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STATISTICS OTTAWA

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WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

THE DAILY POLL

Are you in favour of Metrolinx taking over the O Train?

• 🔘 Yes, they run the GO Trains around Toronto and Hamilton and know what they are doing

• 🔘 No, they run the GO Trains around Toronto and Hamilton and don’t know what they are doing

• 🔘 O Train management should stay in Ottawa as a symbol of civic pride

• 🔘 O Train management should stay in Ottawa as a Scarlet Letter to everyone at City Hall

• 🔘 I support anyone who promises to bring back the Britannia streetcar

•  

Previously in ottawan polls:

We asked, ‘Which do you prefer on floors: carpet or solid hard wood/laminate?’

• 2% Carpets are the best

• 52% Hard wood is simple and elegant

• 10% Kids today don’t know how luxurious the feel of shag carpet is

• 7% Carpets are merely a decades-long record of how often your dog or cat vomits

• 29% Something else

Commentary

▪️ “Hard wood and nice rugs all the way.”

▪️ “I just bought a house and refused to buy one with carpet. Hardwood looks so much better & easier to clean. Carpet was a deal breaker for me.”

▪️ “Easily cleaned up and no holding germs and dust like carpet.”

▪️ “And cleaning up vomit is easier.”

▪️ “Depends on the room. Hardwood lookes nice in common areas. Carpet is better in bedrooms for dampening noise and stepping out of bed on cold mornings.”

▪️ “Brand new carpet has weird off-gassing smells, and over time wears down. Hardwood floors are the best. The hardwood floors here are 80 years old. Can you imagine what 80 year old carpet would look – or smell like? 🤮”

▪️ “Carpets need to be required if you live in a high rise. Concrete floors magnify sounds to the apartments underneath.”

▪️ “Carpet traps dust and allergens. I don’t understand why anyone would want that in their house.” 

▪️ “Definitely vinyl/LVT. You cannot even tell the difference when good quality. With allergies and health issues/respiratory, its the best option. Get slippers or an area rug for some winter comfort.”

▪️ “Engineered Wood floors are the way to go – say NO to the petroleum produced Vinyl tiles!”

▪️ “I’ve lived through shag and the carpeted bathroom days! So hardwood all the way.” 

▪️ “But never hardwood stairs again. Cannot count the number of times I slipped ... and that was when I was young!!!!”

▪️ “A mixture of both works best. Carpets on stairs are a bit safer.”

▪️ “Neither carpet or hardwood. Both are hard to maintain. I like the modern vinyl flooring, with or without rugs. Rugs being much easier and replace than carpet.”

▪️ “Easier to keep clean and great for people with allergies and asthma (like my hubby has). Carpets are so passé ...”

▪️ “I go back and forth. I love the look of hardwood, but my circulation is poor. Walking on wood or tile has my feet freezing in moments. Carpet is my go-to. Sad.” 

▪️ “Hardwood, with a few area rugs in seating areas. No more wall to wall!”

▪️ “Carpet doesn’t work nearly as well with in-floor heating.”

▪️ “How about tiles and linoleum. Carpeted bathrooms should be illegal.”

▪️ “I wood say hardwood floors are the best. I am floored by the costs though as there seems to be no ceiling for the price.”

▪️ “Hardwood is timeless and easier to care for than carpet.”

▪️ “Carpet is fine in the basement, floating floors everywhere else are much easier to maintain and last much longer than carpets!”

▪️ “Persian carpets are the best; they are soft, beautiful, and elegant.”

▪️ “Carpets in bedrooms, tile in bathrooms and kitchens, hardwood everywhere else.”

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THE ROLLING THREE DAY CALENDAR

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✳️ Means change from previous edition

TUESDAY

• Gloucester Horticultural Society April meeting with Tyler Smith, who will present his research on food systems. (Cyrville) 

• 🆓 For a certain cohort of incredibly talented young Canadian instrumentalists, it all comes down to this: the 2026 NAC Orchestra Bursary Finals at 1:00 pm. With eight prestigious prizes up for grabs, the tension will be palpable and the musicianship will be off the charts. Skip lunch and catch this instead. (Downtown)  

• Come on down to The Price is Right Live at Hard Rock Ottawa  

• Duelling Pianos appear at Manor Lounge.  

