By Richard Bloom Power lunches on Parliament Hill are going to take on a whole new meaning. According to the Department of Public Works, the ongoing renovations to Parliament will force the House of Commons to move its chamber to the West Block cafeteria and courtyard. Glenn Duncan, the department's director general, says crews will be constructing a temporary chamber in the West Block which will first be used by the House of Commons from 2003 to 2006 and then the Senate from 2006 to 2010. The chamber will then be used by committees. Duncan says his department, along with architects and planners, are in the planning phase of the West Block renovations and will advertise for contractors early in next year. Work is scheduled to start in March of 1999. “It’s exciting to be a part of a project that I think is so important to Canadians,” says Duncan from his Sparks Street office. “It’s one of our most important symbols and symbols really matter.” Duncan says the people and offices in the West Block will be moved to other buildings near Parliament Hill. Construction crews are currently wrapping up work on the East Memorial building, located at Wellington Street and Lyon Street. By the end of February, crews will start revamping the Justice building on Wellington Street. “We’re moving people from Centre Block to West Block, West Block to Justice, and Justice to East Memorial. Everyone will be accommodated in one way or another during the construction,” says Louise Proulx, the department's senior communications adviser. “It’s a like a domino effect.” Proulx adds the work really isn’t renovation but restoration and conservation. Despite the construction, Duncan says the House of Commons, Senate and other heritage sites within Parliament will remain unchanged. “When you walk back in after the renovations you really won’t know anything has taken place because the work we’ll be doing will be behind the walls,” says Duncan. “We’ll be changing the rotten plumbing, the wiring, and putting in modern heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.” The Parliament Hill restoration will cost $265 million. $86 million is slated for the West Block. “Originally we had budgeted for $450 million,” Duncan says. “We now know the work is going to cost more than that so we’re going to the Treasury Board to seek additional funding for the next five years of the program.” Ottawa Centre MP Mac Harb, whose office will be moved to the West Block while work is being done on the Centre Block, says he’s pleased with the renovation plans and says they’re long overdue. ‘There’s a lot of asbestos in some of those buildings. There’s electrical wiring that’s dangerous and there’s things that really need to be removed,” says Harb. “It’ll have a positive impact on our riding because it’ll create jobs and the people working on the Hill will have to use restaurants in the riding and other services.” Both Duncan and Proulx say tourism is a major obstacle their department faces when planning the various stages of renovation. They say they are working closely with the National Capital Commission and Ottawa Tourism to ensure the tourism industry doesn’t suffer. “We’re not going to have fewer tourists because of it,” says Louis Crandall, Ottawa Tourism’s corporate services manager. "It’s a long-term project that has to be happening. Some tourists might be disappointed but I’m sure it won’t decrease our numbers. “The tourists will still be seeing the House of Commons. The only thing is, it will be temporary — not the fancy one you’d see in the Centre Block.” Other work on Parliament Hill includes the Centre Block Underground Services, which is currently being constructed under the northwest corner of the Centre Block. The department is also now seeking an architect to design a plan to restore the Library of Parliament early in the year 2000. At that point the documents will move to the vacant Bank of Nova Scotia building on Sparks Street.
By Ryan Bresee Fans going to the Corel Centre to see the Senators play could soon be playing a game themselves: the waiting game. The arena’s 70 cleaners have been on strike since Feb. 5 because they can’t agree on a contract with the building owner, Ogden Corporation. The cleaners, who are members of the United Steelworkers of America union, picketed at the last two Senators games. Demonstrations were peaceful, and the only entrance they blocked was to valet parking. OPP Constable Chuck Kaizer was among the extra police on hand but he didn’t notice any problems caused by the strike. “The traffic’s fairly heavy but that’s to be expected with the sold out game.” If the two sides can’t agree on a contract soon, Al Kay, the union representative, says they might block every entrance to the building. “We could tie up the Queensway. A couple of cars could have mechanical breakdown at the same time. There’s all kinds of things we could do.” Since the strikers are allowed to block each car for a few minutes, thousands of cars could be backed up as far as the eye can see. OC Transpo and taxi drivers are supporting the union. They say they will drop fans off at the games, but won’t cross the lines. Members of other unions such as CUPW, CUPE and the Auto Workers have joined the cleaners on the picket line in a show of support. If the two sides can’t agree on a contract, there will be no shortage of bodies to help block traffic. The major points of contention in the contract offered to the cleaners have to do with employee seniority and contracting out. The union is fighting to get hours offered to workers with seniority first. Currently, it’s possible for a new employee to work more hours per week than someone who has been employed for years. Roger Newton, executive director of the Corel Centre, says they do not want to recognize seniority because it can lead to a high turnover rate among the newer employees. This could leave Ogden short-staffed for some events. If this were to happen, Ogden wants to be able to hire non-union help. Newton explains that this would only happen if there was a shortage of workers after all 70 cleaners employed by Ogden had called. In spite of assurances, Kay says contracting out threatens job security. Both sides are claiming that the other is refusing to negotiate. Fortunately for hockey fans, there are no games scheduled until the end of the Olympics. The next Ottawa Senators home game isn’t until March 5. However, strikers will be present at all events until an agreement is reached.
