STATISTICS OTTAWA

NUMBER

• 48 feet 

• The height of the Christmas tree raised at the ByWard Market. The ByWard Market District Authority reckons that it is the tallest Christmas tree in Ottawa.

• Dylan Dyson at CTV

•  

OTTAWAN OF THE DAY

• Cecilia Pita

• After 17 years of writing in the Manor Park Chronicle, Pita is stepping back from her column.

• Pita’s beat was etiquette, solving such quandries as barbeque manners, tipflation, and how to be respectful.

• Manor Park Chronicle
   

QUOTE

• “

• The overwhelming outpouring of kindness ... has really humbled me

• –Ottawa Charge coach Carla MacLeod on the response that she has received after making public her diagnosis of breast cancer. 

• MacLeod will miss tonight’s match in order to meet doctors in Calgary but expects to return later this week.

• CBC 

• 

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  WHAT’S GOING ON AT CITY HALL

  Planning and Housing Committee
  Wednesday, December 3 at 9:30 am

  • Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment – Part of 1900 and 2000 City Park Drive
  • Zoning By-law Amendment - 258 Durocher Street
  • Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment – 829 Carling Avenue
  • Treasurer's Report on 2024 Growth Related Revenues
  • Status Update – Planning and Housing Committee Inquiries and Motions for the period ending November 21, 2025

  Agenda

  

  WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

  🚧  Removal of Lansdowne’s grassy hill will begin next week. Job number one is to remove the grassy hill next to the stadium to make room for the smaller arena which will replace TD Arena. The City officially awarded the construction contract to EBC Inc last week. Phase 1 should not see any road closures.  – CBC

   

  🔋 Ottawa’s rural councillors have once again voted against a battery storage system. The City’s Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee has voted against supporting a battery storage project on Marchurst Road near Dunrobin in West Carleton. However, they did support a smaller project proposed on the property of the Carp Airport. Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator requires municipal approval before it itself approves projects. Battery storage systems buy electricity from Hydro One overnight and sell it back during the day when it is dear. City Council now will decide to accept or reject the Committee’s vote. – Joanne Laucius in the Ottawa Citizen 

  
  🧠  The National Hockey League suits are miffed at the Sens for practising without helmets. During a warm-up last week, the team played without helmets as a morale booster. This inspired the San Jose Sharks to do so at their practice, followed by the New Jersey Devils at theirs. While helmets are mandatory for all players who came into the league after 1979 – now 100% of players – mandatory helmet use during practice only applies to those who entered after the 2019-2020 season. – Bruce Garrioch in the Ottawa Citizen  
   

  🚨 Court Circular

  ▪️The Ottawa lawyer sentenced to four years in prison for extortion, uttering death threats and criminal harassment has now had his law licence revoked. James Bowie had asked a friend to find him a gun to help rid him of a problem client who refused an oral sex-for-legal services offer. – Josh Pringle at CTV

  ▪️The former City of Ottawa lawyer who defaced the National Holocaust Monument is asking for time-served in jail and on bail as a sentence. The Crown is asking for two years in jail. Iain Aspenlieder said he defaced the memorial of the murder of millions of Jews because of the actions of Israel over Gaza . – Kristy Nease at CBC

  ▪️The Ottawa Police Service is trying out a new tactic to discourage drinking and driving over the Christmas season: they are giving out their road check locations each week in advance on Twitter. The idea isn’t to give drunk drivers a chance to plan a more complex route home but to keep avoidance of impaired driving at front of their minds. – Rachel Morgan at CityNews

  

  THE DAILY POLL

  Is tipflation irking you?

  🔘 Yes, I loathe being asked to tip at non-food businesses

  🔘 Yes, I loathe being asked to tip at any counter, food or not

  🔘 Tipping is voluntary. Tip if you like, press 'No' if you don’t

  🔘 I don’t even tip in sit-down restaurants

  • 
    Previously in ottawan polls:

  • We asked, ‘How bike friendly do you find Ottawa?’

    • 4% All in all, pretty good

    • 27% Terrible and risky

    • 39% Like everything else in Ottawa, great on the National Capital Commission bits and lacking in the City of Ottawa part

    • 29% Probably about 67th in the world

  • 
    Commentary

  ▪️ “And thank god Dougie just passed a bill that will make it difficult or perhaps impossible to actually make any of the bike lanes better.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “I commute by bike 9 months of the year. The NCC parts are fantastic, the city parts are just okay. However some of the city parts are now being cleared of snow so improvements are happening!”​​​
  
