‘This doesn’t happen overnight’: Nightlife commissioner Mathieu Grondin sheds light on his role

Marissa Galko

March 12, 2025

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While some in the city have grumbled about not hearing much from Ottawa’s new nightlife commissioner, Mathieu Grondin says his job is to work behind the scenes and not be the frontman for new entertainment initiatives in the region. “I’m not organizing parties, I’m not opening new clubs and I’m not the official emcee for the City of Ottawa … it’s a bureaucratic job,” Grondin told Michael Reid and Valérie Bietlot, hosts of the City of Ottawa’s new podcast, OttaTalk. In the podcast’s first episode which was released Tuesday, Grondin spoke about the misconceptions people may have about his role. He explained that his mandate is not to kickstart projects, but to help others kickstart theirs. “I’m an agent. I’m a liaison between the external partners, civic society, the business community, the cultural community and the different internal services to the city and council. My job is to help (others) kickstart new projects, see how we can help (remove) red tape and having discussions with this community to see what the city can do to make their life easier to do business after dark,” he said. For example, Farid Dagher, a club owner who plans to open a new music venue on Rideau Street, told OBJ that Grondin and his nightlife council were instrumental in the creation of the project, adding he and Grondin spoke about the best course of action to open his new venue and how to manage negative biases associated with the nightlife economy. “We’ve had a few calls to discuss and brainstorm (on) some of the challenges that we’ve had like zoning and by-law. He was the primary help in how we announced this. Sometimes, as venues, we feel that we need to be a little bit under the radar because there’s a portion of the population that has a certain prejudice about nightlife. He said, ‘You should be bold about this, this should be celebrated,’” Dagher said. In the podcast, Grondin told Reid and Bietlot that, within his first month on the job, he was receiving emails from people saying they weren’t seeing proof of his work. “This doesn’t happen overnight. It’s going to be a gradual and mid- to long-term project. The action plan runs until 2026. I can guarantee you, before the next election, you will have heard of new activations, new projects popping up because of the work of the nightlife office,” he said. In the podcast, Grondin was tight-lipped about what those projects were. “By being here and opening this collective discussion, I’m hoping that people will come (forward) with these projects so we can help them. I don’t want to tell you what’s in the works because these are all discussions I’m having with private partners and they wouldn’t like me to be sharing that with you, but there are new projects popping up,” he said. “We will be working on something to try and address this problem this year. Mind you, I want to manage expectations. We’re not going to go back to 1998 when there were these cultural newspapers with the listings at the end and what to do this weekend. Everything was centralized. We live in a decentralized cultural economy,” he said. While Grondin said residents will be able to find information on different social media platforms and on websites such as that of Ottawa Tourism, it will be up to individuals to “find (their) niche” and follow people within that community. In May 2023, Ottawa city council voted in favour of a Nightlife Economy Action Plan to help guide the office of the nightlife commissioner as it works to improve the city’s economy after dark. When asked how he plans to balance the needs of each of Ottawa’s neighbourhoods in a plan that spans the whole of the city, Grondin emphasized the importance of developing “nightlife pockets” in each area, so residents won’t need to venture downtown to seek out food and entertainment. “Which means that if you live in Manotick, you don’t absolutely have to take your car, come downtown to go to a restaurant, see a show, maybe have a pint. Although, historically, the ByWard Market has been the historic nightlife hub here in Ottawa. So is it a priority? It’s certainly something we’re looking into seriously right now,” he said. Among the things Grondin listed as areas of interest for his 18-member nightlife council, which includes community representatives, were the untapped nightlife potential of Sparks Street, how the loss of venues such as Babylon and Barrymore’s on Bank Street had a huge impact on the area, and how the nightlife council can play a role in downtown revitalization. Grondin emphasized the role Ottawa’s business improvement areas (BIAs) have played in identifying the needs and identities of each area of the city. “I think it’s important to develop programming and cultural offer for every district and every ward. By working with the BIAs, there can be some place-making projects in the future (and) different festivals. Like the Taste of Manotick is a good example. (We’re) working with them and seeing what can be done. Can we extend a little bit by an hour or two? Sometimes it’s as simple as that,” Grondin said. When speaking of the nightlife council, Grondin said it had its first meeting in December where members got the opportunity to formally meet each other. The plan is to have four work sessions throughout the year aimed at reviewing specific nightlife-related issues such as a bylaw review to identify and remove red tape, safety and communication, he said. “This year we're going to be working on the nightlife safety plan. So what should the priorities be? Should we put the Narcan kit behind every bar? Or should we address bystander intervention? The people on the ground, in the field, the boots on the ground, the people owning, operating these venues, are the ones who know what they need best. So they are the ones making a good part of that council,” Grondin said. Announced in November, the council consists of Grondin and 18 members separated into two groups: six reserved seats for institutions such as Ottawa Tourism and Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, and 12 at-large members who work in or are affiliated with the nightlife economy in the city. Grondin was appointed as nightlife commissioner in June 2024 with his mandate running until 2026.