By Heather Ross
If you’re part of a community group organizing a safety audit in your area, you may have to wait up to two years to see any results. Since the safety audit program began in October 1995, 10 audits have been submitted. Three of those are complete, three are under way and four have yet to be started. Arlene Gregoire is the only city employee who processes safety audits. But the audits only get her attention when she can take the time away from her main job as a special projects manager, which she estimates takes up 90 per cent of her time. She says there’s very little funding for the audits, and no sign of any change to come. “It’s a service being provided within existing resources.” Audits are initiated by community groups. A group does a walk-about, looking for poorly lit spots, areas where a person could be trapped, or areas that make people feel uncomfortable. The group then writes a report and submits it to Gregoire. Gregoire says she can only work on one report at a time due to time constraints. Emergency items like burnt out lights or broken side walks are taken care of immediately, then the report is set aside to wait its turn. An audit with fewer than 100 items can take almost a year to process once she starts it, and because of a backlog, audits can sit on her desk for a year before she has time to start them. Despite the delays in processing, City Coun. Elisabeth Arnold says the audits are still worth doing. “From the point of view of identifying things that make people feel safe or unsafe in their communities, they’re the best tool we can have,” she says. “It’s always better if we can deal with everything right away, but reality tells us we have to prioritize.” She suggests communities can do things like start a porch light campaign or ask neighbors to trim hedges if they want immediate results. Michelle Anderson of the Crime Prevention Council of Ottawa says while the reports are worthwhile, the groups who start them need to stay together and maintain enthusiasm if the audits are to be useful. “Once an audit is finished, groups often disband and it’s difficult to follow up.” Gregoire says following up is important. Some audits have many errors in them. For example, one audit done in the downtown core named restaurants instead of providing streets and numbers. When Gregoire began processing the audit some restaurants had closed, making it impossible to identify the problems. When she tried to contact the group that did the audit, she found her contact was no longer there, and none of the people originally involved was still around. She went to the area to try to clear up the confusing sections of the audit. Once Gregoire understands the problems, she has to decide whose responsibility it is to fix them. Sometimes it’s a city responsibility, sometimes regional. It can also be a problem with privately owned property, or property that is OC Transpo’s responsibility. She contacts the responsible group to alert them to the problem. Then she waits. “If I refer something to OC Transpo and it takes them five months to respond to me, I have no control over that.” Gregoire can only enforce changes if the problem is against a city bylaw or property law. Another time problem, she says, is season. Many community groups will do their walk-about in the summer, but it takes them several months to file their report. Because many entrapment and lighting problems are created by foliage, Gregoire has to wait until summer to see exactly what the problem is. She says if people are concerned about the time it takes, they don’t have to give the audits to the city. Groups can find out who is reponsible for the changes themselves, and alert those people of what needs to be done. “They’re choosing to submit their reports to the city for total processing.” She says organizing a walk-about is a huge effort, and often only a few people are left to hammer out the report. By the time they’re done, they’re only too happy to hand it over to the city to finish. If you want to organize a safety audit in your area, call the Women’s Action Centre Against Violence at 241-5414 or the Crime Prevention Council of Ottawa at 244-5645.
