Weekly newsletter: August 5, 2025

Hello!

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend (long weekend for some)! That nasty sunburn I got two weeks ago has finally all peeled off and recovered. The weird tan lines mean I probably won’t wear shorts anymore this summer, though.

Though Environment Canada ended their special air quality statement for Ottawa yesterday, wildfire smoke is expected to linger until tonight, at least.

Also, thank you to the residents who stopped by my farmers market booth to chat!

OC Transpo youth pass

Only a symptom of a systemic issue.

Starting September 1, 2025, OC Transpo will discontinue the youth fare category. Transit fares for 11-to-19-year-olds will be charged the same fares as adults, an increase of $31 per month.

The elimination of the youth fare category was approved by Council as part of the 2025 transit budget, which I voted against↗.

I voted against the transit budget, because it presented more of the same - increases to tax levies and fares, and leaning on the hope there would be support from other levels of government - instead of properly addressing the systemic funding issues plaguing public transit in Ottawa.

Additionally, the way the initial fare increases were determined during the budget process was opaque and problematic↗. It gave the impression the research was insufficient to ensure the proposals were achievable.

Some residents may recall, several proposals had to be walked back, including delaying the discontinuation of youth fares from January to September. An attempt at creating a U-pass-type arrangement with the school boards to soften the impact on high school students also went nowhere.

The discontinuation of youth fares is yet another symptom of the wider systemic issue which we continue to fail to address. Without fundamental changes to the governance, revenue, and corporate models at OC Transpo, public transit in Ottawa will continue its death spiral towards an untimely demise.

Colonel By Day

Ottawa’s original namesake.

The Civic Holiday is interesting, with its mixed statuses and observations across the country. In Ontario, the day takes on various local names and is generally observed as a work holiday, despite it not being a statutory holiday.

Since 1996, the Civic Holiday has been known as Colonel By Day in Ottawa, in honour of Colonel John By, an English military engineer who supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and founded Bytown (now Ottawa) in the process.

The second of three sons, John By was born in 1779 in Lambeth, Surrey (located in modern day London, UK) on the south bank of the Thames across Westminster Palace.

By was admitted to the Royal Military Academy at age 13 and graduated in 1799. In 1802, he was posted to Canada to work on the fortification of Québec City and improving the navigability of the Saint Lawrence River.

He returned to England in 1811 and retired by the end of the Napoleonic wars.

Meanwhile, in Upper Canada, under a continued threat of American invasion after the War of 1812, the government planned for a military vessel route that would bypass a vulnerable stretch of the Saint Lawrence River east of Kingston.

Surveys for a canal route were completed in 1816 and 1824.

In 1819, the Duke of Richmond, planned to inspect the surveyed route, but was bitten by a fox and died after experiencing symptoms of rabies. This is why the welcome sign in Richmond at Perth/Shea has a fox on top of it! A stone marker south of Old Richmond/Steeple Hill marks the spot where Richmond died.

Prior to his death, the Duke of Richmond advocated for the Duke of Wellington to advocate for the Rideau Canal project. Wellington would issue a memo on March 1, 1819 advocating for the canal to be built as part of the defence system for Canada.

After a few years of retirement, Colonel By was recalled to Canada in 1826 to be the superintending engineer for the Rideau Canal project.

By set up an office in Montréal and then travelled to Wright’s Town (Hull today) with the Earl of Dalhousie. They selected a small valley on the southern bank of the Ottawa River as the start of the canal, including a settlement to house the workers who would build the canal.

Construction was not easy. Most of the land along the route was untouched and sparsely populated. In fact, the swamps proved so tough that the route’s resurvey to determine construction needs was done in the winter, when they were frozen and easier to navigate.

The Canal was constructed by thousands of labourers and trades, hired by independent contractors, including John Redpath (namesake for Redpath Drive and founder of Redpath Sugar) and Thomas McKay.

