After increased pressure from NDP Urban Transit critic Rosario Marchese and more recently Davenport NDP MPP and GTA issues critic Jonah Schein, Ontario Minister of Transportation Bob Chiarelli announced a draft bicycle strategy for Ontario and asks everyone for input. Finally, after earlier promises in August 2012 that he’d come with major announcements in weeks. … Continue reading »
It takes quite a bit to surprise me, but this morning on November 3rd at 11 am and only 3° Celsius (37°F) outside, I was taken aback by the large amount of cyclists gathering at Suzie Q Donuts on Wellington Street West. That is where the First Ottawa Plaid Parade started, yet another bike initiative … Continue reading »
I remember as a kid in Holland, we always had a decorated bike ride on our Queen’s Day (which is basically our National Day). I didn’t think much of it and participated a number of times. Only now I realise, 45 years later, that it was probably organised to make us familiar with traffic. Or probably just … Continue reading »
Ottawa’s oldest bicycle advocacy group, Citizens for Safe Cycling (CfSC), was -amongst others- founded by Bruce Timmermans. From Dutch descent, he was used to cycling as a means of transportation, before the word environment was invented and CO2 was mostly found in soft drinks. When he died in 1999, CfSC received donations which were set … Continue reading »
Last Friday, I received an email from the NCC in my email box, in which I was invited to join a session on how to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. The campaign appears to be organised by a company called “Outside the Cube – Innovative Strategists”. (June 26 update below) There is a questionnaire included, where we … Continue reading »
Two nights ago, I gave a presentation in Kitchener Waterloo about cycling in the Netherlands and Ottawa. Talking about another country is one thing, but feels sometimes somewhat remote. I find it much more useful to add some of the work that we do in Canada. My latest presentations saw therefore some time allocated to … Continue reading »
It doesn’t happen too often, but Holland was covered in snow late last week. Cyclists kept cycling, resulting in some really nice pictures of cyclists in the snow. If the “inexperienced-with-snow” Dutch can do it, teens included, we Canadians can no longer use the argument of a snowy country as a reason not to cycle. … Continue reading »
