Ottawa Citizen · The Globe and Mail
Toon Dreessen
Last published March 2026 · On our record since 2018
Where this writer stands
Climate1 piece
Faster fossil phase-downSlower phase-down, production first
“Destroying the existing arena, stands and adjacent 12-year-old buildings is a poor choice, compounding our landfill problems and sending tons of embodied carbon into the dumpster (even if some of it is recycled).” Read the piece
Only opinion columns and editorials are scored. Each piece is read twice by a language model, which records the author's own stance on a policy topic only where the piece argues one, with a quote that must appear in the piece. An author's position on a topic is the average of their pieces, weighted by the model's confidence. News reporting is listed but never scored.
Recent work
- Ottawa is one of Canada's most liveable cities, with little help from the city | OpinionOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Mar 11, 2026
- Opinion: Small firms are being unfairly shut out of the federal home-building programOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Dec 29, 2025
- A look at the many risks of Lansdowne 2.0 | OpinionOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Nov 5, 2025
- Dreessen: Can the city spend smarter on its 'social' infrastructure?Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jul 11, 2025
- Opinion: Canada needs an architecture policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · May 9, 2025
- Dreessen: Ambitious plan for south side of Wellington Street shows how building design should be doneOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Oct 1, 2024
- Dreessen: Ottawa can become a great city without nagging other levels of governmentOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Sep 4, 2024
- Dreessen: Creative thinking could make the ByWard Market so much betterOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Aug 15, 2024
- Tanger Mall shows how we could adapt Ottawa's main streets | OpinionOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jun 24, 2024
- Whitzman and Dreessen: Why does Ottawa lag behind on housing solutions?Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Mar 21, 2024
- Dreessen: Ottawa must build a better urban experience as its population growsOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Feb 26, 2024
- Dreessen: William Commanda Bridge — Is 'good enough' really good enough?Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Dec 28, 2023
- Dreessen: City of Ottawa must be more creative about public spacesOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Apr 27, 2023
- Opinion: A city architect would improve Ottawa’s visionOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Apr 10, 2023
- Opinion: Canada’s building codes and standards need to get with the timesOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Feb 26, 2023
- Dreessen: Wellington Street — it's time to think beyond the vehiclesOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jan 31, 2023
- Dreessen: Let's put roads on a diet and expand transit in Ottawa insteadOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Dec 19, 2022
- Dreessen: Question mayoral campaign donations, but don't vilify everyone who's a 'developer'Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Oct 20, 2022
- Dreessen: Ottawa can't build '15-minute neighbourhoods' without ensuring access to healthy, affordable foodOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jun 17, 2022
- Dreessen: Four-storey limits and the challenge of affordable housing in OttawaOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jan 31, 2022
- Dreessen: Ambitions for Ottawa – a city architect would push us towards excellenceOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Dec 30, 2021
- Dreessen: Architecture matters — and the Venice Biennale is where we can show it offOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Nov 25, 2021
- Dreessen: Ottawa's city budget should match our policy goals. So far, it doesn'tOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Sep 27, 2021
- Opinion: Infrastructure should be more than functional. It should be beautifulOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jul 29, 2021
- Dreessen: Electric buses are fine, but zero-carbon buildings are betterOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Jun 28, 2021
- Dreessen: Ottawa has to shed its image as a town that doesn't like funOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · May 25, 2021
- Opinion: Canada risks burning its bridges to its architectural and cultural historyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Nov 26, 2020
- Dreessen: Focus on buildings if you want to cut greenhouse gases, OttawaOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Nov 12, 2020
- Dreessen: Ottawa needs to renew its social contract with the development industryOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · May 27, 2020
- Dreessen: Ottawa needs to renew its social contract with the development industryOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · May 27, 2020
- Dreessen: Let's use what COVID-19 has taught us to redesign our cityOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Apr 3, 2020
- Dreessen: Let's use what COVID-19 has taught us to redesign our cityOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Apr 3, 2020
- Opinion: Canada’s broken procurement system is a threat to the public interestOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Nov 21, 2019
- Dreessen: Ottawa's Official Plan is bold. Will city council be bold too?Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Oct 6, 2019
- Dreessen: LRT Stage 2 – Is a P3 model really the right way to go?Opinion · Ottawa Citizen · Feb 27, 2019
- Are we doomed to a future of mediocre public buildings?Opinion · The Globe and Mail · Jul 1, 2018
- Dreessen: Let's value architecture like we do music and artOpinion · Ottawa Citizen · Mar 21, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 3, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 3, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 3, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 3, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 3, 2018
- Canadian architecture needs the support of a national policyOpinion · The Globe and Mail · Jan 2, 2018