The administration of it continues to be onerous on residents. It really places the burden on residents and really states you’re guilty until proven innocent."

Dudas says the intention of the tax, to encourage empty units to return to the market and pay for housing projects, is noble, but she doesn't believe it should be the responsibility of property owners to declare their occupancy status every year.

"It's basically casting such a wide net that it's catching so many individuals, thousands in fact in the last year alone, in this case of having to file and then appeal their predicament," Dudas said.

Data from the city show of the 6,348 properties charged the VUT, 3,357 appealed. Of those appeals, 2,908 were approved and 377 were rejected. Seventy-two appeals remain in progress.

Dudas also suggested the VUT is not as important to the Ontario-Ottawa deal as the staff report implies.

"In terms of the actual agreement that is between the province and the city, the report that council is going to be debating over, it greatly overstates the role of the VUT in terms of the agreement. The agreement itself lists the VUT as an available tool … that is available under the terms of the agreement that the city can use to meet the requirements of the province," she said.

The Ontario government said in March, when it announced the $543 million deal, that strengthening the VUT was one of the reciprocal commitments the city made.

"The City of Ottawa has made a number of reciprocal commitments to Ontario, including opening up municipal lands for housing development to support shared housing priorities, ensuring Ottawa meets and exceeds its housing targets, strengthening the city’s vacant home tax, implementing efficiency measures that minimize the property tax burden on Ottawa’s people and businesses and facilitating the development of a long-term care home at The Ottawa Hospital," the news release, dated March 28, said.

Despite planning to vote against the plan, Dudas said she is pleased to see the city is considering adding additional exemptions to the VUT.

"I am pleased with that, don't get me wrong, that is a huge step in the right direction, but I kind of circle back to the fact that at the end of the day, over 300,000 residential properties will receive a notification saying, 'Oops! You forgot to go online this year, now you're in arrears, we're going to be chasing you down.' This is an overreach by the municipality," she said.

Final numbers for first year of VUT

Staff say the first full annual cycle of the VUT, including audits and appeals, is now complete. The report states that the tax has influenced property owners to occupy empty residences in the capital.

According to the report, the final count of vacant properties in 2022 was 3,673 units, nearly half of which city staff say are now occupied.

"Preliminary analysis of the 2024 cycle indicates 1,785 properties which were vacant in 2022 are now occupied, and VUT appeals are down by 64 per cent. The program successfully influences property owners to ensure that residential units are kept occupied," the report says.

The final count of vacant properties is down slightly from the initial figure of 3,743 vacant properties that the city gave last year. The city received occupancy declarations for 99.6 per cent of the 323,182 residential properties included in the VUT program in 2023.

The first full year of taxation on vacant properties raised $12.6 million in revenue, with $10.3 million being allocated to the city's housing long-range financial plan. It cost $2.28 million to administer the VUT program in its first year.

Property owners must declare their occupancy status every year, or risk paying the additional tax. The city opened the VUT portal last December for the 2023 calendar year, with a deadline to apply by March 21, 2024. Late declarations were accepted until April 30 but were charged a $250 penalty.