All the work was done by hand, including the excavation, rock blasting, and lock building. Some 2,000 to 4,000 labourers worked per year to realise the canal, comprised generally of 60 per cent Irish immigrants and 40 per cent French Canadians.

During construction, several contractors were dismissed as they couldn’t live up to the terms of their contracts, while the labourers were unruly, requiring the military to supervise much of the works.

According to records, most deaths during construction was from disease, particularly malaria. Several deaths were also a “consequence of intoxication by ardent spirits,” including one who drowned swimming across the Rideau River to get a bottle of whiskey…with a flask in his mouth.

On May 22, 1832, Colonel By boarded a steamboat in Kingston for the grand opening voyage. Seven days later, the boat arrived in Bytown.

The quality of work on the canal was highly praised, but the final cost of over £820,000 was far above an initial estimate of about £575,000.

Primarily due to the cost, but also amid parliamentary reforms, Colonel By was ordered to be removed from command and recalled to England. Hearings were held into the expenses of the project, and Colonel By was eventually blamed for defying Parliament.

Despite exoneration by Parliamentary Committee, Colonel By never received any formal commendation of his tremendous engineering and construction feat, nor the founding of Bytown, and died in 1836, aged 53 from complications of a stroke.

Bytown was eventually incorporated, then renamed Ottawa in 1855, and was selected by Queen Victoria to become the capital of Canada in 1857.

The Rideau Canal has never be used for military purposes.

Bite-sized updates

Sorted alphabetically!

• Greenbank Road pathway – The Greenbank Road pathway through the Greenbelt remains closed for resurfacing. Paving is nearing completion, with landscaping/finishing works starting this week. Works are on track towards a mid/late-August reopening.

• Leikin Drive closure – Leikin Drive between Merivale and Beckstead remains closed until August 11 for an Amazon-related sewer relocation. The street was supposed to reopen at the end of June but, this was delayed due to City permitting issues.

• Longfields/Bill Leathem road cut – Hydro Ottawa have advised they will repair the road cut on Longfields west of the roundabout “in the next two weeks.” Signage warning motorists of the bump was also requested two weeks ago. Despite multiple emails reminding them there were two separate road cuts at the roundabout, only the one on Bill Leathem was repaired three weeks ago.

• Low water conditions – Households on well water in Hearts Desire are asked to voluntarily reduce water usage by about 10 per cent, due to low water levels in the Jock River subwatershed. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority states streams that feed the river are flowing at 10 to 25 per cent of normal rates due to the hot weather and low rainfall.

• Mayor’s summer barbecue – Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is hosting a free community barbecue↗ at the Minto Recreation Complex (3500 Cambrian Road) on August 16 from 11 am to 3 pm. Join him, Councillor Hill, and me for food, inflatables, and recreation activities!

• Pop-up office hours – Over the summer, I will be at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market (Barrhaven)↗ every other Sunday for pop-up office hours. I’ll be there next on Sunday, August 17 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Nepean Woods Park and Ride.

• Recreation registration – Browse autumn recreation activities at register.ottawa.ca↗. Aquatics registration opens Tuesday, August 12 at 9 pm, while registration for all other activities opens on Thursday, August 14 at 9 pm.

• Walter Baker Sports Centre – Both ice pads are closed until further notice due to loss of the ice surface after a prolonged power outage at the facility last week.

• Waste collection – This week’s waste collection (garbage, blue bin, green bin, yard waste) is delayed to Wednesday in Barrhaven East, as Monday was the Civic Holiday.

Lastly, have you ever wondered if there was a better way than throwing spent pens into the garbage? Well, I recently learned there is!

TerraCycle and Staples↗ have partnered to take spent pens (and all writing instruments) at Staples locations across the country, including the Barrhaven location, for recycling. Just look for the brown TerraCycle box. Electronics are also accepted there, as well as at the Best Buy on the other side of the shopping area.

Enjoy the week ahead!
-Wilson