I heard something about this topic in general recently on the radio (but I've forgotten exactly which program it was). Apparently mounted police are less intimidating to the public because people view the horses as being very approachable.
It's more the opposite. People are rightly afraid of horses but won't hurt them. That's crowd control. In this case it makes them more visible. Which is good though I suspect they want to avoid accidently seeing things that would force them to respond. Same way the cop shop is in Rideau Centre. Can't have people with needles in the arms in front of either.
Homelessness and open drug use in downtown Ottawa bring a national crisis to Parliament’s doorstep Canada’s capital is not immune to the problems of inequality and housing that many other cities face – but it faces uniquely thorny questions about how to fix things, and at whose expense
Ian Bailey, The Globe and Mail
Published September 20, 2024
From a downtown Ottawa sidewalk, Kevin Aubin has been watching what he describes as alarming changes in the city’s downtown, several blocks south of Parliament Hill.
The veteran panhandler says that he is seeing an influx of troubling newcomers on Bank Street in Ottawa’s core, a main street similar to downtown areas of Granville Street in Vancouver, Yonge Street in Toronto or Water Street in St. John’s.
He’s seeing people injecting drugs, openly using crack cocaine and meth, causing trouble and sometimes hassling him as he sits on the pavement in a spot he has favoured for a dozen years.
“There is too much violence down here – and drugs,” says 47-year-old Mr. Aubin, who on a good day makes about $60 from strangers passing by his spot. When confrontations arise, he says he stands his ground. “I just tell them to keep walking.”
Mr. Aubin deals every day with what many Ottawans are concerned about – the growing numbers of unhoused people and drug users in the core of the country’s capital, on the doorstep of the House of Commons, the Senate and other fixtures of the Parliament Hill precinct.
Despite its concentration of political power, Canada’s capital is not immune to issues of homelessness facing other cities and towns.
About a 10-minute walk north of Mr. Aubin’s favoured spot, a man sits in a tent on the Bank Street sidewalk beside the Bank of Canada museum, across the street from the venerable Confederation Building that houses the offices of cabinet ministers and MPs. He refuses to answer a reporter’s questions, but says no one from the building across the street has ever bothered him or asked him to leave his spot.
Ottawa is a big city, the result of a 2001 amalgamation of 11 area municipalities with classic Ottawa. It is home to about 1.4 million people, the second-most populous city in Ontario after Toronto.
The Centretown area in the city’s downtown core is home to about 25,000 people, and includes the homes of many of Canada’s MPs and senators while working in the capital.
While officials say homelessness has increased across the city, there has also been criticism that intensified policing in Ottawa’s ByWard Market entertainment and historic district, east of Parliament Hill, that has pushed homeless people and visible disorder west into Centretown and Bank Street.
City councillor Ariel Troster, whose Somerset ward includes Centretown, says she returned from vacation earlier this summer to complaints from constituents in the area.
“All of a sudden, large groups of people who our social-services agencies hadn’t necessarily interacted with before were coming over from the [ByWard] market,” she says. “I’ve had business owners tell me they have spoken to some of these folks who say they have moved from the market because the police are hassling them.”
“Public drug use is the No. 1 issue I am hearing about in my neighbourhood.”
She says she rejects the Canada-is-broken narrative of federal Conservatives, but adds the city is facing a perfect storm of challenges: an influx of newcomers, a lack of affordable housing and a need for serious investment in housing.
Brenda Knight, a member of the board of the Centretown Community Association, says while homelessness has long been a reality of the area, her organization has been getting complaints from residents concerned about the presence of needles from drug use and people using compost bins for their possessions. People are sleeping in the planters near her condo, which is about three blocks from Parliament Hill.
“People are going, `What’s going on?” she says.
Kale Brown, the city’s program manager for homelessness programs, has an answer to that. He says the city is facing record high numbers of people who are unhoused, noting that Ottawa’s status as Canada’s capital is no protection from these challenges.
“Ottawa is not unique as a major city in Canada,” Mr. Brown says.