• The Creativity of Plants Vernissage at Ottawa Art Gallery is a combo of responses to Artists for Plants' international call for artists back in 2025 and gentle violin performances. (Sandy Hill)  
   

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Art of Adventure, The Christophers, Mile End Kicks

• Mayfair Theatre: Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other, Palestine '36, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die
   

Gigs

• Tuesday Trivia. Irene's Pub

• Katherine & Nicholas. Night Oat

• Ottawa Trivia League. Robo Lounge

• Open Mic. Atomic Rooster

• Rare Groove Wednesdays. Atomic Rooster

WEDNESDAY

• Come on down to The Price is Right Live at Hard Rock Ottawa  

• Pianist Jonathan Cook will perform singalong Beatles hits on Robo Lounge's Bosendorfer grand piano. (The Glebe)  

• Indie recording artist Jane Siberry plays the first of two dates with her new album One Season: In The Thicket Of Our Own Unconsciousness. National Arts Centre (Downtown) 

• Organisers say that Fruit Cake, the Gay Ass Variety Show, is like if ‘Ottawa had a dyke bar for an evening’. (The Glebe)
   

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Christophers, Mile End Kicks

• Mayfair Theatre: Palestine ’36, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, The Big Lebowski 
   

Gigs

• Burning Witches, Thunderor, Feral Union.  Rainbow Bistro

• The Hip Trip. Bar Robo

• Open Mic hosted by Eliza. Night Oat

THURSDAY

• Sens bring the NHL Playoff action home to Canadian Tire Centre for Round One Game 3 against Carolina Hurricanes.  

• Ottawa Grassroots Festival opens at First Unitarian Congregation's soaring sanctuary with performances by Les Bilinguish Boys and guest Céleste Lévis. (Westboro) 

• Filmmaker Courtney Montour will be on hand at Arts Court Theatre for a Q&A following the screening of Rising Through the Fray, her inspiring documentary that follows the Indigenous Rising roller derby team.(Downtown)   

• Indie recording artist Jane Siberry’s tour for her new album One Season: In The Thicket Of Our Own Unconsciousness brings her to the National Arts Centre (Downtown)  

• Enter the draw to win a gorgeous handmade quilt at the Ottawa Humane Society Auxiliary Spring Craft Sale, today through Saturday at Carlingwood Mall. 

• The Singles Red Flag Party is mingling with a difference: you'll be writing your biggest red flag on your nametag (i.e., "deplores singles events", "perfers wall-to-wall carpet to hard wood floors", etc.) in place of your job title.  (The Glebe )

• Nova Scotian singer-songwriter Kristen Martell performs in a special double bill with Ottawa’s Rory Taillon (Golden Triangle)  

• Chocolate alert: the Lindt Warehouse Sale runs through Sunday at St. Laurent Shopping Centre. (Overbrook)   

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: The Art of Adventure, The Christophers, Miile End Kicks

• Mayfair Theatre: Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

Gigs

• Thursday Trivia. Overflow Brewing

• The Twentieth Century Boys. Rainbow Bistro

• Thursday Blues Sessions with guest host Michael Ball. Irene’s Pub

• Sam Wood. Night Oat

JUST ANNOUNCED

• Early bird pricing for City of OM ends this Friday April 24. Visit the three-day movement and wellness festival at the RA Centre Friday June 12 through Sunday June 14. 

• Walk or pedal in The CN Cycle for CHEO; a non-competitive, fun bike ride and walk supporting oncology care and research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.  Sunday May 3. 

DEALS OF THE DAY

Save up to 15% on the Canadian-made Blossom 3 Piece Sectional and Fiona Sofa from Dufresne.

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BUT, ONE MORE THING …

The CBC’s This is Ottawa podcast has a very un-CBC title this edition: ‘Why is downtown Ottawa parking such a gong show?’.

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

THE END

the ottawan is written and edited every working weekday by Martha and Darren. Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment.