Toon Dreessen
@toondreessen.bsky.social
Architect Husband Dad he/him; past pres @oaarchitects.bsky.social; president @architectsdca.bsky.social; writer, public speaker, advocate for #procurement reform; #climatepoli @riseforarch
Pinned
Toon Dreessen
@toondreessen.bsky.social
· Dec 28
The Problems of Public Procurement in Canada: Rule Layering, Strategic Purchasing, and Risk Aversion as a Toxic Stew
This article analyzes persistent challenges in Canadian public procurement, examining in particular the federal government's complex, multi-layered purchasing processes which have contributed to high....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Thanks to a dear friend who very patiently listens to my procurement rants for boosting this into my feed. I and many others, including @alexbozikovic.bsky.social and @novakovicto.bsky.social have been saying this for years. #ReformProcurement 1/ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Ready for a Xmas celebration shindig… #OttawaConstructionAssociation
November 29, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Ready for a Xmas celebration shindig… #OttawaConstructionAssociation
Get Doug Ford out of office and elect city mayors who use cycling and public transit as their primary means of transportation. Actions speak, louder than words.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@jleiper.bsky.social
@arieltroster.com
@tkavanaghbayward.bsky.social
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@jleiper.bsky.social
@arieltroster.com
@tkavanaghbayward.bsky.social
So how can cycling be made to work for your city as it waits to enter that brave new world?
Making Cycling Work for YOU and Your City | Part3 | #citiesskylines2
Time to embrace the brave world that is cycling by using the tools available Commuter, causal, tourism, on road, cycle lanes, separated bike paths, end-of-trip facilities, single seat trip, multi modal! All a big Planning Word…
Time to embrace the brave world that is cycling by using the tools available Commuter, causal, tourism, on road, cycle lanes, separated bike paths, end-of-trip facilities, single seat trip, multi modal! All a big Planning Word…
November 29, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Get Doug Ford out of office and elect city mayors who use cycling and public transit as their primary means of transportation. Actions speak, louder than words.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@jleiper.bsky.social
@arieltroster.com
@tkavanaghbayward.bsky.social
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@jleiper.bsky.social
@arieltroster.com
@tkavanaghbayward.bsky.social
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Imagine saying out loud that you heard a crunch and then kept driving…
Well you don’t have to fucking imagine it
Well you don’t have to fucking imagine it
Watch carefully and you can see right through her eyes into the headrest.
#WorldBollardAssociation
#WorldBollardAssociation
November 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Imagine saying out loud that you heard a crunch and then kept driving…
Well you don’t have to fucking imagine it
Well you don’t have to fucking imagine it
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Thanks @shawnmicallef.bsky.social for calling out the serious problem about motor vehicle size bloat. Toronto and other cities around North America need to do more to discourage the use of large SUV's and pickup trucks! #BikeTO #WalkTO #TOpoli #ONpoli #VisionZero www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Shawn Micallef: This truck ad shows why Toronto needs smaller vehicles — if only the carmakers wanted to sell them
A car comically overloaded with plywood? It’s a good ad for a pickup — but also a sign of the incredible amount of money, weight and energy being wasted on
www.thestar.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Thanks @shawnmicallef.bsky.social for calling out the serious problem about motor vehicle size bloat. Toronto and other cities around North America need to do more to discourage the use of large SUV's and pickup trucks! #BikeTO #WalkTO #TOpoli #ONpoli #VisionZero www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Would this have happened to a white resident? Asking for the First Nations.
November 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Would this have happened to a white resident? Asking for the First Nations.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
There are 9.2 million Boomers in Canada and they control close to half of all household wealth. They are about to rewrite the rules of senior living and consumer expectations.
I dig into how and why here: abacusdata.ca/the-next-gr...
I dig into how and why here: abacusdata.ca/the-next-gr...
November 28, 2025 at 12:45 PM
There are 9.2 million Boomers in Canada and they control close to half of all household wealth. They are about to rewrite the rules of senior living and consumer expectations.
I dig into how and why here: abacusdata.ca/the-next-gr...
