This is Ottawa

Three years ago, Ottawa military lawyer Bruce Mayo collapsed in his kitchen. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma - an incurable brain tumour. During his treatment he discovered his diagnosis may be related to his service at a once-secret military camp in southwest Asia. Robyn Bresnahan shares his extraordinary story – and what it might mean for others.

There’s a home in Kemptville known as the “Al Capone” house. For decades, there have been stories about how it was linked to America’s most notorious gangster. It’s also rumoured to have secret tunnels. But is there any truth to the myth? Robyn Bresnahan gets a tour from the current owner - who made a stunning discovery of his own.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has been given four more years to run Ottawa. How did he convince voters to give him a second term? And will round two look any different? CBC reporter Elyse Skura and journalism professor Jon Willing break down the election results.

Mayoral candidates have referred to Ottawa’s transit as a ‘dumpster fire’. But will more money extinguish its problems? And should commuters have to pay higher fares or higher taxes to help fix things? For the finale of our ‘blind date’ series, we go for coffee with an outgoing city councillor and a transit advocate.

There are about nine thousand students living in college and university residences in Ottawa. So what’s dorm life like? And how much has changed in nearly three decades since host Robyn Bresnahan lived in residence at Carleton University? In this encore episode, she knocks on her former dorm room door to find out. 

The historic heart of Ottawa has a problem. Many voters have told us they feel the Byward Market has become less safe. There are fears about open drug use, crime and homelessness. So what can be done? In part two of our “blind date” municipal series, we set up a conversation between a police officer and a former drug addict turned outreach worker.

In late August, police issued a warning about high-risk violent sexual offender Aaron Gilpin now living in the Ottawa area. The release included a photo of a man with facial tattoos whose criminal history included a brutal child-related sexual assault. It has caused a frenzy on social media, causing some to worry about the line between being vigilant versus a vigilante.

In part one of our “blind date” municipal series, we pair up a home builder with a green space advocate to talk about urban sprawl. Because if provincial projections are correct, Ottawa’s population will reach 1.68 million by 2051. So where is everyone going to live? And is it best to grow outward – or intensify upward?

Ottawa is marking its bicentennial on September 26, 2026. But what actually happened on the day the city was born 200 years ago? Longtime journalist and history buff Randy Boswell takes host Robyn Bresnahan to the spot where Bytown began and reveals the bits that have often been left out of the city’s official history. 

When Nick Paul started his teaching career, he loved it. But just a decade in - he quit. Nick tells Robyn Bresnahan about what led to his breaking point - and why he thinks Ottawa’s teacher “shortage” is actually a retention crisis. 

After eight years as an Ottawa city councillor, Catherine McKenney decided to run for mayor. They lost to Mark Sutcliffe. In the final part of our series In Hindsight , McKenney reflects on the campaign, bridging the city’s urban/rural divide and the moment in a pub when they realized they should have done something differently. 

Carol Anne Meehan spent one term as an Ottawa city councillor after a career in journalism. In Part 3 of our series In Hindsight , she spills the tea on life inside city hall, the advice she received from the late councillor Diane Deans and why she feels the city is in "deep trouble." 

Long hours, little pay and limited power — or on some school boards under provincial supervision, none at all. In Part 2 of our series In Hindsight, Robyn Bresnahan speaks to Justine Bell, a former English public board school trustee for Ottawa's Somerset zone. Why did she resign? What does she wish she’d known before taking the job? And she explains why she's concerned that the role is becoming i...

Keith Egli was at a dinner party complaining about a transit strike, when the person at the end of the table told him to stop whining and run for city council. So he did. And he was the councillor for Knoxdale-Merivale ward for 12 years. In the first of our four-part series “In Hindsight,” leading up to the municipal election, we explore the ups and downs of being an Ottawa city councillor – and t...

Le Hibou is a place of near mythical status in the Ottawa music community. A tiny coffee house on Sussex Drive where the likes of Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen played. In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan hears memories from those who were there in its heyday and explores whether Le Hibou could ever rise again.

It’s like eBay - but run by the Canadian government. The GC Surplus site sells everything from ATVs used by the military to Air Jordan sneakers confiscated at the border. In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan gets a tour of the Ottawa warehouse - where she discovers the most gobsmacking item of all.

You can learn a lot about Ottawa through its street art - from protest movements to the histories of neighbourhoods. But graffiti and murals are often temporary. So  a local software developer created a digital map - to archive the art. Robyn Bresnahan bikes the city with him, meeting street artists along the way. 

Now that it’s been decided that 24 Sussex Drive will be restored rather than torn down - what else should change in the area? The authors of a new book on the Prime Minister’s official residence say this is a golden opportunity to not just reno the house - but the entire area around it.

Street racing is dangerous and illegal. Yet the roar of revving engines and screeching tires can be heard across the city all summer. In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan speaks to a former street racer who drove “without any concerns or worries of others” - and to a police officer who explains why these speedsters are so hard to nab.

Remember the time an MP was hit by a bag of flying feces in the House of Commons? Or the day a man accidentally blew himself up in a Parliamentary bathroom stall? What about the Playboy magazines you could sign out from the Library of Parliament? Robyn Bresnahan gets a history on Parliament from the author of a new book about hijinx on The Hill.

Why can you get a residential street parking permit on some Ottawa streets, but not others? That’s the question a couple living near Mooney’s Bay had after being denied a parking permit for their second vehicle. Now they have to move their car every three hours. Robyn Bresnahan hears from them and their city councillor who argues ‘street parking is not a right.’

Estate sales used to be the domain of the boomer generation. But if you’ve been to one lately you’ll notice a shift in who’s there to shop. Robyn Bresnahan joins a long queue of Gen Z treasure hunters to find out why estate sales are having a moment.

What happens if you accidentally throw dog poop in the blue bin? Do our plastics get shipped overseas? Why can you throw things in the blue bin that weren’t previously allowed? Kids have a LOT of questions around recycling. We put them to the CEO of Circular Materials, Allen Langdon.

If kids want to recycle plastics at Ottawa schools, they’re out of luck. Blue bins were removed in September 2025. Robyn Bresnahan dives into why the program was trashed, the implications and whether recycling should be a public service rather than a for-profit endeavour.

We’re the capital of Canada. Yet the limited number of direct flights in and out of YOW frustrates locals and visitors alike. Robyn Bresnahan finds out who holds the cards when it comes to getting more non-stop routes – and meets a television executive who’s dubbed Ottawa “the greatest city you can’t get to.”