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Fiddle, food and Tewin

Fiddle, food and Tewin

Good morning!

Today’s newsletter feels like an example of the type of journalism we’re really trying to build here at the Lookout.

We’ve got an Insider story we shared with members on Thursday, all about the Tewin development and why the project is proving to be so controversial.

Then we’ve got a lovely freelancer piece on a fiddler and the Gatineau Hills Fiddle Festival that took place recently.

And then a link, for those who missed it, to our food editor Ralf's latest review of a new Vietnamese restaurant in the Glebe, run by three sisters.

News, food, and arts that’s all focused on the region — when we started the Lookout just over four years ago, this was exactly the type of stories we wanted to be doing.

So sit back, relax and enjoy today’s well-rounded newsletter.

Let’s dive in!

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout founder and managing editor

If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign up for free.

WEATHER

Friday: 8 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️(Rainfall warning)

Saturday: 7 🌡️ 3 | 🌤️

Sunday: 7 🌡️ 1 | 🌤️

Monday: 6 🌡️ 1 | 🌧️

DEVELOPMENT

Council votes against motion to stop Tewin. Here's why the development is so controversial

By Sarah MacFarlane. Read the story online here.

One of Ottawa’s most controversial upcoming projects is going full steam ahead despite a city councillor’s motion to halt the development amid extensive criticism from residents and Indigenous leaders.

The Tewin city-building project plans to transform land in southeast Ottawa into a connected, “contemporary” community with the potential to house up to 45,000 residents. It claims to be reconciliation in action, guided by Indigenous principles and created as an interconnected, self-sustaining community.

Through a partnership between the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) and the Taggart Group, Tewin’s mission is to offer a 15-minute community of affordable housing, schools, parks, retail, connected transit services and thousands of jobs, all built on Algonquin practices.

“We are starting from scratch, learning from the past, and planning for the future,” Michelle Taggart, vice-president of land development at Taggart, is quoted saying on the Tewin project website. “We will build a dense, connected, sustainable community that will be planned around a future transit system rather than trying to fit transit in after the community is built.”

Together with Taggart, the AOO are major landowners of the 445 hectares of land planned for Tewin. The lands were added to Ottawa’s urban boundary to support the project, following the adoption of the new Official Plan by city council.

The area is in Osgoode ward near Highway 417 East, bounded by Leitrim Road to the north and Thunder Road to the south. It is just across the highway from the Greenbelt.

Before developing the lands, the project must undergo a secondary planning process that will be supported by various studies. It’s expected to be a multi-year process that will consistently go before city council for approval.

In the Official Plan, Tewin is expected to be a sustainable community that “reflects Algonquin design and placekeeping principles” and makes a national statement about the design of new communities.

Some of the criticisms surrounding the project have argued that Tewin contains poor planning by creating a community further from the existing city and is disconnected from major amenities.

Concerns over how much the city is spending

Others are concerned about the financial implications — City staff told the committee that of the $591 million price tag, the City of Ottawa would contribute $11 million, for benefits to existing water and wastewater ratepayers. The remaining costs are expected to be partially paid for by future growth, and developers are expected to bear approximately $314 million.

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THE OTTAWA NUMBER

8-3

The vote in the finance corporate services committee in favour of Lansdowne on Thursday evening. Councillors Matthew Luloff, Laura Dudas, Cathy Curry, Glen Gower, Tim Tierney, David Brown, Catherine Kitts and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe voted yes while Rawlson King, Jeff Leiper and Shawn Menard voted no. and Riley Brockington was not present. The final vote will be on Nov. 7. Read more. [CTV]

Get the gift your friends and family will remember

Need a gift for a friend? Want to get your Christmas holiday gift buying done early with a gift that will get noticed?

National Capital Artisans is the event to find local crafts and art from incredibly talented artists.

The event takes place this weekend from 10 am to 4 pm at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in Orleans, 1515 Tenth Line Road,

This event is not to be missed. Learn more today.

