Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Thurs. November 14th, 2024

On Wednesday, the City of Ottawa released its Draft Budget for 2025. Among the contentious issues was the city’s decision to increase monthly bus passes for seniors. It is $49 per month right now, but that number is expected to climb to $108, a spike of 120 percent. This is pending approval by Ottawa’s Transit Commission and Ottawa City Council. City staff say that, despite the increase, it’s still a 20 percent discount from the regular adult rate. Kristy Cameron gathers the bigger picture from Sarah Bercier, the Executive Director of The Council on Aging in Ottawa. Meantime, the Ontario government is investing $378 million into new ‘HART Centres’, which will be focused on providing recovery treatment to our homeless communities and those facing addiction. Two of Ottawa’s community health centres have applied to be a part of this healthcare chapter. We speak to one of them in Hour 2.