CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our site this week.
Thousands of people wearing red and white and waving Canadian flags filled downtown Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s 155th birthday, while a protest marched around Centretown in opposition to the COVID-19 orders.
The main Canada Day events were moved to LeBreton Flats and Place des Festivals Zibi in Gatineau due to construction on Parliament Hill.  Crowds enjoyed musical performances, performances and fireworks.
Two kilometers away, hundreds of people marched through downtown Ottawa as part of the “March for Freedom,” calling for the prime minister’s resignation and chanting “Freedom.”
Ottawa police and their police partners maintained an increased presence around Parliament Square and downtown Ottawa on Friday for the first in-person Canada Day events in three years due to the pandemic.  A motor vehicle control zone was set up to prevent vehicles parking or participating in protests from entering the area near Parliament Hill.
“There will be no occupiers because our whole plan is to make sure people don’t take over our streets,” Ottawa’s interim police chief, Steve Bell, said earlier in the week. 
From 8 a.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Saturday, 327 parking tickets were issued in the motor vehicle control zone and 91 vehicles were towed.
Thousands of people line Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill for Canada Day celebrations.  (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa) 
Canadian Forces veteran James Topp arrived at the National War Memorial Thursday night, completing a cross-country march to protest the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Ottawa to cheer Topp as he completed the final leg of his Walk to Freedom, which began in Vancouver in February.
Conservative Party leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre and Canadian People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier spoke with Topp on the final leg of his trip.  Poilievre marched with Topp for two kilometers along Baseline Road.
“I think he stands for freedom of choice. People should have the freedom to make their own decisions with their bodies and that’s why, I think, he’s walked across the country and that’s why I thought I’d salute him and give him welcome. a hearing and see if he has any thoughts to share with me,” Poilieve said. 
Topp, a 28-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, was charged by the Department of National Defense after speaking out publicly against federal vaccine requirements while in uniform.  Topp was charged with two counts of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.
Conservative Party leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre marches with Canadian veteran James Topp as Canada’s March to Freedom march arrives in Ottawa.  (Jeremie Charron/CTV News Ottawa) 
A mother and her daughter were stabbed to death in an Alta Vista home this week.
Ottawa police say Anne-Marie Ready, 50, and Jasmine Ready, 15, died of stab wounds after an incident at a home on Anoka Street Monday night.  Ready’s 19-year-old daughter was seriously injured.
Anne-Marie Ready worked as a Trade Commissioner with Global Affairs Canada.  Ready previously worked as a program analyst with the Canadian Embassy in Peru and as a senior development officer at the Canadian High Commission in Barbados.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating the death of a 21-year-old man who was shot by police while responding to a stabbing call.
The SIU says when officers arrived on scene.  they saw a man stabbing a woman in the street.
“When the man did not listen to commands to drop the knife, three officers discharged their firearms. The man was struck and pronounced dead at the scene,” the SIU said in a statement.
Students at Hillcrest High School in Ottawa participated in a walkout after some students said they have been victims of racial abuse.  Allegations of racism have swirled at the school for months, and now the Ottawa Carleton District School Board is investigating the incidents.
“It’s clear to the students that they are not being treated the same as their white peers,” said Mae Mason, a member of the Asilu Collective Council. 
The Asilu Collective is a community organization seeking to end a program that puts police officers in schools.  They also operate an anonymous reporting tool and say many black and racialized students have reported to them about racist behavior by Hillcrest High School staff.
Multiple students, who asked not to be named, told CTV News the situation has worsened since the arrival of a new principal in February.
The Ottawa Carleton District School Board says they are aware of the reports and are taking the allegations seriously.
Hillcrest High School on Dauphin Street in the Elmvale Acres neighborhood.  (Colton Praill/CTV News Ottawa) 
Entrepreneur, broadcaster and author Mark Sutcliffe entered the race for mayor of Ottawa this week.
“I am excited and grateful today as I officially register as a candidate to become the next mayor of Ottawa – the best city in Canada and a place I am proud to call home,” Sutcliffe said.  “Ottawa has always been considered a great place to live and work. But we are on the brink of some new and significant challenges. Our city is in an affordability crisis. Inflation is rising and there is significant fear that a recession is just around the corner. We are facing a crisis of credibility in our public transit system and we need to improve our roads. On these issues and more, we need new leadership in Ottawa.”
Sutcliffe’s platform includes keeping taxes, leisure fees and other costs “as low as possible”.
There are now nine candidates running for mayor of Ottawa: Brandon Bay, Bob Chiarelli, Bernard Couchman, Graham MacDonald, Catherine McKenney, Ade Olumide, Param Singh, Sutcliffe and Mike Maguire.
Municipal elections are set for October 24.