By Karen Palmer Centretown seniors are using a newly created “telephone tree” to fight provincial cuts to home-care funding. They’ve started a month-long telephone campaign to pressure the province into re-investing $22 million in community-based health care before three Ottawa-area hospitals are closed in the province’s hospital restructuring scheme. It started with five phone calls to five volunteers asking them to call or write Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer to complain about the cuts. Each volunteer was encouraged to call five other volunteers and they, in turn, were encouraged to call five others. Like a tree, the network branches out. The idea is to flood the health minister’s office with complaints until change is made. “There’s no question they keep track of these phone calls,” says Rhoda Abbey, 76, from her Nepean Street apartment, where she co-ordinates the teletree. “We’ve had politicians tell us they pay attention.” This is the first time the teletree has been used to lobby for a local issue. Since it was formed last year, the teletree has been used twice to tackle province-wide projects, once with success, says Abbey. “There was a telephone tree done provincially in March of last year on the subject of long-term care homes being short of money. We had the teletree and about two or three weeks later, the provincial government provided another five million to (the homes). We tend to believe it was us, the work we did with telephones,” Abbey boasts with a laugh. André Fontaine, a community developer at the Centretown Community Health Centre, provides everything from transportation to photocopies for the teletree. He says the fight against cuts to home-care is catching on among seniors. “We’re getting the interest of the rest of the province. This time around we’re getting the whole province involved,” he says. Fontaine helps the seniors organize the teletree by contacting potential volunteer groups and gathering government telephone numbers. He says people aren’t going to phone or write if they don’t understand the importance of the issue, so he also helps put together information packages, including a sample letter and phone message, for the volunteers. Margaret Gardner has been recruiting volunteers through information meetings at her apartment building. She says seniors need to be more aware of what will happen when the General, Riverside hospitals, and possibly Montfort hospital, close. “I feel that more seniors have to know about it (hospital restructuring) and learn about it, not just play bridge four times a week,” she says. “It’s just a case of getting them to do it. They say it’s a good idea, but then they just sit back.” As a retired ministerial secretary, Gardner used to take the calls she’s now making as a volunteer. She says teletrees can be effective lobby tools. “When a minister receives 6,000 calls, he’s going to think this is something that needs to change,” she says. The teletree volunteer base is largely made up of members of various Centretown senior’s groups, such as the No Name Senior’s Action Network, the Superannuated Teachers and the Good Companions. The teletree is part of a growing trend in senior advocacy, says Abbey.
By John Besley
When Queen’s Park next sits, Ottawa Centre MPP Richard Patten is planning to re-introduce a private member’s bill that would allow doctors to force mentally ill patients they think could be dangerous to get treatment. Supporters hope this will ensure that troubled individuals, such as some paranoid schizophrenics whose sickness may cause them to refuse treatment out of fear, to get the treatment vital to their well-being. Detractors say human rights could be threatened or that the current Mental Health Act could work if only health officials would interpret it properly. Currently, for a psychiatrist or doctor to force someone into treatment they must determine there’s an “imminent” risk to themselves or others. Many have interpreted that to mean immediate but the courts have said it can be as long as several weeks. The issue has continued to attract attention since the coroner’s inquest into the death of CJOH-TV sportscaster Brian Smith. Smith died after Jeffrey Arenburg, a paranoid schizophrenic, gunned him down.
Centretown News: What’s in this legislation? Richard Patten: The intention was to not do a complete re-write (of the Mental Health Act) but to take a very important area that has caused a lot of contention and a lot of tragedies around the province — that’s the part that allows for people to be assessed and to ensure those who need treatment get it.
CTN: Is the Act flawed or is it the interpretation of the Act that’s confusing people? RP:It’s probably safe to say that it’s the interpretation but if such an Act leads to such misinterpretation, even for experts, then there’s a problem. And the fact is there’s confusion out there. And that confusion has led to tragedies. We should go back and simplify the Act and take out a word that’s causing problems. First, I still think we should remove the word imminent (from the Act). Number two, we should define that we’re talking about a very small group of people who are known to have continuing difficulties. We should be able to define it so that these people can be taken for (involuntary psychiatric) assessment. The third dimension is adding a community treatment order which gives people the opportunity to be treated outside of a hospital once they’ve been stabilized. They may have been brought to a general hospital or a psych hospital, assessed and it was agreed that they need some treatment. But they need not be there for an indefinite period of time.
CTN: The wording of this Act was re-written in 1979 and it was done to protect individual rights. That wording is apparently causing confusion. What danger is there that we’ll go back to a time when legislators felt individual rights were being overridden? RP: My bill doesn’t touch any checks and balances in the system that are still there and are quite stringent. Doctors have to document what they do. The Consent and Capacity Board has to oversee this and there can be a hearing (if action is taken against a person’s will). There’s an advocate at the hospital that is there for the patients. There are so many things now for the rights of the patient that taking out the word imminent will not affect anyone’s rights.
CTN: One article in the Toronto Star said this legislation could face a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge. RP: I know the (person who said that) and he feels that human rights is the absolute supreme. I disagree with him. He’s making a mountain of a mole hill. The question isn’t taking away rights, it’s providing the opportunity to treat people who just aren’t getting the treatment they need, period. Especially when, after the fact, people who have gone off the deep-end realize what they’ve done (once treated) and say ‘imagine that, I killed my mother or daughter’ and feel just terrible. But (when they were untreated) they actually felt their mother or daughter were in cahoots with the devil.
