Canada’s capital wants to shed its image as a party pooper. Canadians know Ottawa as the home of government, where roughly a quarter of the metropolitan area’s 1.5 million residents work in the public sector. They also know Ottawa, fairly or not, as “the city that fun forgot,” a moniker penned over four decades ago by the late Canadian political commentator and satirist Allan Fotheringham. Now, municipal leaders want to turn that image around. Ottawa is looking to hire someone to preside over the city’s nightlife. The job title is still to be determined, with officials tossing around ideas such as night mayor, nightlife commissioner, or night czar. The action plan’s aim is to energize the city’s economic base during the hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Once the new nightlife commissioner is hired, they would be tasked with a long to-do list that includes: creating a new nightlife ambassador council composed of industry and community stakeholders, producing annual reports about Ottawa's nightlife economy, and developing a nightlife safety and security plan for nightlife workers and participants. As for the residents of Ottawa, they say the new hire has their work cut out for them.
