Matthieu Gagnon

Author's posts

Traffic on the 174 Could Get A Lot Worse

Earlier this week, the Ottawa Citizen published an interesting article about the upload of the 174 to the province. While I generally agree that the residents of Ottawa should not be on the hook for paying for infrastructure that is designed to move people across different cities, the article shows a risk that we …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/traffic-on-the-174-could-get-a-lot-worse

A Community for Small Businesses

We had our first two Community Cafés on Sunday, June 8 and 15, and the event has been a great success. Arnold’s coffee trike is working quite well, and I look forward to seeing how it will evolve to serve more people as this event grows. The event provided me with an opportunity to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/a-community-for-small-businesses

Reflections as a Road Victim

Matthieu Gagnon was injured in a serious collision between his bicycle and a pick-up truck on a busy roadway in April. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA The Crash On April 7, while riding on Beechwood to get to work, I suddenly ended up in an ambulance with no recollection of how I got there. According to the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/reflections-as-a-road-victim

Who I Am and Why I’m Here – Matthieu

Who I Am I grew up the hill in Chateauneuf. My family has been in Orléans for generations. According to SFOPHO, my maternal grandmother’s family arrived in 1864. I grew up hearing stories about Orléans before the developers arrived. I have experienced being a child, a teenager, and an adult in this community. Growing …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/who-i-am-and-why-im-here-matthieu

The Problems with St-Joseph

Matthieu Gagnon, Vice-President A couple of weeks ago, after the fatality on Innes Boulevard, a journalist reached out to our association to get a community perspective on the collision, which led to this piece by that journalist on the road safety issues of stroads like Innes. I wanted to take the opportunity to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/the-problems-with-st-joseph

Who Are Bike Lanes For?

Matthieu Gagnon, Vice-President There has been a lot of talk about bike lanes recently because the province got involved in municipal affairs with Bill 212. I have also been expecting plans for bike lanes on and near Orléans Boulevard between the river and Notre-Dame for a long time. Whenever I post something on Facebook, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/who-are-bike-lanes-for

Injured For a Driver’s Convenience

Matthieu Gagnon, Vice-President On April 7, 2025, as I was riding to work from Orléans, I was cut off by a vehicle at Beechwood and Acacia. I am not sure exactly what happened since the collision robbed me of those memories. However, I do know that someone decided to turn left without making sure the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/injured-for-a-drivers-convenience

Maintaining Neighbourhood Character in a Time of Change

I am currently in the process of reviewing the 2nd draft of the zoning bylaw that just got published, and I felt the need to do something fun like writing an article for the newsletter instead because zoning is REALLY boring. One concept that comes up a lot in zoning discussions is the concept of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cgow.ca/maintaining-neighbourhood-character-in-a-time-of-change