CTN: The courts have said imminent can mean several weeks. RP: That’s right. That’s what the courts say but that’s not how it’s being interpreted by psychiatrists and others. If that’s happening — if there’s confusion all the way around — then take out the word. My view is the that (the Act) takes away rights if there’s confusion with it. It means that those who have a right to treatment and the right to health are not getting it when they need it. I think the intent (of the Act) is to show respect for people and to support the rights of individuals but what it ends up doing is erring on the side of individual rights and then the individual ends up doing themselves or someone else in.
CTN: We understand the Minister of Health has said she supports your bill. Why hasn’t the Health Department moved on this, leaving you to do it by yourself? RP: I’m not moving by myself. I have the support of a lot of people. But we also don’t know what the government is going to do. They haven’t said they’re going to review the (Mental Health) Act though I think they should given all the inquiries and the recommendations that have emerged. The function of my bill is to enable the government to move immediately on one small aspect (of bigger problems). They could begin implementing this as they go ahead. It could be two or three years before they go ahead with a full review. I’m saying here’s something that might at least in the interim, deal with something that has a allowed tragedies to occur.
CTN: It seems it’s taking an inordinate amount of time to get this through the (legislature) when it could be cleared up by getting people to understand the court’s interpretation of the Act. RP: Every single member has the opportunity for a private member’s bill. So it’s not more expensive — if it wasn’t this bill I would have chosen something else. All 130 members have their day to put forward a bill that they think will make a difference and it has always been thus.
CTN: What about looking at in terms of time. You could be raising public awareness instead of bringing it to Queen’s Park. Could you have gotten more done by trying to raise awareness outside of the legislature? RP: I don’t think so. These things take a lot of time. It took six years for the last review of the Mental Health Act. Last session, I introduced my bill, then we had debate and it went to committee. The government never moved it from committee to have hearings and propose some amendments. That could have all happened in a short period of time but government is cumbersome and this isn’t the only issue it’s working on.
CTN: But isn’t there something non-legislative that would have been quicker? RP: Such as?
CTN: Teaching people how to properly interpret the act as the courts have interpreted. RP: I doubt it. People have been trying to get that for a long time. First of all, I have no credibility to go around (telling people what to do). I’m not a lawyer, I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m not a medical practitioner. The only credibility I have is as a legislator and here’s something I can do to advance an issue . If I just went off on my own and said you people are mis-interpreting this I’d have no credibility.
CTN: Do you have any worries about this legislation? RP: In terms of getting it through, yes. But it doesn’t have to get through (and become law) to be effective. If the government wants to overtake it, which may happen, then that’s okay. I just want to keep pressure on them. There’s not enough funding for the mental-health area. Money has not been placed in this area for a long time. But am I worried about people rights? No, not with my bill. I think it will enhance people’s right to treatment. I think it’s clear that this is addressed to treatment and this is not touching human rights.
By Andree Lau Ottawa’s newest co-operative market was launched Feb. 12 the same way it will be run: alternative, community-based and fun. Belly dancers, world beat drummers and mehndi herbal body decorators entertained the crowd at the tentatively titled Art-Craft and Alternative Resource Market Co-op’s kickoff party. The co-op will serve as an outlet for local arts and crafts, alternative health care, workshops, community resources and children’s programs. “There’s something special around it,” says Malcolm Guthridge, the co-op’s volunteer organizer. “Under one roof, we can empower the community, make it more fun, ecological and safe.” A co-operative is a business owned by the vendors who use it; its business decisions are made by members, who each have a vote. According to the Canadian Co-operative Federation, members of co-ops usually share common social, economic, and cultural goals. “It’s a trend a lot of people are turning to,” says Jenny Stewart, a co-op vendor selling organic coffee and tie-dyed clothing. “Because a lot of big companies and chain stores are coming into Ottawa, it’s a way for smaller businesses to get together and share expenses and be viable.” The Canadian Co-operative Association says there are more than 10,000 co-ops in Canada including credit unions and caisse populaires. Most co-ops in Ottawa provide housing and daycare. Carol Hunter of the association says there is a steady growth of retail co-ops. “It’s a more holistic view of community,” says Hunter. “It’s combining social and economic objectives.” The organizers of this Ottawa co-op want to promote local artists and community spirit. “I think it’s also important to this neighborhood,” says Stewart. “This building has been vacant for a long time and I think this part of Bank Street needs some revitalization.” The co-op is located at the corner of Bank and Catherine streets. The company that owns the building could not rent out the street-level space, so it decided to try a local crafts fair. That idea snowballed into the co-op. “I said let’s stop looking at this place as a liability, it’s an asset and the asset is something we can create,” says Hania Grabowski, daughter of a shareholder in the company and a co-op volunteer. Guthridge and Julia Fleming were asked to organize the co-op partly due to their experience as Byward Market vendors. They have brought other vendors to the space, which has been billed as a viable alternative to the Byward Market’s bylaws. The co-op’s vendors also say it’s a “friendlier” place to do business. In less than two months, the volunteers have transformed Mayor Jim Watson’s former campaign headquarters into a colorful centre with only $400. Paintings by local artists, plush couches, and a kids’ space filled with toys are just part of the co-op’s charm. “I think it’s something Ottawa needs because there’s not enough homegrown culture and art and showing off our talent,” says Sean Lynch, who attended the new co-op’s launch party out of curiosity. “I think it’s a good idea.” The co-op plans to add an organic market and hold events like dance workshops. It’s only open on weekends for now but should be open five days a week by Easter. “Whether the co-op takes off depends on the community,” says Guthridge. The co-op will have to form a board of members, decide on a permanent name and negotiate a lease in the coming months.