As of early this month, there were 2,916 people experiencing homelessness across the city, says Mr. Brown, referring to municipal data. In addition, 345 people are living unsheltered and not accessing shelter services, which Mr. Brown also says is a record for the city – last year the number was 300.
Mr. Brown says the situation is being driven by an influx of newcomers, a mix of new Canadians and people from elsewhere in Ontario and the rest of Canada, who are arriving to a city with a lack of affordable housing and an addiction and mental-health crisis.
In the year before the pandemic, 10 to 15 per cent of people in the single shelter system would be newcomers. Now, Mr. Brown says it’s over 50 per cent across the shelter system.
“This has created a unique pressure,” he says.
Peter St-Jean, 63, has been living in a shelter, sharing a room downtown, since he contracted COVID in January, was unable to pay his rent and lost his apartment. It was an unexpected turn of events for the former self-employed IT contractor.
Mr. St-Jean has been involved in a community block-leader program that has unhoused people help others in the same predicament in the ByWard market area.
He is skeptical about the suggestion that people are being forced from the market to Centretown. He says people just migrate back and forth.
“I don’t see anything different than here,” says Mr. St-Jean, who adds he is trying to figure out how to acquire housing and get back to work.
“We see so many people every day. It’s hard to know from where.”
Ottawa Police Inspector Jeff LeBlanc, who presides over neighbourhood and community policing in the city’s central district, says complaints about street disorder are consistent across the Ottawa core, with spikes during the warm weather of the late summer.
“The general consensus is that something has to be done in downtown Ottawa in general, to make people and business owners and workers and visitors feel safer, and we’re trying to address that,” he says.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the city is working to address the issues.
“Like many large cities in Canada, our downtown continues to face challenges, including public disorder, which have been a concern for residents and businesses alike, particularly in the ByWard Market and Ottawa Centre including Bank Street,” Mr. Sutcliffe says in a statement issued by his office, responding to questions from The Globe and Mail.
He says that other levels of government need to help.
Since August, Mr. Sutcliffe has been making the case for Ottawa to receive more money from the province and federal governments, saying the city is facing financial challenges linked to its status as the country’s capital. He says the decisions of the federal government have more impact on Ottawa than any other Canadian city.
Mr. Brown says his office is working on a strategy that includes better supports for newcomers who arrive in Ottawa. The city is seeking $1.9-million in funding from Ontario’s Solicitor-General to provide services to those on the street and in visible distress.
Back on Bank Street, Mr. Aubin, who lives in government housing and receives income assistance, says he regularly sees agitated and aggressive people who need help.
“Get them into homes or rehab centres or something like that. I don’t like seeing people out here doing what they’re doing. It’s ruining their lives.”
[...]a man sits in a tent on the Bank Street sidewalk beside the Bank of Canada museum, across the street from the venerable Confederation Building that houses the offices of cabinet ministers and MPs.
Next time my friends come to Ottawa, I'll tell them don't waste money on a hotel, just setup your tent on Bank Street.
Stay there from Canada Day to Labour Day, look at the fireworks, pee everywhere, enjoy the good life!
As a non-horse lover I still enjoyed it and there is a section where they talk about police using horses for crowd control and why it works so well. Essentially talked about the intimidation factor but also that people (most of them) don't want to hurt an innocent horse.....while many have no problem throwing a rock etc. at an officer
Key word, crowd control. Pointless to have them to patrol the market. We need boots ON the ground, or cycling. Not really sure how having dudes on a horse will help. Can they even come down and deal with a situation, leave the horses alone.
Quote:
In response, Stubbs acknowledged the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is struggling to meet demands with its limited resources, but said he had a plan to improve the situation.
If you have limited resources, don't spend them on horses that need to be housed, fed and cleaned after.
We did this in the early 90s. Didn't last long because horses are expensive.
Officers on horseback will be used for crowd control, missing person searches, police chief says "They are definitely going to be deployed when needed. Not for every protest, but when needed."
Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Published Sep 23, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read
Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs said officers on horseback will be used to control demonstrations and to help search for missing people in the city’s vast parkland and rural areas.
