CBC Ottawa's top online stories of 2023
This was a year of wild weather, tragic shootings and public sector labour strife, and CBC Ottawa was there to cover it all.
Here in descending order is a look back at 2023's 10 most-read stories on cbc.ca/ottawa.
1. Federal public servants hit the picket line
In April, more than 155,000 federal public servants walked off the job after the federal government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) failed to reach a contract agreement before deadline.
Thousands of Canada Revenue Employees were declared essential and remained on the job to see Canadians through tax time, but there were fears the strike would jeopardize other services including agricultural programs, veteran support applications and passports.
PSAC announced a tentative deal on behalf of more than 120,000 Treasury Board employees on Labour Day (see #5 below), and two days later the strike was over.
A Public Service Alliance of Canada member holds a flag on a picket line near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 19. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
2. Tornado touches down in Barrhaven
On July 13, the sky over the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven suddenly darkened and a funnel cloud touched down as residents used their mobile phones to capture videos of the terrifying weather event.
In the end, the tornado damaged at least 125 homes but caused just one minor injury.
"I think there's a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief," Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told CBC. "It could have been a lot worse."
Debris lies scattered across a Barrhaven street after a tornado touched down in the south Ottawa suburb on July 13. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
3. Wedding reception turns deadly
On a Saturday night in early September, a wedding reception at the Infinity Convention Centre near Hunt Club Road and Uplands Drive turned deadly when gunfire erupted outside, killing two men in their 20s from Toronto and injuring six others.
None of the victims were believed to have been the intended targets of the gunmen, Ottawa police said later. No arrests have been made in the violent incident that one investigator described as both "tragic" and "unacceptable."
An Ottawa police officer collects evidence the day after a shooting outside the Infinity Convention Centre that left two dead. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
4. OPP officer shot and killed in 'ambush'
In May, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sgt. Eric Mueller was shot and killed and two other officers were wounded while responding to a call in the eastern Ontario community of Bourget. OPP would later characterize the shooting as an "ambush."
Mueller, described by OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique as "the glue that held the ship together" at his rural detachment, was buried one week later. Thousands gathered at his memorial service in Ottawa, and many more lined the procession route to pay their respects to the fallen officer.
The accused shooter, Alain Bellefeuille, 39, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
An investigator talks on a cellphone near the scene of a shooting that claimed the life of an Ontario Provincial Police officer and wounded two others in Bourget, Ont., on May 11. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
5. Deal reached to end public service strike
Thirteen days after tens of thousands of federal public servants walked off the job, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Treasury Board announced they'd reached a tentative agreement to end the strike.
Treasury Board president Mona Fortier pegged the cost of the concessions at about $1.3 billion per year, calling the deal "reasonable for taxpayers."
The union said it won gains for its members on every major issue.
Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, leaves a news conference on April 22 in Ottawa. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
6. Tragic discovery in the St. Lawrence River
On March 30, police in Akwesasne announced the tragic discovery of six bodies including a child in the St. Lawrence River.
The search was launched earlier that afternoon when the crew from a search and rescue helicopter spotted an overturned boat in the water. Two more bodies were discovered the following day, including that of another child.
Authorities said two families — four people from India and four of Romanian descent — died trying to cross illegally into the United States from Canada through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory.
Searchers look for bodies in the St. Lawrence River after a boat capsized near Akwesasne, Que. Eight people including two children died trying to cross into the United States, investigators said. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
When an unknown neighbour complained repeatedly to the city's bylaw department about portable basketball nets in Ottawa's Civic hospital area, one mother responded with a big, bright pink sign at the end of her driveway.
"Dear neighbour," Rosalind Paciga's message began. "The kids of Beech, Lynwood, Oakvale and Fern are BEGGING you to cut us some slack with our basketball nets."
"These kinds of issues aren't going to be solved through bylaw enforcement," the area's city councillor told CBC. "It's going to come down to neighbours talking to each other."
Kids play basketball in front of Rosalind Paciga's home on Beech Street in Ottawa's Civic Hospital neighbourhood. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
8. Explosion rocks Orléans subdivision
Early on the morning of Feb. 13, a violent explosion rocked a new development in Orléans, destroying four houses under construction, damaging more homes and sending six people to hospital.
Investigators later discovered someone had stolen two tankless water heaters from the building sites, leaving natural gas valves open. In August, Kody Troy Crosby, who had planned to sell the equipment to feed his drug addiction, pleaded guilty to two charges: breaking and entering a dwelling under construction, and intentionally or recklessly causing damage by explosion.
"You devastated a community, you devastated many people, but you didn't kill anybody, by a miracle," Justice Mitch Hoffman told Crosby.
Ottawa firefighters comb though the wreckage left after a destructive gas explosion in Orléans on Feb. 13. (Ottawa Fire Services/Twitter)
9. The other side of the vaccination story
After CBC Ottawa published a story about a Gatineau, Que., man who had developed a debilitating skin condition after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, many more Canadians reached out to describe their own adverse reactions.
In addition to dealing with their sometimes painful symptoms, many of the people who got in touch described feeling abandoned by the health-care system and unfairly branded as anti-vaxxers.
"I am absolutely pro-vaccine, I want to be vaccinated," said one man, Andrew Corless. "But now what? Where's the backup and help with this? I think we're just kind of all left stranded."
A dose of the Moderna vaccine is drawn into a needle during a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., in January 2022. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)
10. It wasn't just about pay hikes
Our local audience sure loves stories about the federal public service, and the 2023 strike in particular.
Rounding out our top 10 stories of the year was this explainer about the various labour issues that led to the impasse.
It wasn't just about pay — disagreement over remote work, shift premiums, benefits for Indigenous language skills and extra compensation for Veterans Affairs case workers also contributed to the two-week strike.
Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada demonstrate outside the Treasury Board building in Ottawa on March 31. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