By Andrea Berube Those fighting to keep Neighborhood Services open may have found an ally in the regional government. The organization, which runs six thrift stores in the Ottawa area, needs to raise $75,000 by the end of February to keep the stores open. “They have a long history of community service,” says Regional Chair Bob Chiarelli. “I think if there’s any way we can accommodate them through this short-term financial crisis, we should try to do that.” Chiarelli and Dick Stewart, the region’s commissioner of social services, will be meeting to see if there are any options available to the region to help Neighborhood Services. Ian Fraser, volunteer president of the organization, says the financial crisis stems from cuts made to social assistance in 1997. After the cuts, he says, the 60 per cent of customers who are on social assistance lost their disposable incomes, and sales dropped over $170,000. Just as the organization started to recover from the cutbacks, the ice storm hit. Fraser says the storm caused a drop of $40,000 in the normal $90,000 January revenues. The storm also forced the organization to postpone the current campaign for public assistance. Fraser says Neighborhood Services has raised roughly $5,000 to make up for the shortfall, but they are still short. “The next couple of weeks are going to be crucial,” he explains. Fraser says the region is considering allowing the organization to use its internal communications system, such as e-mail and bulletin boards, to raise funds. A massive mail-out campaign is also in the works, Fraser says. Copies of a newsletter and press releases are being sent out to the community. The uncertainty over the fate of the organization is affecting staff as well as customers. Theresa Barton is a receptionist and cashier at the Wellington Street location. She says Neighborhood Services gave her her first job six years ago. In the fall she will be leaving for college. “It’s really sad,” Barton says of the possible closure. “This place is unique. For the staff and customers it’s like a big family.” She says the end of Neighborhood Services would be a great loss for some customers. For older customers especially, a visit to the store is a daily ritual, where they can come in just to say hello and enjoy the company. Fraser says the organization is competing for the public’s attention in a very crowded market. “It’s tough at the moment,” he says. “Our message is very hard to hear with everything else going on.” He remains optimistic about the future though. “There is a real reservoir of support in the community and that will allow us to get the support we need to go on.”
By Kelly Leydier Local bar owners aren’t forcing their customers to butt out even though a four-month-old city bylaw says they have to. The smoking bylaw, which took effect Oct. 1, requires all bars and restaurants to designate 70 per cent of their space as non-smoking. But many bars are ignoring the bylaw because it’s too hard to enforce. The large number of people who smoke in bars makes it impossible to abide by the law, says Dan Byrne, owner of the Celtic Cross Pub on Bank Street. “You’d be kicking out 100 per cent of the population (because they’re smoking),” he says. Considering the size of his pub, Byrne says following the law wouldn’t remove the smoke anyway. “In a place like this, even if you do have a small smoking section, the smoke still travels,” he says. Richard Condo, co-owner of Goodfella’s Comedy Club on Bank Street, says he doesn’t follow the bylaw either. “I didn’t know there was a smoking bylaw,” says Condo, who opened his business six weeks ago. He says he would prefer a totally non-smoking environment, but too many people smoke for that to be good for business. Still, following the rules seems to be easier at the Royal Oak, also located on Bank Street. “We’ve totally supported it and it works well here,” says Scott Heffernan, manager of the bar. “It’s a touchy subject,” he says. “It’s just important to make everyone comfortable.” His bar and others, including the Celtic Cross and Goodfella’s, have installed air ventilation systems to curb the smoke. The ventilators must be working, because at least one Celtic Cross customer has noticed a difference. “I do notice the change. I notice the places aren’t so smoky,” says Toni Forsythe. She says she’d stopped going out because of her smoke allergy, but lately she’s able to enjoy Centretown nightlife. Forsythe’s non-smoking daughter Esmé is more accepting of a smoky atmosphere. “You go to the bar and expect the smoke,” she said. This attitude seems to be common, but for people in restaurants, smoking isn’t as tolerated. The bylaw is enforced only when the city receives a complaint, says Martha Boyle, manager of licensing for the City of Ottawa. So far they have received about a dozen complaints, and Boyle said most of them were for restaurants. But even after the bars and restaurants comply with the 70-30 split, people still complain about the smoke. Assad Freige, owner of Pancho Villa on Elgin Street, says his restaurant has always had a larger non-smoking section due to demand. To ward off further complaints, he says, “I always try to warn people if they’re near a smoking section.” Aside from restaurant-goers, the only people complaining about the bylaw are smokers. Wayne Bonner, a cook at Goodfella’s, says the government is being too controlling. “The next thing they’re going to do is tell us when to go to bed — we’re losing our freedom.” However, the bylaw may soon get tougher. Boyle says the past city council supported in principle a motion to make all public places in Ottawa smoke-free by the year 2000. For bars not complying with the current bylaw, Boyle has little sympathy. “It’ll be a rude awakening in the year 2000 if they have to go 100 per cent non-smoking, if they haven’t incrementally arrived at that point.”
