Top five stories in Ottawa this week

The city of Ottawa is planning new rules for front yard gardens and an Ottawa elementary school named after former governor general Julie Payette gets a new name.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.

An Ontario Provincial Police officer was killed and two others injured while responding to reports of gunshots in Bourget, Ont.

The shooting happened early Thursday morning in the small community in the municipality of Clarence-Rockland, approximately 50 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa.

“This morning, at just after 2 a.m. our officers responded to a sound of gunshots that was reported by a citizen,” OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said Thursday afternoon during a media conference at the OPP headquarters in Kanata.

“They arrived at a residence on Laval Street in Bourget, and upon arrival three of our officers were ambushed and shot. Tragically, 42-year-old Sgt. Eric Mueller was killed and two other veteran OPP officers were injured.”

Mueller was a husband and father of two young children, who began his policing career with the OPP in Ottawa in 2002 as a special constable.

In 2006, he was hired as a provincial constable. In 2018, he was promoted to sergeant “in recognition of his exemplary performance, his dedication to duty and his commitment to his colleagues,” Carrique said.

Alain Bellefeuille, 39, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

A funeral for Mueller will be held at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Thursday.

OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller was killed in the line of duty Thursday morning. OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique says Mueller died after being shot in Bourget, Ont. (OPP/release)

Ontario’s ministry of labour is investigating after a 20-year-old contractor died while working for a hedge-trimming company.

The workplace fatality happened in Manotick on May 5. The victim has been identified as Nick Chenier, who was working for Best Green Hedges.

In a statement Monday afternoon, the company’s owner confirmed Chenier died in a “tragic accident.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to put into words the utter devastation of losing him – we’re a close team, and Nick was like family to all of us,” Sheldon Best Green said. “He always had a smile on his face, and was one of the most joyful and hardworking guys we have ever known.

“Spending time with Nick was everyone’s favourite part of the day, and he will be loved and missed beyond words.”

Nick Chenier (right), pictured with his mother Jen, died during a workplace accident in Manotick on Friday, May 5, 2023. (GoFundMe)

A 44-year-old Ottawa man is facing a charge of second-degree murder in connection to a stabbing death in Ottawa’s south end.

Police were called to an apartment building on Carousel Crescent at approximately 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, where a 74-year-old man was found dead.

Just after 12 p.m. Wednesday, CTV News crews captured Ottawa police officers arresting a man on a second-floor balcony of an apartment in the same building. Officers told the man he was under arrest for second-degree murder.

On Thursday, police announced Ahmed Ismail, 44, is facing a charge of second-degree murder. He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.

The victim has been identified as William Bryant, 74.

Ottawa police cruisers at the scene of a suspicious death in south Ottawa. Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa residents may soon be allowed to build a garden in their front yard close to the road, as the city looks to clarify streetscape rules while also encouraging pollinator gardens and preventing heat-island effects.

The city of Ottawa has unveiled proposed updates to the Use and Care of Roads Bylaw, with staff recommending the city allow gardening projects within the right-of-way on city property.

The current bylaw does not allow for the removal of grass within the city of Ottawa right-of-way and requires homeowners to cut the grass and weeds on the land abutting their property.  The right-of-way is the city-owned portion of land that may abut your property.

Under the proposed changes, residential gardens will be allowed on the “right-of-way” with the following conditions:

• Only soft landscaping permitted (no landscaping materials such as pavers, riverstone or gravel)
• No noxious weeds and invasive species
• Vegetables, fruit, herbs, nuts and seeds will not be permitted
• Only hand-digging will be permitted for the installation of residential gardens
• No gardening will be permitted within a ditch
• Plants cannot exceed a maximum height of 0.75 metres
• Sidewalks must remain clear and unobstructed

A report will be presented to the transportation committee in June with proposed changes to the Use and Care of Roads Bylaw.

Riverside South resident Jamal Alsharif says Ottawa Bylaw told him to remove his front lawn garden after receiving a complaint. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

An Ottawa school named after former governor general Julie Payette is getting a new name.

École élémentaire publique Julie-Payette in Kanata is being renamed école élémentaire publique Grande-Ourse, Ottawa’s French public school board announced Monday.

“This name is in line with the continuation of the mission of our school, which will continue to attach particular importance to science, technology, sports and the arts,” the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario said in a news release in French.

Payette resigned as governor general in January 2021 after an independent workplace review found she had presided over a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall.

École élémentaire publique Julie-Payette in Kanata on Monday, May 8, 2023. The school is being renamed in time for the next school year. (Jim O’Grady/CTV News Ottawa)