  ▪️ “I find it hard to believe we’re behind Montreal and Toronto.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “The big issue is connectivity. Some really good infrastructure for a while, then nothing.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Ottawa requires you to make your own fun. It will be as boring as you are. We could improve transit though.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “As a kid, over 30 years ago, I rode from Kanata to downtown with my uncle and had no worries. Today, I wouldn't dare bc it seems so unsafe.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Amazing compared to Arnprior.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “NCC really has been doing an excellent job, and Ottawa can do better. Keep trying!”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Biking in Ottawa is fine for recreational purposes, but overall unpleasant for getting around, thanks to a piecemeal approach to the network, the primacy of cars and inconsiderate drivers who think speed limits are mere suggestions.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “I’ve personally been hit by a car wearing a bright yellow raincoat. Yes, the car driver was at fault. Yes, I was wearing a helmet (I’m luckily okay). We need cycling infrastructure that isn’t just road paint.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Bike paths work well in the downtown core and surrounding 'hoods but not so well in the suburbs like Barrhaven, Kanata and Orléans. Also, they are of very limited use for the 6 winter months of each year.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “We should be #1 in Canada, but we’re not. And Ontario Premier Ford is not helping things by controlling bike lane expansion in our city. He should check out Utrecht, Netherlands. ”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Cannot believe that Toronto scored higher!”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Quite surprised Ottawa made 67th in the world. Didn't think it would be in the top 100.”​​​
  
  ▪️ “Ottawa has the infamous ‘bike lane ends’ signs.”​​​

  

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  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

  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) 

  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

  • Meet other skeptics, atheists, humanists, and freethinkers for a lively chinwag at Skeptics in the Pub. (Golden Triangle) 

WEDNESDAY

• ✳️ University of Ottawa Theatre Club presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, running through December 6. (Little Italy)  

• ✳️ SKETCH Art Sale and Auction Fundraiser at SAW Centre is the perfect opportunity to source something new for your collection. Preview the works from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm today and tomorrow, and participate in the silent auction and art sale from 7:00 pm tomorrow.  

• 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) 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: Sentimental Value, Warren Miller’s Sno-Ciety   

• Mayfair Theatre: The Mastermind, Meadowlarks, The Smashing Machine    

Gigs

• Four-Eyed Muscle Man, bathwash. House of TARG

• Bluegrass Junction. Red Bird

• The Prime Rib Big Band. Irene’s Pub

THURSDAY

• Give your feline a festive season mani pedi at the Fisher Glen Animal Hospital Nail Trim Fundraiser for Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue. (Fisher Glen) 

• Find something special as uOttawa students, staff, and alumni present a two day Holiday Market at Alex Trebek Hall. (Lowertown) 

• Flock Boutique celebrates 20 years of Canadian fashion with a gathering at the shop (Wellington Village). 

• Sample the house cider, shop for unique Christmas gifts, and support local artisans at the Saunders Farm Sip & Shop event (Munster) 

• SKETCH Art Sale and Auction Fundraiser at SAW Centre is the perfect opportunity to source something new for your collection. Preview the works from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm  and participate in the silent auction and art sale from 7:00 pm (Sandy Hill)

• Explore gift ideas at the Elgin Street Shop Hop, where you’ll also find deals, treats, and giveaways. Plus, you'll be supporting Centretown Community Food Centre. Win, win. (Centretown)

• Watch inspiring stories from some of the most majestic peaks on the planet as the Mountains on Stage festival stops at Mayfair Theatre. (Old Ottawa South). https://www.mountainsonstage.com/canadian-dates 

• Support the home team as the Sens meet New York Rangers at Canadian Tire Centre (Kanata). 

• Do some holiday shopping and sampling at the Grace in the Kitchen Holiday Party (Kanata). 

• Unitarian House hosts a Craft Sale from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm today (Woodroffe North)  

• Standard pricing is over after today’s Magic of Lights. Starting tomorrow you’ll pay more to view the two kilometres of festive displays from the warm comfort of your car. (Wesley Clover Parks)  

Theatre

• A married comedy duo explores some Big Stuff, namely, how to coexist when one of you keeps everything while the other wants to throw it all away. GCTC until December 7. (Wellington West)

• University of Ottawa Theatre Club presents Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, running through December 6. (Little Italy)  

• Bop to the music of the Go-Gos in Head Over Heels: the Musical by Suzart Productions.  

• Ottawa Little Theatre’s production A Sherlock Carol is sold out but thenproduction team says that tickets sometimes open up. Check the website frequently. 

Cinema

• ByTowne Cinema: It Was Just An Accident, Warren Miller’s Sno-ciety

• Mayfair Theatre: The Mastermind, Mountains Onstage      

Gigs

• John Muirhead. Red Bird

• Gerard Van Herk, Eddie Gazel, DJ Shanker. House of TARG

• Original Soundtrack. Avant-Garde Bar

• 20th Century Boys Holiday Concert. Rainbow Bistro

• Upstairs Neighbours, Runner Up. LIVE on Elgin

JUST ANNOUNCED / NOW BOOKING

• Mark your calendars: The International Film Festival of Ottawa runs March 11 - 22, 2026.