City legalizes Uber; taxi union mulls lawsuit

David Kawai, Centretown News
Uber Canada general manager Ian Black faces reporters after city council voted to legalize private transportation companies.
The ride-hailing app Uber will soon legally operate in Ottawa after city council voted 23-1 Wednesday to legalize private transportation companies. After several hours of spirited debate, only Coun. Eli El-Chantiry opposed the passing of the bylaw.

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City under fire for selective flag policy

Deanne Pittman, Centretown News
Ottawa's flag-raising policy was criticized recently over its so-called inconsistencies of honouring western countries over non-western countries.
The City of Ottawa will be launching a new policy for flag raising to commemorate acts of global violence after the city recently came under fire over its inconsistencies of honouring Western countries over non-Western ones.

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Senior centre gets retroactive OK for commercial parking lot

Dave Scharf, Centretown News
The Good Companions Seniors' Centre on Albert Street has been renting parking spaces without a business license for several years.
The City of Ottawa has given after-the-fact approval to the Good Companions to operate a commercial parking lot behind the Albert Street seniors' centre — even though it had already been renting 30 of its 92 parking spaces for years without the required business licence.

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