My Lowertown | Ma BasseVille
  • Blog
  • Association
    • Leadership
    • Meetings | Réunions
    • Documents
    • Our Brand | Notre marque
    • Volunteer | Bénévolat
  • Issues | Dossiers
    • Community Safety
    • Heritage News & Resources >
      • Heritage | Patrimoine
    • Environment | Environnement >
      • Rivers | Rivières
      • Trees | Arbres
      • Climate change | Évolution du climat
      • Other initiatives | Autres projets
    • Transportation >
      • Walkability | Potentiel piétonnier
      • Complete Streets | Rues complètes
    • Planning | Planification
    • Housing & Homelessness
    • Arts and Culture
  • Lowertown | BasseVille
    • Introduction
    • Our community | Notre communauté
    • Representatives | Représentants
    • Resources | Ressources
  • Communications
    • In the news | Revues de presse
    • Events | Événements
  • Echo
  • Photos
    • The complete picture
    • Pretty houses of Lowertown
  • Contact

President's letter to Mayor Sutcliffe

3/4/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture

PO Box 53050 Rideau Centre PO
CP 53050 BP Centre Rideau
Ottawa ON K1N 1C5
info@lowertown-basseville.ca
4th March 2023
Reference: The Ghettoization of Ward 12 and its Safety and Security Impacts

Dear Mayor Sutcliffe:
We are writing to you today to share with you our concerns in relation to the shooting /homicide that took place on February 21, 2023, on York Street. This tragic event is yet another ever-growing security concerns unfolding in Ward 12, and more specifically in the Lowertown/Byward market area.

The Lowertown Community Association (LCA) prides itself on its citizen engagement efforts and keeps a watchful eye on all activities happening in its neighbourhoods. We are witnessing that many violent crimes tend to occur in proximity to emergency shelters.

Ottawa’s approach to providing aid to individuals experiencing homelessness, substance abuse, and other mental health issues have concentrated the city’s residents most in need into one area. The Rideau-Vanier Ward has 12 emergency shelters with the addition of two hotels that serve a similar function. The Bernard Grandmaître arena is also scheduled be converted into another emergency shelter for the 2023 summer season.

This over-concentration is unfortunately facilitating predatory actions in the vicinity (e.g., drug dealing, gang recruiting, pimping/prostitution, reckoning, trafficking). To put it simply, this approach is enabling wolves to prey upon the vulnerable.

The LCA participated in the Social Services Budget Consultation on February 28, 2023 and we were astounded at the number of delegations expressing serious concerns about their safety and security in Ward 12. A few examples among many:

§ The General Manager of Les Suites Hotel walking staff to the LRT at night as
they are too afraid to go out on their own (and the hotel has lost significant
long-term tenants);
§ Fitzroy Harbour Youth with mental health issues being driven to George
Street in the Byward Market (and finding the program full);
§ The Theo University residence at Rideau & King-Edward finding human feces
regularly at its entrance and expending massive amounts to try and add
security to the building;
§ Young Rideau Centre employees who refuse to use the stairwells (feces, urine,
sexual activity, people shooting up), who cannot get in the elevators when
others are present and who are harassed, threatened and assaulted.

It is unbelievable that residents and businesses in the downtown core of the capital city of Canada have to live in fear. It’s even worse for the vulnerable who are preyed upon.

Your leadership is required to ensure that all citizens of the city of Ottawa are safe and secure, especially those who are in a precarious situation. Mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness are a citywide challenge. All wards have a duty of care towards their citizens and must share the responsibility if we are truly going to provide proper aid and care (with long-term success). Studies show that small-scale centres that deliver social services across a city foster better outcomes on the short, medium, and long-term. As such. we are calling upon you to initiate a new way forward by working with your city councillors to:

1. Establish by the end of 2023 an action plan to de-cluster the city’s approach to mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness;
2. Implement, as part of this action plan, a prioritizing framework where all wards are considered and ranked on the introduction of new social services. Mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness, especially with the current housing crises, do not discriminate. Every ward in Ottawa is facing these challenges and implementation of social services across the 24 wards must be achieved. It is no longer reasonable nor responsible to ask the Rideau-Vanier ward to exclusively assume this responsibility; and
3. Adopt new dedicated funding streams to ensure long-term success of the
identified milestones pertaining to the action plan. Lack of funding can no longer be a hurdle that inhibits the progressive care your citizens require.

We thank you for your time and we are open and willing to provide any assistance to support a positive change.
​
Yours sincerely,
Sylvie Bigras
President
Lowertown Community Association/Association communautaire de la Basse-Ville

Cc.
Stephanie Plante, Councillor Ward 12
City of Ottawa Councillors
Kalin McCluskey – City of Ottawa Mayor’s Office
Mona Fortier – MP
Lucille Collard - MPP

0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Subcribe to our email bulletins. 
    Inscrivez-vous pour recevoir nos bulletins par courriel.
    * indicates required

    Categories

    All
    Art & Culture
    Beautiful Sights
    ByWard Market
    City Projects
    Demographics
    Echo Newspaper
    Heritage
    LCA | ACBV
    Ma BasseVille
    Meetings
    My Lowertown
    Planning
    Rivers
    Video
    Volunteers
    Walkability

    Blog archives

    March 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    RSS Feed


Privacy policy  
Politique de confidentialité 
Legal notice  
Mentions légales  
Communications policy 
Politique de communication

© 2017 Lowertown Community Association. All Rights Reserved. My Lowertown and Ma BasseVille names and logos are trademarks of the Lowertown Community Association. Tous droits réservés. © 2017 Association communautaire de la Basse-Ville.

My Lowertown Ma BasseVille brand identity by Designwerke Inc.
Website powered by Weebly