I dig into how and why here: abacusdata.ca/the-next-gr...
Love this annual series from @shawnmicallef.bsky.social … is matched only by the urbanism tales told from the wee sculptures (can’t recall the name of them…). Hoping they return as well!
Shops at Aura tree. Snow dusted wonderland under (for now) Canada’s tallest residential bldn. Formal skirt transitions to snow fam exploding w uncontainable joy in witnessing drive-by action Santa. A perfect scene to visit & revisit, each time seeing more. 11/10
#EveryCorporateChristmasTreeInToronto
#EveryCorporateChristmasTreeInToronto
November 28, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Love this annual series from @shawnmicallef.bsky.social … is matched only by the urbanism tales told from the wee sculptures (can’t recall the name of them…). Hoping they return as well!
Tom, a big city ad exec, returns to his hometown where he meets the girl he had a crush on in G1 who spurned him then for his banana seat bike w/playing cards in wheels; they ride together and she falls for him & his love of the Cure; they find love while working on a safer streets campaign
Will be attempting do one a day until the 24th. Glory to all.
November 28, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Tom, a big city ad exec, returns to his hometown where he meets the girl he had a crush on in G1 who spurned him then for his banana seat bike w/playing cards in wheels; they ride together and she falls for him & his love of the Cure; they find love while working on a safer streets campaign
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.
November 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
City-scale logistics lets you move freight more nimbly than oversized trucks designed for the freeway.
November 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
City-scale logistics lets you move freight more nimbly than oversized trucks designed for the freeway.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
2 things: yes the government of #alberta absolutely wants trans kids and their families to either move or not exist.
2nd: if you’ve followed any of this in the US, next you will see provincial rules around sex inspections. All parents in favour of this law are in the fuck around, find out stage
2nd: if you’ve followed any of this in the US, next you will see provincial rules around sex inspections. All parents in favour of this law are in the fuck around, find out stage
Substitute out “gender affirming care” with cancer care.
Or congenital organ defect repair.
Or mental health care.
This isn’t about providing fully informed consequence free care, because that simply doesn’t exist.
It’s about believing trans kids shouldn’t exist.
#abpoli
Or congenital organ defect repair.
Or mental health care.
This isn’t about providing fully informed consequence free care, because that simply doesn’t exist.
It’s about believing trans kids shouldn’t exist.
#abpoli
November 27, 2025 at 12:34 PM
2 things: yes the government of #alberta absolutely wants trans kids and their families to either move or not exist.
2nd: if you’ve followed any of this in the US, next you will see provincial rules around sex inspections. All parents in favour of this law are in the fuck around, find out stage
2nd: if you’ve followed any of this in the US, next you will see provincial rules around sex inspections. All parents in favour of this law are in the fuck around, find out stage
I love (narrators voice: I don’t actually) that the Parkdale offramp from the 417 clearly says no trucks and yet here we have an articulated empty flatbed 54 foot truck trying to make a turn and head south on Parkdale. Can you just imagine if we actually enforced traffic regulations?
November 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I love (narrators voice: I don’t actually) that the Parkdale offramp from the 417 clearly says no trucks and yet here we have an articulated empty flatbed 54 foot truck trying to make a turn and head south on Parkdale. Can you just imagine if we actually enforced traffic regulations?
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
Doug Ford finally destroys one of the world’s best recovery and refill systems. Beer store commits to having a location within 10 km of the population- that’s the distance from the CN Tower to Yorkdale. Everything this man touches turns to shit.
November 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Doug Ford finally destroys one of the world’s best recovery and refill systems. Beer store commits to having a location within 10 km of the population- that’s the distance from the CN Tower to Yorkdale. Everything this man touches turns to shit.
We design roads for speed. And we get speed. Want better results? Design better.
This is the product of a failed design process.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@tomflood.bsky.social
This is the product of a failed design process.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@tomflood.bsky.social
Driver caught at 133 km/h over limit on Ottawa's 'Limebank Raceway' ottawacitizen.com/news/driver-...
November 27, 2025 at 1:38 AM
We design roads for speed. And we get speed. Want better results? Design better.
