The Ottawan Newsletter

Hello Ottawa

In Today’s Edition

→ Federal public employees are hearing rumours that the return to office mandate may be extended to five days per week

→ Take an introductory Swing & Spritz dance course at Night Oat

→ Deals of the Day at Museum of History, the Ottawa Charge, Perth Brewery, and Bizou

🎄The Compendium of Festivity

Next week we’ll publishing our Compendium of Festivity, highlighting made-in-Ottawa and made-in-Canada gift ideas.

We’re open to suggestions: if you have an idea for the perfect made-in-Ottawa or made-in-Canada gift, let us know at cof@theottawan.com. If it’s your business or product, that’s okay. A good idea is a good idea.

🎂 Birthday Shoutouts

Please wish a Happy Birthday to OTTAWAN member Karen D!

– Martha and Darren

STATISTICS OTTAWA

NUMBER

67
Where Ottawa lies on the 2025 Copenhagenize Index, ‘the most comprehensive  and holistic ranking of bicycle-friendly cities in the world’.
Five cities in Canada made the list: Montréal (15), Québec City (29), Vancouver (30), Toronto (55), and at the end, us. Number one in the world is Utrecht, Netherlands.
Copenhagenize Index

OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

Constable Kevin Young
Responding to a call from a concerned resident, Young rescued an injured barred owl near near Robert Grant Avenue and Fernbank Road in Stittsville.
Now at a bird sanctuary, the owl is reported to have a good prognosis.
Marco Vigliotti at Ottawa Compass

QUOTE

“
It’s not OK and it’s not part of the job
–Ottawa Paramedic Service chief Pierre Poirier on an internal survey that found every paramedic who responded reported experiencing violence on the job.
Arthur White-Crummey at CBC
SPORTS
🏒 NLL Ottawa Black Bears 7 – Colorado Mammoth 10, last Saturday
🏒 NHL Ottawa Senators 3 – St Louis Blues 4, last Friday
🏒 NHL Ottawa Senators 1 – Dallas Stars 6, yesterday
🏒 OHL Ottawa 67s 2 – Oshawa Generals 1, last Friday
🏒 OHL Ottawa 67s 6 – North Bay Battalion 3, yesterday
🏒 CHL Les Olympiques de Gatineau 67s 1 – L’Océanic de Rimouski 3, last Friday
🏒 CHL Les Olympiques de Gatineau 67s 3– L’Armada de Blainville-Boisbriand 6, last Saturday

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Please consider joining the many other readers with a monthly, annual, or one-time donation to keep the ottawan on its mission.

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WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

Finance and Corporate Services Committee
Tuesday, December 2 at 9:30 am

Draft 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets - Finance and Corporate Services Committee
Status Update – Finance and Corporate Services Committee Inquiries and Motions for the period ending 21 November 2025
Municipal Land Strategy – Surplus Land Declaration and Authority to Transfer City-Owned Lands for Housing (Second Round)
2024 Business Improvement Area and Sparks Street Mall Authority – Annual Reports and Audited Financial Statements

Agenda

Ottawa Public Library Board
Tuesday, December 2 at 5:00 pm

2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budget Estimates and Four-Year Capital Forecast
2026 Board Continuing Education Plan and Conference Attendance
Ādisōke – Update on Construction and Operational Planning

Agenda

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

⏰ Federal public employees are hearing rumours that the return to office mandate may be extended to five days per week. Almost all employees must work in the office three days per week – executives are required to be in for four – but persistent rumours say this may change in 2026. The Canadian Association of Professional Employees has asked the Treasury Board for clarification. – Josh Pringle at CTV

🗳️ Former Ottawa Citizen and CBC municipal reporter declares her candidacy for Kitchissippi Ward in next year’s election. Joanne Chianello, part of the Better Ottawa podcast trio, used this week’s episode to declare that she’d like to take over from Jeff Leiper. Leiper will not be contesting the seat as he’s running for mayor. – Better Ottawa podcast

↪ Chianello and Leiper and anyone else thinking of running for office may want to read Evan Harold Potter’s latest Substack, ‘What Jeff Leiper and Ottawa’s Other “Pragmatic Progressives” Can Learn from Zohran Mamdani’s Big Apple Playbook’.

⛸️ The ice skating at Rideau Hall has reopened for the season. And for the first time in 153 years of viceregal rink hosting, the ice will be backed up by refrigeration units which should extend the season to March. Skating is open Monday to Friday, 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm and weekends 1:00 pm to 8:30 pm. It’s free but you must bring your own skates . – Rosemary Thompson in Canadian Geographic Rideau Hall Ice Rink

💰 Planned Parenthood Ottawa has paused operations for financial reasons. The organization says that it is temporarily closed to ‘figure out what our programs are going to look like, to figure out what our finances are going to be ... and to make sure that we're not committing to things we're not going to be able to sustain long-term’. – CBC

THE DAILY POLL

How bike friendly do you find Ottawa?

