There are days when it’s hard to shake the feeling that this city is actively trying to discourage people from not using personal cars for everything all the time. For instance, nobody would accept a city not investing enough in infrastructure for vehicles. If safe parking for cars was
Politics
A shorter post this week as everyone including self is hard at work preparing to spend some of the weekend resting, in-between various house and back yard chores. Vacations, a wise friend once said, is just a reorganization of when the work happens. It doesn’t make the work disappear.
Urbanism
Showing my age with this one, no doubt. But what better time to discuss snow and winter safety than in the middle of a scorching heat dome of a heat wave? Also the Northern Pikes are among the most under-rated bands this country ever produced. Fight me. But seriously: I
Politics
This week I've got two very different kinds of violence on the mind. Political and culinary. One is totally funnier than the other. Let’s start with the political. Everywhere you look you see an increase in toxicity and the kind of nastiness that drives good people away
Politics
Thank goodness for minor opposition parties, I guess, for bringing back a much-needed adult tone to what is, inarguably, a very serious discussion. Elizabeth May, leader of the two-member Green Party, made good use of her security clearance to look at that famous unredacted report about parliamentarians who, we hear,
Politics
In mid-April, perhaps in the grip of seasonal affective disorder or some other blight, I decided to add my email address to the sending lists of all federal political parties. Well, except the Bloc because they don’t have a sign-up form on their website. I follow their news using
Urbanism
On Monday I watched a presentation by a group of housing experts on the benefits of pre-fab infill as one of the key solutions both to the housing crisis and also that little climate emergency thing. The BuildingIN program is two-fold: It includes a new simulation tool to test the
There are few subjects I enjoy writing about more than beer. I love beer. I financed my law degree working at a fine English pub in Quebec City that typically had 250 different beers, and rotated frequently depending on what was available through private imports. I have tried thousands of
If it seems like not a week goes by without some Deep Reflection (and new names!) on the nature of work, that’s because it’s true. These days we’re mildly obsessing over the Great Exhaustion and Quiet Vacationing, and both are related. Great Exhaustion refers to the dual
Urbanism
My friend and colleague, the scintillating Bruce Deachman, challenged us to come up with new and improved mottoes for Ottawa and you know me when someone puts a dare in front of my face. This. I’ve lived in this town for nearly 24 years and while there are many
Travel
A bit of a shorter update this week as I’m on the road from Ottawa to Connecticut via Toronto which, as you’ll know if you’ve ever looked at a map, is totally not on the road to Connecticut from Ottawa. But since Eldest was competing both in
Travel
This wasn’t meant to be a weekend replete with political philosophy. My goal was to take a well-deserved break to rest and recharge. But of course being me, now that I have an hour to kill before dinner, here goes. A whimsical visit today to Canyon Ste-Anne prompted both