A Great City And Shawarma, Too

11/01/2024

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“When you get to this part of your career, you really want to put an emphasis on what’s best for your family. And we felt that ever since we came here, it’s been a great fit.”

Ottawa Senators Linus Ullmark on signing a four-year, $33-million contract extension

Ullmark could have signed anywhere in the NHL. Goaltenders are in short supply.

And that includes New York, Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Miami, Tampa and Las Vegas.

But where did he choose to play for the long term? Ottawa. Humble old Ottawa.

Why? Because it is a great place to raise a family. Nothing wrong with that.

So you can keep your smoked meat Montreal and your gridlock Toronto. Our guy with a real decision to make about his future and his family chose Ottawa.

Speaks volumes. You get all the amenities and more of a big city with a small-city feel. We have the nightlife, the restaurants, the multiculturalism, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Gatineau Park, the Rideau Canal, some of the best museums in the world, major-league sports and, oh yeah, we’re the capital of a G7 nation. Can’t find that in Etobicoke.

So let’s build on what we have and what we want so that other cities can learn from us. Get rid of the big-time inferiority complex. Be Ottawa, Be like Linus Ullmark.

And the municipal government should stop making us worse by destroying the light-rail system, crippling the bus system, losing VWs in potholes and practising failure at Lansdowne.

We’re No. 1 in ways that Jim Watson, Mark Sutcliffe, the night mayor, the funsters in Montreal and the TGIMs in Toronto cannot imagine.

We’re Ottawa and that’s just fine.

Just ask Linus.

Shawarma, anyone?

Ken Gray