By Brian Publicover
The City of Ottawa is missing the boat with its new approach to the preparation of the 1998 municipal budget by failing to consult Ottawa’s business community. Building the Budget ‘98 is a new program seeking public input on the upcoming budget. Workshops will be used as a tool to discern what taxpayers feel demands immediate attention. Participants wil be provided with an opportunity to tell their elected representatives how municipal dollars should be spent. A series of exercises will ask respondents to make certain decisions and rank them according to level of importance. Councillors will provide a synopsis of the results to council in time to finalize the budget by May. This is a slight departure from previous years, where public opinion was sought after the fact as a recommendation only. This year, the city hopes public input will shape the budget in its conceptual stages. The workbook obtains data from individuals, but the business community was not consulted. I asked several people in the city’s finance and public relations departments why taxpaying business owners were not being consulted on relevant budgetary issues such as city restructuring, economic development initiatives, and zoning practices. These issues affect the local economy, and need to be addressed on both a community and individual level. The recent ice storm, for example, showed how local businesses can both contribute to and benefit from community support services. I asked why their input was not being sought. Most city officials I spoke to agreed this was a valid concern, but responses ran the gamut of “I don’t know” to “group input does not provide valuable data.” None of the officials discouraged business community participation, but nobody could describe the exact nature of their involvement. There were vague references to the possibility of involving local business improvement associations, and it was acknowledged that groups were welcome. Both the business community and individuals need to be consulted. Combining them as one doesn’t really do justice to the priorities of either group. The crux of the matter is to make the best use of public funds. How can this be accomplished when the backbone of the local economy is effectively being ignored?
By Jason Brown There is such a high demand for prime office space in downtown Ottawa that two companies, and soon possibly a third, have recently unveiled plans for new office towers, threatening to saturate the real estate market. “I think there’s an issue of timing and absorption,” says David Patton, president of the Building Owners and Managers Association. “When you have two or three new buildings all looking for tenants, you don’t get offices filled very quickly.” Currently, Truscan Property Corp. and Canril Corp. are rushing ahead to turn Centretown’s skyline into a bustling image of cranes and scaffolding in an effort to capitalize on the five to six per cent Class A office vacancy rate. The real estate industry has three classes of office space. Class A offices are modern and state-of-the-art. Class B office buildings are older, typically built between 1975-80, but still functional, while Class C is used to describe offices that are in need of major repairs or demolition. Canril has announced it hopes to break ground at its Sparks Street location by spring, while Truscan intends to begin construction on a second tower at its World Exchange Plaza property in August. A third company, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), has plans for erecting a third tower at its Constitution Square complex but has not made an official announcement on its intentions yet. The situation is similar to 1992, when the World Exchange Plaza, Constitution Square and Standard Life all built new office towers. Construction began while the economy was good but took a downward turn by the time the buildings were completed, making tenants a scarce commodity. “We don’t want to go back to those days,” says Brian Seymour, a leasing and marketing manager for Canderel, Constitution Square’s management company. Seymour says OMERS understands three office towers would make competition for tenants tight, which is why the company has not made a formal announcement on its 18-storey tower. However, says Seymour, “if they can produce a product superior to the competition, I’m sure they’ll go ahead.” “The third tower is something that has always been planned. I don’t see the other two dissuading them from eventually going ahead.” Truscan intends to add a second 16-storey tower to the World Exchange Plaza at a cost of $50 million. David Gerofsky, senior vice-president of Truscan, isn’t overly concerned about the potential competition because he says the World Exchange Plaza’s locale sells itself. “I think we have a unique location, I’d say one of the best in Ottawa,” says Gerofsky. The World Exchange Plaza, which was always intended to have twin towers, has the added advantage of having its foundation laid, parking built and three levels of the second tower already constructed. “We have a significant advantage in that respect,” says Gerofsky. For its part, Canril has announced its desire to build a $45 million, 11-storey building on Sparks Street at the former Woolworth building location. Both Truscan and Canril have said they must lease at least half of their buildings’ offices before they begin construction. Truscan has put its figure at 50 per cent occupancy, while Canril has settled on 60 per cent. Tenants for these new buildings, according to Patton, will be coming from both the public and private sectors. Patton says there’s many private businesses that want to move into downtown, particularly high-tech spin-off companies. “The general rule of thumb is that there’s two supporting jobs created for every new Nortel or Newbridge job,”says Patton. “Those jobs don’t need to be in the west end.”