This is the product of a failed design process.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@tomflood.bsky.social
This is the product of a failed design process.
@brenttoderian.bsky.social
@thewaroncars.bsky.social
@tomflood.bsky.social
Headline correction: he’s the master of the offensive. There’s nothing diplomatic about it.
November 26, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Headline correction: he’s the master of the offensive. There’s nothing diplomatic about it.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
We need to talk about Doug Ford
He uses exactly the same tactics. Flood the zone. Ignore data and research. Bulldoze his way through. Bypass the democratic process. Harm his own people.
We need a general strike.
We need a general strike.
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
We need to talk about Doug Ford
We should buy only the minimum that is required under the current contract and then diversify. Yes, that means training more pilots on different platforms and that’s a good investment for a future. #ElbowsUp
Will U.S. threats force Canada to buy the F-35? ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
November 26, 2025 at 12:59 PM
We should buy only the minimum that is required under the current contract and then diversify. Yes, that means training more pilots on different platforms and that’s a good investment for a future. #ElbowsUp
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
IMPORTANT: NASA map shows temperatures of up to 160 degrees on Phoenix streets & sidewalks. All that unrelenting concrete and asphalt for cars. Not nearly enough trees. They start with ridiculous heat that’s only getting worse with the #ClimateCrisis, and then make it much worse with bad design.
NASA map shows temperatures up to 160 degrees on Phoenix streets, sidewalks
Data from June 19, when the daily high was 106 degrees, shows asphalt across the city that day was between 120 and 160 degrees.
www.kjzz.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:17 AM
IMPORTANT: NASA map shows temperatures of up to 160 degrees on Phoenix streets & sidewalks. All that unrelenting concrete and asphalt for cars. Not nearly enough trees. They start with ridiculous heat that’s only getting worse with the #ClimateCrisis, and then make it much worse with bad design.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
And I think we should be having these types of conversations at budget time. Instead of starting from a budget ceiling and cutting er “finding efficiencies” to hit it, provide some options and have a discussion about them.
What kind of increases would we need to to accelerate housing/transit/etc
What kind of increases would we need to to accelerate housing/transit/etc
November 26, 2025 at 1:14 AM
And I think we should be having these types of conversations at budget time. Instead of starting from a budget ceiling and cutting er “finding efficiencies” to hit it, provide some options and have a discussion about them.
What kind of increases would we need to to accelerate housing/transit/etc
What kind of increases would we need to to accelerate housing/transit/etc
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
We are finally watching ‘Cunk on Earth’ and I have no idea how the historians and art historians can keep themselves calm without spit laughing.
I also love the pensive looking deeply in the distance Philomena documentary moments.
I also love the pensive looking deeply in the distance Philomena documentary moments.
November 26, 2025 at 1:18 AM
We are finally watching ‘Cunk on Earth’ and I have no idea how the historians and art historians can keep themselves calm without spit laughing.
I also love the pensive looking deeply in the distance Philomena documentary moments.
I also love the pensive looking deeply in the distance Philomena documentary moments.
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
November 25, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
#Ottawa City Council to vote on free fare days for minors, longer transfer window
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Council to vote on free fare days for minors, longer transfer window | CBC News
Ottawa city council will vote on a plan to make OC Transpo free for riders age 18 and under on weekends and holidays, while extending the transfer window to save commuters from paying twice for a sing...
www.cbc.ca
November 25, 2025 at 11:04 AM
#Ottawa City Council to vote on free fare days for minors, longer transfer window
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Toon Dreessen
got PPP loan payments to make
can't afford to run the trains
ridership is down
put up the fares to pay the loans
for the trains and track
we can't afford to use.
can't afford to run the trains
ridership is down
put up the fares to pay the loans
for the trains and track
we can't afford to use.
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 AM
got PPP loan payments to make
can't afford to run the trains
ridership is down
put up the fares to pay the loans
for the trains and track
we can't afford to use.
can't afford to run the trains
ridership is down
put up the fares to pay the loans
for the trains and track
we can't afford to use.