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Le français suit By Lina Dib No wonder his middle name was Merryman, James Brian had the most joyful laugh. And it will be missed by the many friends and neighbours he charmed and helped in our community. Born in Montreal, educated in Germany, he brought his enthusiasm and his knowledge to Ottawa, cofounded here the bilingual…
As we celebrate Black History Month this February, we recognize the invaluable contributions of Black and Afro-descendant communities in Lowertown and across the National Capital Region. Their cultural richness, dedication, and resilience are integral to our shared history and collective future. Together, we continue to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in our community, and I…
When I first moved to Ottawa, I knew exactly where I wanted to live. The connection to Lowertown was immediate, nurtured over years of visiting my grandmother, walking through the ByWard Market, and spending time in the museums and galleries that are at the heart of this vibrant neighborhood – alive with history, diversity, and…
By Nancy Miller Chenier A magnificent, repurposed church, St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, home of the National Irish Canadian Cultural Centre, and the ruins of Our Lady’s, a former Roman Catholic school, now serve as monuments to the Irish Catholic settlers of Lowertown. Along the south side of St. Patrick Street between Cumberland and…
By Josiah Frith The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) is proposing significant changes to school boundaries, including expanding French immersion programs to all schools. On the surface, this appears to be a positive step toward educational accessibility. However, the decision to implement these changes without a grandfathering period – forcing some students to switch schools…
Cultural happenings for you to enjoy / Des événements culturels pour votre plaisir By Robin Etherington GALLERIES – GALERIES City Hall Art Gallery Galerie Jean-Claude Bergeron Galerie St-Laurent + Hill Let’s skate and glide through our winter cultural activities into spring! Karsh-Masson Gallery L.A. Pai Gallery National Gallery of Canada Ottawa Art Gallery MUSEUMS –…
By Ben Ladouceur Download a pdf of the crossword: https://lowertownecho.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/This-or-That.pdf Download a pdf of the crossword solution: https://lowertownecho.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/This-or-That-Solution.pdf
By Curtis Wolfe Tormey Street, bordering Macdonald Gardens Park in Lowertown East, commemorates William Tormey, a blacksmith and civic leader whose work during the Rideau Canal’s construction, and contributions to the development of early Bytown, had a long-lasting impact on the city. Born in 1795 in County Tyrone in what is now Northern Ireland, William…
By Nancy Miller-Chenier Max Finkelstein and James Stone, Paddling the Boreal Forest: Rediscovering A.P Low, Dundurn Press, 2004. This book has two Lowertown connections – Jim Stone, a co-author and current resident of Lowertown and Albert Peter (A.P.) Low, former employee of the Geological Survey of Canada located from 1881 to 1911 at 541 Sussex…
By Ben Ladouceur A fact about poets: if you give fifty of them the same topic, they’ll write you fifty very different poems. “Everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!” Elizabeth Bishop famously cried about a trout. Confronted with the same genus, Anne Carson once noted, “You can write on a wall with its heart. It’s because…