This is Ottawa

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.”

On a hot summer’s night in 1940, a bus pulled up to Elmwood School in Rockcliffe. 23 British children disembarked without their parents. What happened in the years that followed, changed their lives forever. Robyn Bresnahan picks up the tale with the Ottawa playwright putting their incredible story on stage.

The Dow’s Lake dock is back for another season of swimming. But a new survey suggests people are still hesitant to dive in. In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan spends a day on the water with a science professor to find out how clean the lake is - and what comes out at the end of a fishing line.

Campaigning has started for Ottawa’s next municipal election and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has some competition. CBC Ottawa’s municipal affairs reporter Arthur White-Crummey takes us through the candidates so far. Plus we visit a popular dog park to chew the fat about the things that would make Ottawa better.

Need a saw to build a deck, but it’s not in the reno budget? Borrow it. Want to try camping, but you don’t have a tent? There’s a lending library for that. Stuff is expensive, but Robyn Bresnahan discovered you can be a loaner in Ottawa when it comes to just about anything.

Grade 9 is a biggie. The first year of high school. New class formats. New friends. Hormones. Social media. Robyn Bresnahan spends a day at St Francis Xavier school in Riverside South talking to ninth graders about dating, summer jobs, homework and what keeps them up at night. Credit to the Barenaked Ladies for 'Grade 9', Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo and Disney's High School Musical.

Demand for downtown parking exceeds supply on certain weekday mornings. To score a spot, some commuters have a strategy. Robyn Bresnahan hung out in some downtown parking garages to hear why commuters feel the cost and stress of parking downtown is still worth it. And if you want to hear more on Ottawa's transit woes, that episode is here .

When war came to their country, thousands of Ukrainians arrived in Ottawa. Four years later, some of them wonder whether they’ll ever be able to return to their homeland. Robyn Bresnahan meets up with two women who’ve settled into jobs and life in Ottawa - but feel torn about their future.

It’s an odd thing to get delivered to your doorstep – a single cucumber. But that’s exactly what neighbours in Hintonburg started receiving. We dig into the mystery, which appears to have a link to fraudsters. Romaine calm and lettuce get to the bottom of things.

More than 70 programs have been axed at Algonquin College over the past two years. The most recent cuts have angered students, professors and some local employers. But the College says – it had little choice. We dig into the state of post-secondary education and why it might be forever changed.

Some dual U.S.-Canadian citizens in Ottawa are giving back their U.S. passports. American President Donald Trump IS a factor. But not the only one. Robyn Bresnahan explores the complicated conversation around cutting ties to home and why so many are afraid to talk about it. 

There's a big, building-sized hole at the corner of O’Connor and Slater streets. A 14-storey office tower was brought down to make way for a new condo building. So how was it done? In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan learns about the painstaking work that goes into flattening a downtown high rise.

If food is medicine, why are so many hospital meals unpalatable? Robyn Bresnahan speaks to a patient who asked staff to stop bringing him food altogether. She also finds out what hospitals in Ottawa are doing to improve what’s on patients’ trays.

The second half of This Is Ottawa’s live trivia show got a little wild. There was karaoke, charades and a revelation of criminal activity. Featuring JUNO nominee Tyler Shaw, graffiti artist Mique Michelle, comedian Tavis Maplesden and musician Jon Hynes!

What is the most Ottawa thing you can do? In which neighbourhood would you find the intersection of Mulder Avenue and Scully Way? What’s a Gee Gee? Join in the hilarity from our Ottawa-themed live trivia show at Redbird, featuring comedian Tavis Maplesden, musician Jon Hynes and special guests!

There was a day when you couldn’t throw a bag of popcorn without hitting a movie theatre in downtown Ottawa. Where did they all go? In this encore episode, Robyn Bresnahan goes for a stroll with the man who literally wrote the book on the history of Ottawa’s cinemas.

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. Robyn Bresnahan gets a tour of the Ottawa warehouse - where she discovers the most gobsmacking item of all.

If you’re sick and tired of your bus being late or cancelled - this episode is for you. We’ll look at why service is so unreliable, how OC Transpo got into this mess, why the busiest routes in the city are cancelled the most often – and – when things are expected to get better. 

It’s an anxious time for federal public servants. Thousands of job cuts are coming. Robyn Bresnahan meets two former government workers who thought they’d be in the job for life, but jumped before they were pushed, reinventing themselves in second careers.