🔘 All in all, pretty good

🔘 Terrible and risky

🔘 Like everything else in Ottawa, great on the National Capital Commission bits and lacking in the City of Ottawa part

🔘 Probably about 67th in the world

Previously in ottawan polls:
We asked, ‘What has been your experience with City of Ottawa parking?’
Commentary

▪️ “Replace ‘take transit’ with ‘Uber’, and then yes, life in Sandy Hill is a breeze.”

▪️ “You can’t park anywhere anymore without having to pay or being ticketed. It definitely affects where I go now.”

▪️ “The Bylaw Law Enforcement Officers MUST have a quota as only that explains their overzealous actions.”

▪️ “A friend got ticketed as she walked 10 m to a ticket machine. Bylaw is out of control.”

▪️ “There’s always the frustration of machines not working for payment ... argh! Still, it’s not much different elsewhere!”

▪️ “I stopped going anywhere downtown over 20 yrs ago because of difficult parking & tickets.”

▪️ “Leave your car at home, get no tickets, win!”

▪️ “I have a special gift of always being able to find an awesome spot 90% of the time. Jesus walked on water (supposedly), I find great parking spots.”

▪️ “I’ve lived in Toronto and Montréal. Ottawa is by far the easiest and cheapest.”

▪️ “Free parking should be abolished. Privately operated lots should have their fares capped to prevent gouging.”

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

Ottawa Valley Ale T-Shirt

Long forgotten, but Ottawa’s first craft brewery was Ottawa Valley Ale, incorporated in 1985.

Help support the ottawan by buying one of our historic logo t-shirts.

Shop for t-shirts

THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form

✳️ Means change from previous edition

MONDAY

Sign up in person from 6: 30 pm for the Art House Open Mic Night.
Get your show-stopping tunes in ship shape for the Opening and Closing Numbers theme night at Broadway Nights Musical Open Mic.
Insider Trading at Beyond the Pale (City Centre location) means the price of your favourite beer will fluctuate according to demand.

Cinema

ByTowne Cinema: Sentimental Value, Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk, Sentimental Value, Spectacle: Pan’s Labyrinth
Mayfair Theatre: The Mastermind, Meadowlarks, Good Boy

Gigs

Karaoke. Atomic Rooster
The 5-Star Monday Band. The Laff

TUESDAY

Chef Ric’s creates a special green menu for Giving Tuesday to make your donation to the Ottawa Mission even tastier, and it’s only $7.99. (Lowertown)
Ottawa Vintage Swing presents the joyous and lively Holiday Party: Swing & Spritz at Night Oat, which opens with an intro lesson at 7:00 pm. $5 at the door. (Centretown West)
Break the monotony of an average Tuesday midday with a visit to Wellings of Stittsville’s Sip & Shop event from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. (Stittsville)
Join Pitch ImPerfect Singers for some good old fashioned carol singing. (Near City View - St Claire Garden)
Meet other skeptics, atheists, humanists, and freethinkers for a lively chinwag at Skeptics in the Pub. (Golden Triangle)

Cinema

ByTowne Cinema: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Sentimental Value, Spectacle: Pan’s Labyrinth
Mayfair Theatre: Meadowlarks, The Mastermind, Good Boy

Gigs

Open Mic. The Laff
Life Drawing. Art House

WEDNESDAY

The focus is on Bach at the noontime Doors Open for Music at Southminster concert. (Old Ottawa South)
Ottawa Voyageurs Walking Club will tackle Trail 31 in Pinhey Forest starting at 10:30 am. Members $1; and non-members $2. (Nepean Sportsplex)
Indulge in lunchtime gift hunting at the Holiday Mini Market on Preston St, continuing every Wednesday through Friday. (Little Italy)
It’s not the 1996 slasher film of the same name but rather the more recent (2014) allergic-Santa-runs-into-rambunctious-talking-kittens caper Santa Claws at tonight’s Bad Night at the Movies. OPL Main Branch (Downtown)
Turn a regular old Wednesday night into something special as the 7-piece jazz-funk collective Solstice brings the grooves and electric should to Bar Robo. (SOPA)
The difficult to categorize but highly entertaining The Storyville Mosquito by Montréal's Kid Koala settles in for a series of shows at National Arts Centre. (Downtown)