Ottawa's new night mayor is a guy from Montreal

Photo: Ottawa’s new nightlife commissioner, Mathieu Grondin (via City of Ottawa).

The long-awaited reveal of Ottawa’s new nightlife commissioner came this week. At a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe introduced Mathieu Grondin as the top nightlife bureaucrat. Grondin is from Montreal, where he headed MTL 24/24, an organization for nightlife development in that city.

From a city memo: “Born and raised in Montreal, Mathieu is widely recognized as a global leader in nightlife advocacy with more than 10 years of experience focusing on issues and opportunities related to nighttime governance and the nightlife economy. Since 2017, he has worked as the founder and director general of MTL 24/24, a non-profit organization that advocates for improved nightlife in Montreal. Mathieu is fluently bilingual and has recently relocated from Montreal to the National Capital Region.”

The folks at the city anticipated the natural next question: what will Grondin do first? Meetings, mostly, plus “He will work closely with the Economic Development Services team responsible for delivering the Nightlife Economy Action Plan to prioritize the Plan’s recommendations and develop a detailed work plan to advance implementation.” Then by the end of this year he will report to City Council with a status update on the Nightlife Economy Action Plan implementation and 2025 priorities.

All that sounds good, but I wonder how long until we notice a difference? Will some of Grondin’s early meetings be to talk to certain downtown businesses about staying open later? (C.f. Sparks Street for example)