We live in such a great City. Maybe I am a bit biased because I was born here, but maybe it is simply because Ottawa is a great place to live. I often describe Ottawa as the most sophisticated, cultured and caring village in the world in which to live, work and play. A village he says? Yes, we do have that wonderful feeling of living in a safe, secure City with the friendliness of a village. And I think most of us know it is true.
When I get the chance to ask residents what they think of Ottawa, I almost always get a sigh and a smile followed by the admission they would never want to live anywhere else. We are lucky and we are blessed to live in the Capital City of the best country in the world. Most of us who live in Ottawa understand that wonderful fact – we are indeed lucky. And I am fortunate to be Mayor of this wonderful City.
A few weeks ago Ottawa was named the best City in Canada to live based on results of a study by Money Sense Magazine. This is the second year in a row we have been awarded this honour as a result of 17 measurements of quality of living. Last week I hosted a reception for over 70 Ambassadors at City Hall. We enjoyed good company and conversation, and the Ambassadors told me time and time again that they were happy to represent their countries in Ottawa. The word amongst the professional diplomats is that Ottawa should be your last posting since every further posting after will be a let-down. One of my many jobs as Mayor is to remind the citizens of how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful City. This is true even for our visitors.
This past long weekend, I welcomed 160 residents from outside Ottawa who arrived on the Tulip Train with the Mayor of Casselman Conrad Lamadeleine, Mayor of Champlain, Gary Burton, Mayor of Hawkesbury Jeanne Charlebois, Mayor of Alfred-Plantagenet J-Y Lalonde, Mayor of Clarence-Rockland Richard Lalonde and Mayor of Nation Municipality Denis Pommainville. I welcomed them at the VIA Station as they arrived to take an afternoon tour of the Tulip Festival thanks to the NCC and David Luxton, Chairman of the Canadian Tulip Festival. When you see the look of awe on the faces of visitors, you know we are very, very lucky.
On Sunday afternoon I went to the baseball stadium to watch an exhibition game of the Rapidz. They won 7 to 6 over the Quebec Capitales. The Rapidz have their first real game this Thursday night. Rick Anderson and Rob Hall, owners of the Rapidz, must have been very happy that over 1,000 fans come out on the sunny afternoon. They seem to be doing everything possible to lower prices and make this team a winner in Ottawa (For more information on our new team please visit www.ottawarapidz.com). We wish them all the best in their first of many years in our City.
This will be a busy week at City Hall and I look forward to blogging on the results of the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee on Tuesday and the joint Transit and Transportation Committee on Wednesday. Make sure to check back for updates on what is sure to be an exciting week in the Nation’s Capital.
Tags: Developing, My Story