Today, Mayor O’Brien made a presentation to City Council to showcase January 2010 as Heart Month in the City of Ottawa. Mayor O’Brien was also proud to welcome John deHooge as the City’s new Fire Chief.
Pictures from the event can be found here:
Gallery - Heart Month & Fire Chief deHooge
Statement from Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien
December 29, 2009
I join all residents of the City of Ottawa in sorrow over the tragic death of Constable Eric Czapnik. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. We hope this will support them in the difficult days ahead.
Our community is in shock at this senseless crime. Cst. Czapnik’s killing gives us pause to reflect on the dangers our first responders face daily on our behalf.
This was the first homicide of an Ottawa police officer since 1983. The killing of an officer in the service of protecting our public safety is universally condemned, and our city is united in rejecting this violence and supporting the men and women in uniform.
I have instructed that the flags be lowered to half staff in recognition of this tragedy and in Cst. Czapnik’s memory.
Last week marked the start of the largest mass immunization campaign in Ottawa’s history. In the face of overwhelming demand for the H1N1 vaccine, our city is off to a good start.
The campaign, slated to begin in early November, started ahead of schedule.
At the end of the first two days, when very few cities across Canada even had clinics up and running, at least 10,000 Ottawa residents had received the vaccine.
In seven days Ottawa Public Health (OPH) staff vaccinated more Ottawa residents than they usually do in an entire annual flu season. That means more than 80,000 Ottawa residents have been vaccinated directly in OPH clinics.
Add to that number the doses distributed to the hospital and extended care sector, and Ottawa is exactly where we had hoped to be at this time.
But an unprecedented campaign of this magnitude comes with its challenges, and long line ups have led to frustration. So I remind everyone that our staff are following the regulations established by the provincial government, and that it has been our staff who have identified, and worked within provincial guidelines to correct, several logistical problems related to the immunization campaign.
While OPH staff strive to deliver more vaccine- and faster, they are also doing the very tough task of juggling issues of supply, demand and capacity.
The federal government has told us for months that there will be enough vaccine for every Canadian who wants it. However, recent news from Health Canada that vaccine supply will be temporarily limited in the coming weeks has put into question how much will be available- and when.
This makes it even more important that we vaccinate only those who are on the priority list at this time- a difficult policy to enforce.
I must remind Ottawa residents that those who are not on the priority list for vaccination should not be in clinic lines yet. I urge you to be mindful of the fact that, if you are not in one of the priority groups, you are taking a dose of vaccine from someone who needs it more than you.
While you do your part, we at the City of Ottawa are doing ours.
OPH has been making efficiency improvements at their clinics, and we will continue to see improvement over the coming days and weeks:
Even with this progress, however, wait times are still long, and lines continue to form. This is the case across the country, where citizens are making this vaccine a priority- after all; it’s the best way to protect yourself against H1N1.
This virus is a considerable community challenge, and I urge our community to be patient as we work to confront it.
On behalf of all residents of the City of Ottawa, I’d like to thank Dr. Levy, Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health, for his leadership during this time. Our success so far is also due to the many City staff- OPH, Information Technology Services, Emergency and Protective Services, Parks and Recreation, Ottawa Paramedic Services, Communications and Customer Services and Public Works- all who have been working tirelessly to deliver this vaccine as quickly and efficiently as possible. On behalf of the residents and my council colleagues, thank you for your continued efforts.
Larry O’Brien, Mayor of the City of Ottawa
I welcome Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities John Baird’s announcement today on his intention to lift the exemption of federal safety regulations for OC Transpo.
Minister Baird is taking action to enforce eights hours of rest between shifts and eliminate the option bus drivers currently have to book back-to-back 11 hour shifts.
Today’s announcement is a victory for all of us and is a reinforcement of Council’s united position on the safety of Ottawa residents and OC Transpo drivers – something we were not willing to compromise on during the transit strike.
The details of Minister Baird’s announcement can be found here. I look forward to hearing from the citizens of Ottawa on this important issue.