THE AGENDA

⛔ Traffic and congestion on Highway 417 keeps going from bad to worse, and local experts say it’s due to a “multitude of factors,” including construction, issues with public transit and return-to-office mandates. Read more. [Ottawa Citizen]

🛍️ Ottawa’s first shopping mall, which opened in 1955 on Carling Avenue, is ready to close and be demolished. Read more. [CTV]

🌡️ Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says Ottawa residents could have been exposed to measles at several locations in Ottawa last week, including the IKEA on Iris Street, the Real Canadian Superstore on Richmond Road, Food Basics on Kirkwood Avenue and Shoppers Drug Mart on Carling Avenue. Read more. [City of Ottawa]

💬 The federal government has finalized new rules for freelance interpreters, which some say will worsen working conditions and wages on Parliament Hill. Read more. [Ottawa Citizen]

🛒 A new Food Basics has opened in Barrhaven, the latest in the company’s growth spurt of store openings. Read more. [CTV]

📚 Carleton University is considering a new institutional impartiality policy that some critics say would limit academic freedom and freedom of expression. Read more. [Ottawa Citizen]

💰Soon, some federal government workers, including some in the nation’s capital, will see a change from the current Phoenix pay system as the government looks to launch its new pay system. Read more. [CTV]

🎶 Local music industry experts are celebrating the new concert venue planned for Lansdowne 2.0. Read more. [Ottawa Citizen]

WEEKEND EVENT GUIDE

Ottawa Children’s Storytelling Festival | Various locations | Nov. 1 | Annual family-friendly storytelling event featuring performances in English and French by local storytellers | Free

Ottawa Children’s Storytelling Festival | Various locations | Nov. 1 | Free bilingual storytelling festival for kids with performances by professional storytellers in English and French | Free

York Street Market | York Street, ByWard Market | Nov. 1, 5–11 pm | Evening market with 50+ local artisans, creators, painters, and gourmet vendors in the ByWard Market | Free

Orleans Comic Book & Novelty Show | Place d’Orléans, 110 Place d’Orléans Dr | Nov. 2 | Family-friendly event with 100+ vendor tables, cosplay, collectibles, and LEGO and Ghostbusters displays | Free

The Heart of Orléans Market | 290 Centrum Blvd., Orléans | Nov. 2, 4:30–9 pm | Community market featuring 120+ local vendors, food, crafts, jewelry, and live courtyard atmosphere | Free

Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCan25) | ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau St. | Nov. 6–8, various times | Annual showcase of Canadian independent films featuring shorts, features, and documentaries

Kanata Art Club Christmas $200 and Under Sale | March Central Community Centre, 630 Cameron Harvey Dr. | Nov. 8–9, various times | Affordable art sale featuring unique works by local artists in watercolour, oil, acrylic, and more | Free

Ottawa Outdoor Film Festival | ByTowne Cinema, 325 Rideau St. | Nov. 15, 7 pm | One-night festival of Canadian short films celebrating adventure, nature, and conservation | Tickets $25

Audiophile Short Film Premiere | 1074 Bank Street | Nov. 16, 3:30 pm | Watch four local Ottawa short films plus a live panel discussion | Tickets $10

The St. Pat's Annual Christmas Craft Fair | 2525 Alta Vista Drive | Nov. 22, 10 am–5 pm | Join us for our annual Christmas Craft Fair with over 100 vendors | Tickets $2

A Season of Light and Love | Bells Corners United Church, 3955 Old Richmond Road | Nov. 28 and 29 | West Ottawa Ladies Chorus Christmas concerts | Tickets $25

We are refocusing our events guide to cover more under-reported, affordable and more neighbourhood events. Let us know if you like or don’t like these changes

Do you like these event changes?

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar.

FOOD AND DRINK

Cô Oi settles in nicely in the Glebe

Written by Lookout food and drink editor Ralf Joneikies.

Co Oi is a three sister family affair and according to Ann the name refers to an expression used to get the attention of an “auntie” cooking in a Vietnamese street market.

Chef Thao’s food certainly gets your attention while sisters Ann and Chi keep things moving briskly at the front of the house.

The menu appears to have been designed not just for showcasing the kitchen's talents but also for speed of delivery. It wasn’t long after ordering that appetizers began to arrive and yet the entire experience never felt rushed.

Subcsribe to our food newlsletter Capital Eats and read this story

Want to discover new places to eat, from a trusted source that will share honest reviews of Ottawa’s best restaurants, without clickbait content? Subscribe to our food newsletter Capital Eats instantly to get the reviews sent right to your inbox.

ARTS

A fiddler’s return: Pierre Schryer’s unforgettable homecoming to the Gatineau Hills Fiddle Festival

Gatineau Hills Fiddle Festival

Written by Julie Chadwick.

