Featured in the newest Our Oshawa video, the Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council is committed to raising Métis cultural awareness within the municipality. The video features Kristin Randall, President of the Oshawa and Durham Region MétisCouncil (O.D.R.M.C.), discussing the O.D.R.M.C.’s goal of uniting Métis across the region and providing ways to explore their culture.

This past summer, the O.D.R.M.C. celebrated 10 years in Durham Region at their annual heritage celebration that showcased Métis culture at its finest. The event featured Métis cultural demonstrations including the Gravel Road Fiddlers and the All Our Relations Métis Drum Circle. The event also featured a variety of artisans, exhibits and interactive activities, including crafts, fiddle and spoons.

Operating out of their office at 74 Simcoe Street South, the O.D.R.M.C. stands committed to enhancing community development, and the academic success of our Métis youth, the promoting Métis artistic and cultural achievements along with exercising their treaty rights under the constitution. The O.D.R.M.C. provides a number of opportunities for the community to experience the Métis culture and get involved including drumming circles, a fiddling group, craft circles, general meetings and other cultural events.

“Congratulations to the Oshawa and Durham Region Métis Council on this milestone, raising awareness and providing support in our community,” says Councillor Amy McQuaid-England, Chair of the Corporate Services Committee. “I encourage everyone to explore the cultural diversity that Oshawa has to offer.”

To learn more about Métis heritage or how to become involved visit the O.D.R.M.C. website.

Videos for the Our Oshawa campaign continue to be filmed, all with a central focus on achievement, culture and positivity within our community. Other videos in the series feature The Automotive Museum, the Oshawa Peony Festival, The RMG and Spark Centre.

The City encourages all residents and organizations to share their community milestones and achievements online at Connect Oshawa (www.connectoshawa.ca). It is these stories that will inspire future videos, be captured in the annual publication and used in promotional materials, which will be available throughout the city and posted on the City’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

For updates on the City of Oshawa, visit www.oshawa.ca or follow “OshawaCity” on Twitter, Facebook and “CityofOshawa” on Instagram. Subscribe to the City’s YouTube Channel for more videos.

Today, Oshawa City Council and the community gathered to celebrate the opening of the Gulfstream Neighbourhood Park located at 2471 Bridle Road in the Charing Cross subdivision.

“DG Group was a great partner to work with in developing the new subdivision. We sincerely appreciate their generosity as they provided the valley lands to the City at no cost and also donated several trees to enhance the tree canopy in the area,” said Regional Councillor John Aker, Chair of the Development Services Committee.

Gulfstream Park complements the naturalization of the area and has several environmental features such as:

• accessible neighbourhood pedestrian links that easily connect to the surrounding neighbourhoods and provide direct connections to the Oshawa Creek trail system;
• a vegetated ‘bio swale’, designed to capture, cool and filter surface drainage, removing pollutants and improving water quality prior to it leaving the site;
• areas of “no mow”, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from maintenance, and again, reduce storm water runoff, helping to mitigate downstream urban flooding; and,
• significant tree planting to help reduce urban radiant heat, providing sun protection for the park user.

“Gulfstream Park adds to the neighbourhood beauty as well as assisting the environment with the pollutant absorbing vegetation and of course lovely shade trees,” said Regional Councillor Bob Chapman, Chair of the Community Services Committee. “In addition, the sports fields and links to Oshawa’s trail system will help to keep people active.” Gulfstream Neighbourhood Park recreation amenities include:

• junior and senior playground equipment;
• junior soccer field; and,
• shaded seating.

The City has over 130 parks and 27 kms of trails to explore. Visitwww.oshawa.ca/parksfor more information about City parks.

Tribute Communities Centre: new name for Oshawa’s sports and entertainment facility

The City of Oshawa is pleased to announce that Tribute Communities will become the new building sponsor of Oshawa’s sports and entertainment facility (General Motors Centre). Under the 10-year naming rights agreement, the General Motors Centre will become the Tribute Communities Centre, effective November 1, 2016.

The City of Oshawa is supporting the bid to bring the 2018 Memorial Cup hockey tournament to the city.

At a Special Council Meeting on October 6, Oshawa City Council approved support for the Oshawa Generals Hockey Club’s bid for the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup in the form of $200,000 in-kind services. The recent purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art new video scoreboard at a cost of approximately $760,000 brings the City’s collective investment towards the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup Bid to approximately $1 million.

“We have the largest multi-purpose venue in the Durham Region and one of the best Junior Hockey arenas in all of Canada,” said Mayor John Henry. “The new state-of-the-art video scoreboard has one of the highest resolution screens in the Canadian Hockey League that should help a successful bid along with a long-standing and decorated franchise, the Oshawa Generals and their supportive fans.”

As owner and operator of the facility, the City’s support of the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup Bid is unique from other municipalities. As part of the annual operating budget, the City invests approximately $400,000 to operate the facility, $300,000 for capital replacement and approximately $3.5 million to service the debt payments for the construction of the facility.

The City provides significant financial investment towards constructing and renewing infrastructure necessary to service the needs of our growing city. The City proudly takes a balanced approach by evaluating all community partner requests and opportunities, and makes the tough decisions to invest in key strategic priorities to strengthen the future of the city while also balancing affordability and fiscal responsibility with the delivery of quality services.

The City values community partners who work in partnership to help make Oshawa an amazing city. “We look forward to our continued collaborative partnership with the Oshawa Generals Hockey Club and wish them success on their 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup Bid,” said Mayor Henry.

