Not just a city of civil servants

(Ottawa) Mathieu Grondin swears he didn’t have to have an arm twisted to move his home from Montreal to Ottawa. And in the federal capital with its swanky reputation, where he recently took on the role of nightlife commissioner, he’s discovered a playground that excites him.

“There are a lot of things in Ottawa that are fun. ” he says in a café in the ByWard Market.

He seems ready to go. And he has an army of politicians, business people and members of the artistic community behind him.

“I think we need to get rid of the idea that this is a city of civil servants. There’s that, yes, but they’re not the ones who are going to make the heart of Ottawa’s nightlife beat,” he continues, seated at a table in the ByWard Market – a tourist magnet that can also be considered the epicentre of Ottawa’s nightlife.

Coping with homelessness

Around the ByWard Market, apartment towers are springing up like mushrooms. But amid these giants of glass and steel are teeming homeless people, many of whom struggle with drug addiction. The neighbourhood is also too frequently the scene of shootings.

“We are not far from the situation of the Village in Montreal,” illustrates the former general director of Montreal 24/24 in his new environment.

While it is true that one of the 10 recommendations in the action plan entrusted to him by municipal officials is to design a city-wide security plan, the fact is that the problem “goes well beyond nightlife,” argues Mathieu Grondin.

His vision, however, is as follows: “For me, a busy night is a safe night. A night that is busy, as long as there are people in the public space, the perception of security is reinforced. We should not see it as the chicken or the egg.

Vilnius and Oslo, inspirations

Even though he has set himself the long-term challenge of “encouraging people who go to Montreal or Toronto to go to Ottawa instead,” the night owl is aware that the national capital, seat of government with a smaller population base, does not really play in the same league.

So he spontaneously cites a European capital with similar characteristics. “If we look at a city that is a capital, that is about the same size as Ottawa, that has an extremely dynamic nightlife and that now has a night bureau, it is Vilnius, in Lithuania,” he says enthusiastically.

Lithuanians under 30 are also at the top of the World Happiness Report 2024 rankings.^⁠2he notes.

Canadians in the same age group? They arrive at 58^e rank out of 143. “However, we have studies that are supposed to be free [sauf au niveau universitaire]an economy that is not so bad… maybe we should work on nightlife,” he preaches to his parish, unable to stop himself from bursting into hearty laughter.

There is also Oslo, Norway, another seat of government on a human scale, which inspires Mathieu Grondin – special mention for the recent advertising campaign full of self-mockery aimed at highlighting the Scandinavian capital.^⁠3.

A growing and exportable phenomenon

The emergence of “night mayors”, sometimes called night czarsas is the case in London, UK, is a growing phenomenon – some 80 cities around the world have adopted the approach since 2001, according to a census by the website Nighttime.org.

At the time of publication, the marker identifying Mathieu Grondin had not been moved from Montreal to Ottawa on the site’s world map.

But the 44-year-old commissioner has indeed made the transition.

“What’s happening in Ottawa is exceptional. People often tell me they’re happy that I’m from Montreal, to bring a little Montreal touch,” he says.

However, we are still far from wanting to import into the federal capital the idea of ​​opening the bars of a district 24 hours a day, notes the man who officially took office on June 11: “I was not hired to do that; it does not seem to be the primary issue either.”

Either way, it will cast a wider net than the ByWard Market area.

This should include Old Hull, on the other side of the Ottawa River, where Mathieu Grondin has taken up residence.

But shush. We must not let this get out too much in Ottawa, where he has sworn loyalty. And party.

1. Read A coffee with… Mathieu Grondin: night bird

2. Check out the World Happiness Report 2024

3. Watch the Visit Oslo advertising video (in English)