With an opening salvo to the audience that he would “make you all cry,” master fiddler Pierre Schryer made good on that promise with a transcendent performance delivered to a standing-room-only crowd at the La Fab sur Mill former church in Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

A Franco-Ontarian originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Schryer moved out west to B.C. seven years ago and now lives on Gabriola Island. It felt good to be back in his “old stomping grounds” and to be reunited onstage with his older sister — accomplished pianist Julie Schryer, and longtime guitar accompanist Ian Clark, he mused.

The show was part of the Gatineau Hills Fiddle Festival, which featured all-ages workshops, dances and performances over the Oct. 23 to 26 weekend.

The three launched into “Sourgrass and Granite,” a piece by musician and composer Brian Pickell, Pierre and Julie’s close friend and musical companion for more than 50 years. When Pickell died in February, Pierre described him as “a gentleman with wit that made you feel like part of the gang” with “a true knack for writing great fiddle tunes on his mandolin.”

A traditional Irish waltz inspired by the beauty of the open meadows and forested granite outcroppings at Julie’s farm property, to hear “Sourgrass and Granite” played live by those who know it not only evoked an image of the location but a sensation of what it’s like to be there.

If there were ever a musician that can embody the goal of playing the violin in such a manner that it “rivals the most perfect human voice,” as violinist Francesco Geminiani wrote in 1751, this concert demonstrated that Pierre is one of them.

A Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion and recipient of multiple folk music awards and nominations, including for a Juno, Pierre’s mastery of the instrument — he plays on a fiddle he made himself, with a bow he constructed under the mentorship of master bow-maker Michael Vann — was helped in part by growing up in a musical family. All five children are musicians, and some of Pierre’s earliest performances as a child took place onstage with his triplet brothers, Louis and Daniel, sister Julie and oldest brother Raymond.

Adept at musical improvisation, Pierre also demonstrated this skill with guitarist Clark as they invented a song onstage, taking the audience on an obstacle course of their musical prowess and dexterity, shifting genre from a ballad-like deconstructed reel to an Irish jig to a gypsy swing piece, mixing time signatures and styles to end with a completely different sound than where they started.

This ability to compose on the spot likely contributed to the duo’s decision to name their 2002 album Heat Of The Moment, quipped Clark.

The show built to an emotional crescendo with the performance of “New Canadian Waltz,” which Pierre wrote in 1994 as a fresh take on the old-time fiddle classics that were a staple of Ontario fiddle championships at the time. However, when he introduced it at what ended up being his last fiddle contest, it didn’t win.

Pierre’s father recently recalled this loss, saying it was “too bad, because it’s a good waltz,” and then added, “you know, all the young players are playing with it now and winning?”

After the laughter died down, the crowd fell into a silent reverie as he began to play it, myself included. “New Canadian Waltz” pulls together influences from Cape Breton, Irish, Scottish, American and Canadian fiddle styles to form a delicate and emotive piece that feels bright and new but simultaneously old-fashioned and nostalgic.

It took me back to the days when I would play it on repeat while rocking my baby to sleep — who is now 20 years old — during those long nights that seemed both eternal and yet so fleeting.

So yes, Pierre Schryer did make us cry. But he also made us laugh and cheer and stomp our feet. And for a moment, on that Saturday afternoon as the fall sun shone golden through the church windows, he made us all feel a little bit less alone.

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LOOKOUT COMMENT

“I get that the Osgoode Ward counsellor would vote yes for the Tewin project, obviously, more and better housing for her community which should bring in more services. But what about the rest of Ottawa? Our taxes are going to go up to service this area with water and electricity and infrastructure. Why, when there is so much space in Ottawa ready for development and the services are already here?” — Lookout reader Vanessa

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Reddit/spadoink756

Nothing beats a walk in nature. This one was shot on the bike path near the Garden of the Provinces and Territories.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

This strip mall in Ottawa’s west end is reopening its doors seven years after being destroyed by a tornado. [CTV]
The Women’s History Project is launching a new annual lecture to celebrate the legacy and accomplishments of a former Minister of Health and women’s policy pioneer. [Ottawa Life Magazine]
An Ottawa Rapid forward has been named Northern Super League player of the year. [CTV]
Check out this tour of a home on Crownhill Street in Beacon-Hill Cyrville that’s been all decked out for Halloween. [CTV]
Ottawa firefighters helped rescue an owl that was stuck in a pickup truck this week. [CTV]
The United Way is challenging over a dozen restaurants across Ottawa to a Burger Battle, with money from the proceeds helping out local causes. [CityNews]

OTTAWA WORDLE

Think you can guess today’s Ottawa Wordle? Play it here.