The City of Oshawa invites anyone interested in arts, culture and heritage to the annual Cultural Summit to take place on Wednesday, October 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Arts Resource Centre located at 45 Queen Street (adjacent to City Hall).

The evening is an opportunity for members of the creative community to meet and learn about arts, cultural and heritage initiatives in Oshawa, share ideas and ignite future collaborations. The City will also provide updates on the Culture Counts: Oshawa’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan; both what has been accomplished since 2015’s Cultural Summit and what is planned for the upcoming year.

Highlights of the 2016 Cultural Summit will include:

• Keynote speaker: Andrew F. Sullivan, an Oshawa native and author of “Waste”
• Local presentations:
  • The Ontario Regiment (R.C.A.C.) Regimental Museum
  • Urban Arts for Social Change Graffiti School
  • Yolanda Beasely, filmmaker, Masters of Romance
• Local entertainment including the Oshawa Civic Band, refreshments and networking opportunities.

“Oshawa’s annual Cultural Summit is a great venue to learn what the City has done this last year regarding arts, culture & heritage, as well as time to discuss how to keep our Culture Counts initiative moving forward,” said Councillor Bob Chapman, Chair of the Community Services Committee.

Anyone interested in attending the Cultural Summit is asked to R.S.V.P. by Friday, October 14 by sending an email toculturecounts@oshawa.ca.

Culture Counts: Oshawa’s Arts, Culture and Heritage Plan includes six strategic directions that provide a framework of strategies and actions. The “strengthen communication within the arts, culture and heritage sector” strategy identified that the City organize an annual Cultural Summit to sustain community engagement in implementing the Plan and to monitor and measure the Plan’s implementation.

Oshawa Fire Services would like to thank all recipients from last night’s Annual Community Partnership Awards event. The event was held at the City of Oshawa’s newest facility, Firehall #6 (2339 Simcoe Street North) to recognize the valuable contribution community partners have made in supporting Oshawa Fire Services and making a difference in the community.

“Our Fire Services do a great job in keeping our city safe, but they can’t do it alone and that’s where our community partners have stepped in to assist,” said Councillor Bob Chapman, Chair of the Community Services Committee. “The support of our many community partners is appreciated and your support goes a long way in making our city safer – thanks!”

Community partners in attendance were treated to a dinner cooked and served by Oshawa Fire Services senior staff members. Each of the 37 community partners was also recognized for their contributions through a certificate presentation.

“Fire Services depend on support from our community to be successful and it’s important for Oshawa Fire Services to publically recognize our community partners for their contributions in helping make Oshawa a fire safe community,” said Fire Chief Shane Caskanette.

For more information, visit www.oshawa.ca/fire.

shawa Animal Services wants you to treat yourself this Halloween by adopting a pet into your loving home. What’s more, for the month of October only, Oshawa Animal Services is offering a reduced adoption fee ($100) for black cats in the shelter.

Supporters of the “Adopt Don’t Shop” movement, Oshawa Animal Services offers animal care services for stray animals. The shelter has many cats, dogs and small animals (e.g. rabbits and guinea pigs) of all colours available throughout the year for adoption.

Come visit the shelter and see the eligible animals looking for a second chance. By adopting instead of shopping, pet owners:

• Know what they are getting: Oshawa Animal Services staff is able to tell you about your potential pet’s personality, likes and dislikes.
• Get a great bargain: the adoption fee at Oshawa Animal Services includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, flea treatment, deworming, microchipping and rabies shot.

“This is not a trick, but the adoption of one of the animals in our shelter could definitely be a treat – they even have some black cats,” said Councillor Bob Chapman, Chair of the Community Services Committee. “Why not pay Oshawa Animal Services a visit, there may be something special waiting for you there.”

Visit the Oshawa Animal Services Pet Adoption webpage for more information and to see what animals are available for adoption.

The City of Oshawa’s website has received a 2016 Standard of Excellence Award in the Best Government Website category from the Web Marketing Association. Seven criteria including design, ease of use, copywriting, interactivity, use of technology, innovation and content was used to evaluate Oshawa’s website which successfully scored above the industry standard.

“The City’s website was truly a very successful collaborative project. Input from City staff, residents, business leaders and community partners helped shape the new website’s design, organization of information and top priorities for web content,” said Councillor Amy McQuaid-England, Chair of the Corporate Services Committee. “We would like to extend a huge thank you to those who have shared their comments so far. We look forward to continued feedback to strengthen the City’s online presence and meet the needs of our community.”

Launched May 2015, the City’s website has received two other awards: a gold Hermes Creative Award which is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals and an OVATION Award of Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Toronto Chapter.

Input from residents, business leaders and community partners was integral in shaping the City website’s design, organization of information and top priorities for web content. The City would like to continue an open dialogue with residents. Users can easily connect with the City through social media and online chat directly from the top of each webpage. On the bottom of every webpage is contact information for Service Oshawa, as well as a Feedback Form for users to provide comments to help improve the City’s website www.oshawa.ca.

Founded by the Web Marketing Association in 1997, the WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets industry benchmarks for the best websites based on the seven criteria of a successful website. There are 96 industry categories and websites in each category are evaluated against other sites within their category. For a complete list of the 2016 WebAward winners, visit http://www.webaward.org/.

For updates on the City of Oshawa, visit www.oshawa.ca and subscribe to sign up for news, alerts and e-newsletters.