Sam Hersh
@samhersh01.bsky.social
is known to occasionally post something interesting. community/political organizer based in #ottcity
Public pressure works folks! Solidarity with Ottawa's 2SLGBTQ+ community. The bigots will never win.
OCDSB now registered to march in parade, says Capital Pride | CBC News
After questions about its participation in Ottawa's Pride parade this year, Ottawa's largest school board is now planning to march.
cbc.ca
Not only is the OCDSB not going to Pride, they are now actively telling students *not* to attend. Disgusting from an institution with an equity statement on their website supporting 2SLGBTQ+ students. Ford's takeover is about more than just "fiscal responsibility."
Ottawa public school board recommends students not participate in Pride parade for ‘safety’
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) says staff will participate in the Capital Pride parade but recommends students not participate in next month’s event “because the board cannot guaran...
ctvnews.ca
This is on no one else but Sutcliffe who advocated for a smaller arena, now permanently pushes the Charge out of the downtown core. Shame.
Ottawa Charge to play at Canadian Tire Centre next season
The Ottawa Charge will be playing hockey at Canadian Tire Centre next season. The Professional Women’s Hockey League team and the Ottawa Senators announced the Charge will be moving to the arena in Ot...
ctvnews.ca
I’m on the o-train at Tunneys going to Blair and two special constables just got on. One of them woke up a sleeping passenger (appeared to be unhoused). The constable asked him what his final destination was and when he didn’t respond said “Well we’re getting you off the fucking train.”
Bill 98, Ford's backdoor upload of the TTC, just passed in the legislature 61-31. This is a dark day for transit. We expect fares to go up, routes to be changed and consultations with riders to cease.
Every year we are told to accept massive Ottawa Police budget increases with very little scrutiny because they apparently don't ever have enough resources. What's shocking isnt that OPS doesn't have proper oversight - what's shocking is that they continue to get away with it.
I don't always agree with Councillor Carr but this is a great idea that is picking up steam across the country. Municipal, publicly-run grocery stores drive down costs and focus on affordable food rather than profit. Glad to see it having potential here in Ottawa.
Ottawa councillor wants to explore city-run grocery stores to improve food access
An Ottawa councillor wants the city to explore the development of a municipal food strategy, including city-owned grocery stores to improve food access and tackle food insecurity.
ctvnews.ca
I thought Carney was a builder of infrastructure? With $2.4 billion, we could quickly get to incredible levels of intercity bus service. Medical appointments, family visits, vacations, etc could all be done without a car. Instead, the people who can afford a car will save ~$5 per tank.
Toronto Star@thestar.com · 4mo ago#Breaking: The federal government will lift the national excise tax on gas until Labour Day in a move that will drop prices by 10 cents per litre, Mark Carney announces. New from Tonda MacCharles and @aballinga.bsky.social:
For the past three years since hes been councillor, David Brown has voted in favour of fare increases and cuts to routes that have devastated our system, including his rural residents and now he's using that as an excuse to privatize a public service. Councillors must defeat his motion.
Councillor, transit union to face off over private bus service in rural Ottawa | CBC News
Coun. David Brown wants the city to look at engaging private mass transit providers in rural areas, but the union that represents OC Transpo operators says he should support more funding for public se...
cbc.ca
More extreme overreach from Ford who wants to take away the ability of cities to...set their own transit fares?? Setting fares is not and should not be the jurisdiction of provincial govts. The power of democratically elected local officials should not be at the whim of Doug Ford.
TTCriders@ttcriders.bsky.social · 4mo agoBill 98 proposes MASSIVE changes to transit. Language in this bill could mean that Toronto would lose its ability to set its own transit fares and discounts. Riders just won fare capping and a fare freeze. Hard-fought policies like these should not be overturned by the Ford gov't!
Of course they would. Bus lanes cost the city virtually nothing, would reduce congestion and increase the number of customers businesses get while cops would cost the city tens of millions more for very little benefit. Why do businesses continue to advocate against their own interests?
Glebe BIA would rather see increased police presence over bus lanes on Bank St.
Reducing on-street parking in favour of more permanent bus lanes may lead to loss of customers and revenue for Glebe businesses, the local BIA executive director says.
obj.ca
People should be prioritized over cars at all times in a place like the Market, not just on special occasions. Sam, one of our board members, breaks down the case for a fully-pedestrianized Byward Market rather than the proposed half-measures ⤵️
Sam Hersh@samhersh01.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew from me in @ottawacitizen.com today. If Sutcliffe and the rest of council is serious about supporting local businesses, improving safety and restoring the vibrancy of the Market, they need to do something far more straightforward: pedestrianize it.
New from me in @ottawacitizen.com today. If Sutcliffe and the rest of council is serious about supporting local businesses, improving safety and restoring the vibrancy of the Market, they need to do something far more straightforward: pedestrianize it.
It's time to pedestrianize the ByWard Market | Opinion
The decision to reopen William Street to cars speaks volumes about the direction of the so-called “new” ByWard Market action plan. | Opinion
ottawacitizen.com
Doug Ford wants my neighbours to die. The toxic drug crisis has only worsened and now Ford thinks we need to remove life-saving services for people in neighbourhoods like Sandy Hill and Lowertown? There's absolutely no evidence for this. ottawa.citynews.ca/2026/03/16/o...
