gotu

It is kind of amazing that every four years we have a province-wide spirited conversation about the places in which we live, culminating with fair and peaceful elections. 🗳️ It’s also troubling to me how low the voter turnout-out was yesterday. 39% in Stittsville, 36% across Ottawa.

It appears that Ottawa’s best chance to elect a smart, progressive mayor to take the city to the next level has failed due to vote-splitting. It’s hard to see it happen in a city that so badly needs a fundamentally different kind of leadership in order to make real progress. #Ottawa

Ottawa is the Canadian city that most needs a leadership change. From a city-building & governance perspective, it’s the city that comes to mind when I think about a city that should be SO much better than it is. That’s in large part due to who has been in the Mayor’s chair. Don’t split the vote.

Ottawa has a brutal track record of picking mayors that are committed to blocking smart, proven progress. Will the city’s voters finally end that trend today? Locals whose judgment I respect say @jleiper.bsky.social would make an excellent Mayor. Remember, turnout wins elections. #VOTE #Ottawa

Ottawa, today we get to vote for Jeff Leiper. We pay a lot in city taxes. In exchange, we have a right to expect a city that works. Jeff has the experience and vision to fix Ottawa. Transit. Housing. Street safety. Ending corporate welfare to Porsche dealerships and OSEG. Join me to vote for Jeff!

“Proven can deliver” money to private sports teams form public land; low taxes while our infra crumbles; new ways to (cut) bus service and make transit worse; promises to plant 1m trees (that didn’t happen) while destroying farmland, making storm impacts worse. We can’t afford 4 more years of Mark

🔥 OBAMA: “The thing is, Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons — because I put a deal in place he pulled out of… and the war he started is why the price of everything is UP… how much time do you think Hegseth spends looking at himself in the mirror? These are not serious people.”

24 in 48. I bet he isn't using transit.

Councillors Hill & Tierney must be doing great in their wards, as they each seem so focused on mine. It's generous of their constituents to loan them out like this. SIDEBAR: If ever you're on a canoe ride with David or Tim, don't sit in the bow, otherwise something might get stuck in your back.

Climate "Bill C-39 countermands the environmental protections currently in place in Canadian law, laws written to avoid irreparable harms, we call upon the House and Senate to uphold these laws and to consider our recommendations for the benefit of nature, Canadians" + 🌏 www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Well well. Vote accordingly, Ottawa We can and will have the change we need if we unite to support Jeff Leiper next week www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Also 69 years since the Windscale fire. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsca... www.itv.com/news/border/...

How's that speed camera ban going in Ontario? - 30 traffic fatalities in Ottawa so far this year, exceeding the 23 total fatalities in 2025 - Toronto on track for a five year traffic fatality high. - Windsor reporting "staggering" number of injury crashes this year www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I'll fix your opening for you: For 12 years, @jleiper.bsky.social has argued for necessary funding for Ottawa's crumbling infrastructure. When your house is falling into disrepair, don't boast about how little money you put into fixing it.

While I didn't expect the campaign to take this turn, I'll tell you something. If people like David Hill, David Brown, Tim Tierney, and Jan Harder are conspiring to unseat me, then I take that as confirmation that I'm acting in the City's best interests. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Zacharia is to Scaramucci as pounds are to kilograms. 5:11

Something genuinely amazing about making Alberta your FIRST STOP to learn about Canadian attitudes to the United States. You may as well go to Catalonia and say that it's interesting to see they share similar issues to you with the government in Madrid.

G20 levels of police presence to remove a fucking bike lane. Absolute cowards. (Photo: @chanface.bsky.social)

WATCH: Seriously, if you’re following ANY bike-lane debate, you really should watch and share this excellent news story. Ford LIES that bike-lanes are bad for small business, and THE ACTUAL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION obliterates him with data. Remember and share this as Ford tears out Toronto bike-lanes.

Still trying to understand how Napster got shut down, but Anthropic is going public and still hasn’t paid us authors yet after stealing our work.

Jeff Leiper and I put forward a motion to restore 5 minute LRT frequency during off-peak hours and it was defeated by the current mayor and a majority of council.

I know it's 11:30 at night but 15 minute headways is a complete waste of our LRT infrastructure investment. Improve the service, you'll get more riders @jleiper.bsky.social @arieltroster.bsky.social

Happy #Caturday and Thanksgiving Weekend, Canada! Here's my Thanksgiving statement:

In 2016, Leuven made a bold decision: instead of trying to accommodate ever-increasing car traffic, it would change the rules of the road entirely. A decade later, the Dutch-inspired traffic circulation plan has drastically improved the city’s accessibility, liveability and quality of public space.🧵

Me after raising OC Transpo fares from $3.70 in 2022 to $4.10 in 2026

Another day, another watermain break (Riverside/Vanier Parkway at Tremblay) in Ottawa. Leiper has an actual plan for addressing this shortfall from years of Watson and Sutcliffe underfunding rather than handwaving and hoping the province and feds save our ass.

It’s hard enough for cities in Canada to do smarter things given how often bad city leaders hurt their own cities. But it’s extra infuriating watching awful provincial premiers sabotaging cities by ripping out good things they FINALLY managed to achieve. Premiers should not have that power, period.

"Ripping out these protected bike lanes against the will of Toronto city council is a colossal waste of $48 million. The province’s own experts know it will not ease traffic congestion, it will put people’s lives at risk…” One of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen any politician do to any city.

I just returned from a bike trip in South Tyrol. The extensive, well maintained, interconnected bike routes were amazing! Tunnels, bridges, charging stations; infrastructure not deterred by 🏔️ A commitment to safe cycling that meant young and old were on their bikes!

Monday morning outside Rotterdam Centraal, thousands of cyclists stream toward the station in a carefully choreographed flow. What you’re seeing is the power of systems thinking—the bicycle and train both succeed because they work together seamlessly, where each mode extends the reach of the other.

Spent a while on this one. Doesn't happen with every player. I have no control over it.

Guess which bike lanes had biggest % increase over past 4 months in Toronto, based on data from permanent counters? BIKE LANES ON BLOOR in ETOBICOKE, of course! From 79,000 in 2025 to 97,000 in 2026. An upward trajectory that will continue w surging local popn in res towers+BikeShare #biketo #onpoli

I am deep into the fast radio burst rabbit hole. Loving this S R Kulcarni paper on Dispersion Measure. sites.astro.caltech.edu/~srk/Ay121/S...

“Invest in infrastructure that reduces congestion.” Sutcliffe’s campaign says the plan would focus on new roads, widening existing arteries and adding new traffic signals and roundabouts. @mark-sutcliffe.bsky.social does not understand induced demand. Long term it will increase congestion.

Submitting JWST proposals is up there with trying to book swimming lessons in Ottawa. If you're a parent who has won the Ottawa hunger games, there's an astronomer that needs your help.

Paris has been praised in recent years for their visionary, progressive city-building, but they don’t get enough credit for just being really pragmatic! Everything they’ve been doing is common sense. They’re moving a lot more people with less space while cleaning the air and cooling the city.

🔥JACK SMITH: "Trump engaged in serious crimes against 🇺🇸- a criminal scheme to prevent a lawful transfer of power... the rule of law faces challenges unlike any we've experienced. I won't be silenced by threats of prosecution. While fear may be contagious, courage is as well."