By Alex Graham “It was devastating.” That’s what Ray Nesrallah has to say about January’s ice storm. It left his Elgin Street restaurant Gusto Bistro without power for more than a week. Nesrallah had only gone into business in early January when disaster struck. On Jan. 6 a tree branch, weighed down by ice and snow, collapsed on a power line, sending Gusto Bistro and the neighboring Second Cup coffee shop into darkness. More than a month later, Nesrallah is still struggling to deal with an estimated loss of $10,000 in sales and stock. “We don’t know how it’s affected us,” he says. “All we know is that we lost a lot of stuff. A lot of inventory, a lot of man hours waiting (for the power to come back on).” Second Cup owner Chad Clost says the power outage shut down his store and sent his customers elsewhere. Thirty pounds of coffee beans and 400 litres of milk spoiled during the power failure. “It took a good while for customers to get used to us being open again,” Clost says wistfully. “At least a week for regulars.” He says sales lagged for at least two weeks after the power was restored, adding that even now the business is still “really scrambling” to stay on top of rent and hydro payments. However, the ice storm didn’t spell economic diaster for all Ottawa businesses. In fact, for the Blockbuster Video at 282 Bank St., the ice storm could almost be described as Christmas in January. “Usually over the holidays our sales are way up and then in January they go way down,” says assistant manager Gary Fix. “(Sales) were pretty much the same as they were in December over the ice storm,” he says. That represents a 40-per-cent increase over the store’s usual weekly sales, which he estimates run at about $10,000. The biggest winners during the ice storm were probably hardware stores. Jim Willis, an assistant manager of The Home Depot on Baseline Road, says sales doubled during the first two weeks of the storm, mostly because of the need for generators. “We stayed open until one o’clock in the morning just to get people their generators,” he says. He added that Home Depot stores from all over North America were sending generators to Ottawa just to keep up with the tremendous demand. According to Willis, commitment to customer service has paid off. “We have a lot of new customers coming in, saying we treated them well during the ice storm, so they’re giving us their business afterwards.” That dedication also led them to donate firewood, chain saws, vehicles and manpower to people in the outlying areas of Ottawa which were hit the hardest. But for those in Ottawa who were hit hard, the struggle continues. Chad Clost insists on maintaining a positive outlook dispite all. “We’re building up towards a good summer.”
By Adam Hickman
Time out. Ottawa’s most successful sports franchise may lose its home at the Civic Centre, as a result of initiatives to redevelop Lansdowne Park. Ottawa 67s co-owner Howard Darwin has publicly stated that if the Civic Centre is demolished as part of a massive redesign, he would move the junior hockey club out of the city. He says they’d have no choice but to move because no other arena is viable. The Corel Centre is too expensive. The Nepean Sportsplex is too small. This would be a catastrophe for the Ottawa sports scene. The 67s are an affordable, entertaining, exciting option for sports fans in a city otherwise lacking in sports attractions. Losing this franchise would create a huge void. Now, there’s no doubt changes need to be made at Lansdowne. The site has racked up deficits of $20 million over the past decade and Frank Clair Stadium, home of the late Ottawa Rough Riders, is currently underused. The city can’t give developers a carte blanche to do what they please with this important real estate, without assessing what can be preserved. Lansdowne Park, as a whole, is in trouble. But certain parts of the 20- hectare site are successful and should be integrated into new development plans — and not scrapped. The Civic Centre is a prime example. Home of the Ottawa 67s, it’s a medium-sized hockey arena seating 10,575 fans. It’s an anchor in the Glebe hosting concerts and trade shows that, like the 67’s, aren’t looking for the Corel Centre’s size and flash. Unless plans for Lansdowne involve much-needed convention space, taking down the Civic Centre will leave the city even more starved for space. While Frank Clair Stadium is virtually vacant, Jacquelin Holzman is right to caution that demolishing the football stadium will cost Ottawa a major site. And then Ottawa can kiss goodbye any chance at events like the Commonwealth Games not to mention ending any hope of resurrecting the CFL in Ottawa. For now, developers say demolishing the Civic Centre isn’t being considered but it’s uncertain what’ll happen when the 67s’ lease is up in 2002. Ottawa needs to develop a vision of what types of events it wants to host, before a final decision in May. Or else, a hasty decision on Lansdowne Park may exclude Ottawa from hosting any major sporting events and, worse, it may send a winning team packing.