Stubbs announced plans for the new mounted unit last week and elaborated while speaking to reporters before Monday’s Ottawa Police Services Board meeting.
“Obviously a mounted unit is very useful when it comes to major events, when it comes to protests,” Stubbs said. “There are a number of police agencies in Canada that have them and they’re very beneficial in managing a lot of protests. They are definitely going to be deployed when needed. Not for every protest, but when needed.”
A troop of eight mounted officers from Toronto were in Ottawa in February 2022 when police moved in to end the three-week occupation of the downtown core. The mounted unit was deployed twice to clear space between the police line and demonstrators.
Mounted units have also proved their worth patrolling rural or forested areas, particularly in searches, Stubbs said.
“They’re very helpful. As you know, we have lots of large parks, a (large) rural area and a number of missing people. A mounted unit can get around a lot quicker and a lot easier, and with their height have the potential to see missing people.”
The mounted unit would also be used for proactive patrols, he said. “It’s not just for the the ByWard Market. You’ll see this mounted unit on Wellington, on Sparks, in different parts of the city — and in the ByWard Market as well.”
Stubbs did not say how much it will cost for the mounted unit, which is expected to be on patrol next year.
ByWard Market hopes to boost attendance with new winter market, possible synthetic rink Exactly where in the market such a rink would be located hasn’t been determined yet, although the pedestrianized portion of William Street between George and York streets might be a natural fit
Bruce Deachman, Ottawa Citizen
Published Oct 14, 2024 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 5 minute read
As the ByWard Market looks to revitalize itself as a year-round go-to destination for residents and visitors alike, officials are looking into purchasing and installing a synthetic outdoor skating rink there.
Zachary Dayler, executive director of the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA) that oversees development in the area, says his organization is looking into purchasing a 90-by-20-foot synthetic pad, which, before adding in such expenses as lighting, insurance, security and fencing, etc., would cost between $40,000 and $50,000.
Dayler adds that the plan is in its early stages yet and the timeline is far from firm.
“It’s something that we’re eyeing for between 2024 and 2026. But we definitely want to do this.”
Exactly where in the market such a rink would be located hasn’t been determined yet, although the pedestrianized portion of William Street between George and York streets might be a natural fit, as it’s the first thing visitors see when entering the area from the Rideau LRT station at William and Rideau streets. According to Dayler, that is the most used pedestrian gateway to the market.
I like the idea but hate the suggested location of the William St next to LRT station. That entryway to the Byward Market is typically pretty busy with people, we shouldn't be trying to squeeze in a skating rink there.
The ideal location though would be in the York Street middle parking section in front of the Ottawa Sign. Another opportunity to test our increasing pedestrian areas and removing some surface parking.
I like the idea but hate the suggested location of the William St next to LRT station. That entryway to the Byward Market is typically pretty busy with people, we shouldn't be trying to squeeze in a skating rink there.
The ideal location though would be in the York Street middle parking section in front of the Ottawa Sign. Another opportunity to test our increasing pedestrian areas and removing some surface parking.
Agreed, William St. in front of the station entrance is a horrible idea. It's way too narrow on top of the fact that it's an important pedestrian thoroughfare (for those traversing between Rideau St. and the Market, as well as the O-Train station.
Using the "plaza" in front of the Ottawa sign and extending it across some of the parking spaces, say half way to Byward Market Sq, would be a much better idea.
I'm actually a bit concerned that this is their initial proposal...
I like the idea but hate the suggested location of the William St next to LRT station. That entryway to the Byward Market is typically pretty busy with people, we shouldn't be trying to squeeze in a skating rink there.
The ideal location though would be in the York Street middle parking section in front of the Ottawa Sign. Another opportunity to test our increasing pedestrian areas and removing some surface parking.
They certainly aren't removing the parking.
Perhaps instead of on William direclty on George Street cutting the street in two would be a good compromise. Only lose a few parkings spots and minor detour from LRT. More visible as well.
The large sidewalk/plaza in front of the market garage and EQ3 where would be a good spot for that ice ring without having an impact on parking or blocking a pedestrian thoroughfare
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