Two Ottawa supervised injection sites lose funding from province
The government will begin a 90‑day wind‑down period to transition clients from the seven affected sites to their local HART Hub.
ottawa.citynews.ca
Luloff stepped down as Conservative candidate when it was found he had a potential DUI - now he's found guilt but hes not stepping down as councillor in the next election? What gives? Orleans deserves better.
Horizon Ottawa@horizonottawa.bsky.social · 5mo agoMatt Luloff stepped down from running for the Conservatives federally, so what makes him think he should be able to run again for city council? Orléans deserves better. Add your name today and help us organize for change: www.horizonottawa.ca/orleans_dese...
The chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee thinks it’s “wasting people’s time” for me to submit an inquiry to city staff about the pedestrian safety issues that impact Centretown residents. That’s the job, Tim. See you at committee tomorrow.
Équiterre et plusieurs organisations au 🇨🇦 dénoncent les 5 G$ retirés du transport collectif : « En coupant les solutions qui permettent aux gens d’économiser sur leurs déplacements, ça n'aide pas les ménages à réduire leur facture de mobilité » Communiqué : www.equiterre.org/fr/articles/...
This has to be the lamest plan to "revitalize" the Market I've ever seen - it revamps some parking garages but functionality changes nothing. Right now, a lot of it just acts as a giant parking lot -- council should be bold and pedestrianize it.
Ottawa’s ByWard Market plan would create ‘flex’ streets closed to traffic during major events
The City of Ottawa will not permanently close streets to vehicles in Ottawa’s ByWard Market as part of the plan to revitalize the popular tourist area, instead creating “flex pedestrianized” streets d...
ctvnews.ca
Ottawa City Council has already ceded so much land to urban sprawl at the behest of their wealthy developer donors. It's just never enough for big corporate developers like Claridge.
Claridge Homes proposes expanding Ottawa’s urban boundary to build 2,300 new homes
Claridge Homes wants to expand the urban boundary in Ottawa’s west end by 276 acres for a future development, with approximately 2,391 new homes to support more than 6,800 people.
ctvnews.ca
I was reminded that yesterday was the 4th anniversary of the now-dubbed "Battle of Billings Bridge" when over a thousand of us in Ottawa blockaded convoyers from coming into our city. With the growing far-right, it's a good reminder of how we can still fight back - and win.
Ottawa City Councillor Stephanie Plante just put forward a motion at Council to essentially give transit special constables the same powers as police when it comes to people using drugs. When it comes to transit, people are asking for better servie not expanding policing powers.
Last week, the govt finally admitted they cut public $5 billion from the Canada Public Transit Fund. Without predictable federal funding, cities will be forced to cut service or raise fares outcomes that disproportionately hurt low-income riders. From me on behalf of @environmentaldefence.ca:
Statement: $5 Billion in Transit Cuts a Huge Step Backwards - Environmental Defence
Statement from Sam Hersh, Clean Transportation Program Manager Ottawa | Traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People – Cutting $5
bit.ly
Here's a visualization of how Watson and Sutcliffe's austerity impacted our bus fleet since 2010. This was never a sustainable path and now we're left with too few buses on the best of days, let alone enough to cover for an LRT service disruption.
15 years ago, Ottawa had a fleet of 1000 buses - that number has dwindled to 730 as a result of reckless cuts and now with constant LRT shutdowns we are feeling the consequences of decades of bad decision-making. Sign the petition below to call on council to buy more buses:
Horizon Ottawa@horizonottawa.bsky.social · 6mo agoOC Transpo's bus fleet has shrunk from over 1000 to less than 800 under the past two mayors, and enough is enough! We just launched a petition calling on the city to reverse course and restore our once-strong fleet. Add your signature today: www.horizonottawa.ca/save_our_fleet
Just what we need for Ottawa's mayor: another developer-backed, cut-and-slash conservative hell-bent on austerity because it's working so well right now!
Homebuilder plans to run for Ottawa mayor | CBC News
A candidate with the backing of some big political operators plans to enter this year's race to be Ottawa’s mayor.
cbc.ca
Let the historical record note that the business elites at Davos repeatedly laughed during a fascist speech that declared intent to annex another country’s land, promoted election conspiracies and railed against the free press
Before the massive cuts to OC Transpo in 2011, Ottawa had around 1000 buses in its fleet - in 2025 that number's dwindled to around 760. The problem of bad transit service didn't just happen. It is the result of over a decade of bad council decision. Remember that in the coming election this year.
OC Transpo temporarily cuts 255 trips from schedule amid bus shortage | CBC News
OC Transpo needs about 520 buses to meet its weekday service requirements, but was only able to get an average of 467 on the road last week.
cbc.ca
Very disappointed in some councillors who voted for the @ottawapolice.bsky.social budget. If there was ever a year to oppose it, it's now when police are asking for their biggest increase in 10+ years. Glad we have ANCHOR, but this is some major backsliding on where we were in 2020/2021.
Smh councillors calling the biggest increase in the @ottawapolice.bsky.social budget in the last 15 years "reasonable." There is *nothing* reasonable about giving the OPS a $30 million budget increase while we can't even provide enough emergency services for people. It's absurd.
