Is your councillor a chronic no-voter on city budgets? | Opinion Tim Tierney: Ottawa has traded safety and security for policing alternatives – experiments that have repeatedly failed. | Opinion

Some say that voting against a budget makes you part of the problem. I disagree. Healthy disagreement is part of responsible decision making. Residents expect us to test assumptions, debate ideas and make sure the budget reflects the realities they live with every single day.

Iconic cartoon showing a single driver in a wide car taking up most of the street space. With many people crammed into the bus, bike and pedestrian space left over. Someone later added a voice box with the driver saying “Damn those bike paths and bus lanes taking all the space!”

This iconic Fabian Todorovic cartoon is still one of the best I’ve seen at illustrating the remarkable amount of space we surrender to cars, leaving little space left for everyone and everything else. The text added later makes the bonus point that many drivers still manage to complain about it.

Opinion: Truth and reconciliation, 10 years later: Education got us into this mess. Will it get us out? Some Canadians may want us to move on from the dark residential-school chapter of this country’s history. But a decade after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report was published, its l...

Truth and reconciliation, 10 years later: Education got us into this mess. Will it get us out? We can't move on from the dark residential-school chapter of history until its lessons have been absorbed, by @tanyatalaga.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com

OPP warns of possible cougar sighting near Smiths Falls ottawacitizen.com/news/possibl...

Free tuition and abolishing student debt aren’t new ideas. They’re long-standing demands of the student movement. Education is a public good, and a more educated society benefits everyone. Join the movement to make post-secondary education free: lewisforleader.ca

Speaking directly about Councillors Leiper and Troster, he said: "What is surprising is their unwillingness to prioritize community safety." You do not accuse fellow councillors of not caring about the safety of their communities. That crosses a line. It's unacceptable and merits an apology. 10/

City council approves city-wide expansion of Community Crisis Service The program will see mental health experts respond to calls involving people in crisis instead of the police service.

Here in Ottawa, several councillors, including me, are frustrated at the City's tentative expansion of the ANCHOR program. Where cities like Toronto have modernized through their Community Crisis Service, Ottawa takes baby steps. 8/ toronto.citynews.ca/2023/11/09/c...

It's a perfect example of why denigrating a healthy debate on police reform bothers me. It not only ignores proven solutions to reduce crime rates but bypasses a much-needed opportunity to address the hugely growing cost of policing, a cost that doesn’t always translate into increased safety. 6/

At issue here is a debate over different approaches to policing & public safety, an area rich with opinions, where innovative reforms have been embraced by cities worldwide. American cities like Denver and Boston have shown great success in lowering crime rates and costs through modernization. 3/

Is your councillor a chronic no-voter on city budgets? | Opinion Tim Tierney: Ottawa has traded safety and security for policing alternatives – experiments that have repeatedly failed. | Opinion

This was a scurrilous ad hominem attack on the integrity of City Council colleagues by @timtierney.ca. During a Term of Council when we've all sought to avoid the petty divisiveness of the last term, Councillor Tierney sadly brought us all lower yesterday. 1/ ottawacitizen.com/opinion/budg...

Gender-based violence continues to grow and it doesn’t have to be that way Most Canadian women have experienced street harassment. I know; I'm one of them. Here is what needs to be done.

"You cannot be shocked that gender-based violence continues to grow when you refuse to sustainably invest in the very spaces where the people most impacted spend most of their time: publicly funded schools."

Thank you to HS student Ololade Aje for speaking out.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Evergreen cartoon

Thirty-six years later, we still remember. Fourteen women, killed because they were women. We honour their dreams, their strength, and their right to live freely. We must never stop fighting gender-based violence.

Don't panic! www.brigittepellerin.com/p/this-is-no...

Without public debate or Council approval. Not good.

Mayors urge Ontario to declare state of emergency to address homelessness, addiction Ontario Big City Mayors urged the province to provide more funding and engage more actively with cities and other stakeholders in a motion passed unanimously on Friday.

Mayors urge Ontario to declare state of emergency to address homelessness, addiction

Screen shot saying it’s minus 20, -27 with windchill

It is brutally cold out there. If you or anyone you know needs access to a warm place, call 311. We can arrange transportation and someone will direct you to the right place to go. The @ottawapublichealth.ca website has a list of shelters and warming spaces: www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/public-he...

NDP MP Kwan accuses Liberals of ‘fearmongering’ over defence export bill With just seven seats in the House of Commons, the vastly outnumbered NDP needs significant cross-party support to pass a bill that would tighten oversight of defence-related exports

www.thestar.com/politics/fed... “…raining down destruction on civilians in genocide, in war crimes, in crimes against humanity — if they think closing the loophole on that is misguided, I would say it’s really a condemnation of the government’s view of Canada’s integrity”

Ontario won’t have charter schools, board closings or mergers, pledges education minister Ontario education minister says governance reforms will be announced in the new year.

Ontario won’t have charter schools, board closings or mergers, pledges education minister

This is property tax dollars not in the police budget, to relieve Ottawa Police Services of some of the burden of policing the Market - a model that could be applied elsewhere with none of the safeguards. Who polices these security guards? Who is accountable? Who authorized this? Mayor Sutcliffe.

Globe editorial: The City of Ottawa’s Hail Mary plan for redevelopment The Lansdowne 2.0 plan depends on rosy assumptions, leaving taxpayers potentially on the hook if ambitions fall short

The Globe and Mail published an editorial warning that Lansdowne 2.0 might not be a great plan, nearly a month after council voted to do it and with a photo of LeBreton Flats, which is not mentioned in the editorial. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

What prompts the Mayor to turn to private security to police the Byward Market? Are private security better trained? Or just cheaper than our police? #Ottpolice #ottcity

Alberta’s controversial move: Premier Smith’s charter rights suspension for trans youth Invoking the notwithstanding clause before a court can make a ruling is cowardly, politically motivated and a dangerous precedent.

2/ Real freedom means everyone gets their rights defended in court, not just the people in power. Using the notwithstanding clause to avoid judicial review is cowardice, indeed.

Read Fae’s piece: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

'Authoritarian and undemocratic': 300 groups unite against Legault's proposed Quebec constitution montrealgazette.com/news/provinc...

So, contracting out public safety to private security companies in Byward Market is an element of your plan because they are better trained than our cops? Or just cheaper? #ottpolice #ottcity

So, is it because these security personnel are better trained than Ottawa's finest? Or just cheaper? Will more police work be contracted out? How about traffic safety? Asking for a friend ... #ottcity

Text reads: Ottawa, do you have questions about recycling? As of January 1, 2026, please contact Miller Waste for: replacement recycling bins, missed collections, other recycling questions. 1-888-852-2374, area2@millerwaste.ca

Recycling is going provincial. Know who to contact!

Beginning January 1, 2026, contact Miller Waste for questions related to recycling bins, missed blue and black bin collections and what can be recycled.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/48XG5KP

Did you know that, according to its Asset Management Plan, the City has a funding shortfall of $10 billion over 10 years to maintain, repair and renew its aging infrastructure & facilities, and that this budget doesn't begin to address this shortfall? 'Tis. #ottcity

Danielle Smith’s push to suspend charter rights of trans youth is cowardly — and abandons conservative values Invoking the notwithstanding clause before a court can make a ruling is cowardly, politically motivated and a dangerous precedent.

Danielle Smith’s push to suspend charter rights of trans youth is cowardly — and abandons conservative values

#Opinion from @faejohnstone.bsky.social

Please enjoy my cartoon for Friday's Toronto Star