By Sean McIndoe
The recent success of local rinks may mean more than temporary glory for Ottawa curlers, it may signal the beginning of a shift in curling’s provincial balance of power. Ottawa Curling Club teams took both the men’s and women’s titles in the Ontario junior championships last month, with John Morris’s mens rink going on to capture the national championship Feb. 1 in Calgary. Meanwhile, Anne Merklinger’s Rideau Curling Club rink captured another provincial championship for Ottawa in January, and will represent Ontario at the upcoming Scott Tournament of Hearts in Regina. The victories continue a trend that’s seen Ottawa emerge from the shadow of powerful Toronto rinks, says Ottawa Curling Club manager Danny Lamoureux. “In the past we’d always been the sort of second cousin to Toronto. They always won everything, and we only recently started to make a dent,” Lamoureux says. “The feeling was that sure, we could always make it to the provincials, but then we’d just lose to Toronto every time.” Rideau Curling Club manager Greg Richardson says the constant losses to Toronto rinks may have kept local teams from striving for top results. “On the men’s side at least there were a group of teams that were dominating the men’s side for about ten years,” Richardson says. “They were world class, but I think that did stunt people in Ottawa. They’d get to provincials and that would be about it. They weren’t even thinking of going past provincials because once they got (there) they’d just lose out to the (Ed) Werenichs or the (Russ) Howards.” But that attitude is changing. “Anne Merklinger’s team has set a little bit of a precedent because they went at it and said listen, we’re going to form a team, we’re going to stay together for a few years, and we’re going to put the effort into it,” Richardson says. “And seeing that pay off, seeing them win the provincials, has a lot of other people saying ‘Hey, we can do it too’.” But Merklinger says that while Toronto rinks were getting most of the attention, Ottawa teams were only a jolt of confidence away from moving to the elite level. “I think over the last few years Toronto has pretty much dominated. But there’s been lots of valley teams that have been close,” Merklinger said. “What we’re seeing now is that a couple of teams have been more successful, so some other teams are seeing that success and they believe that they’re just as good as any team in the province, and its helped them play with a little more confidence than what they may have in the past.” That boost of confidence is already paying off. In addition to the success of the Morris and Merklinger rinks, other local squads are on the brink of success. Three local men’s teams — Rich Moffatt and Dave Van Dine’s Rideau rinks and Bryan Cochrane’s Ottawa squad — competed at last weekend’s Nokia Cup provincial championship in Peterborough. And Jenn Hanna skipped her Ottawa rink to a junior provincial championship in January. Merklinger says that the success of those teams will force other local rinks to raise the quality of their game. “When you have one of two teams do well, then the other teams in the region then have to play against the better teams all the time, so teams just naturally start to get better because they play those teams all the time,” says Merklinger, who adds the success furthers development at all levels. That continued development could mean even more provincial championship contenders emerging from a city that Richardson says was already among the strongest in the country in terms of depth. For her part, Merklinger is busy preparing for her third trip to the Scott Tournament. She says she’s confident that her team, which also includes Theresa Breen, Patti McKnight and Audrey Frey, will give Ottawa something to cheer about. “We’re going back there this time with a little bit different kind of approach than maybe we did in the past,” she says, “because now we really believe that we have a good chance of being in the playoffs, and once your in the playoffs who knows what can happen.”
By Leah-Anne Cameron Members of local minor hockey associations will have to wait a few months to find out if they face fee increases next year. Ottawa city council voted at a meeting last week to defer the decision to increase user fees for indoor arenas used by minor hockey leagues until budget discussions in May. President of the Ottawa West Hockey Association, Carl Baltare, said the deferral is encouraging. “People are starting to understand that what’s going on here is that the city is making an investment in kids as are people and organizations who are working with kids sports programs,” says Baltare. But if the proposed increases are approved in May, minor hockey will be hit hard as hourly rates for the use of indoor arenas will rise 15 per cent. As it is, it costs $75 to rent the Sandy Hill Arena for one hour. If the increases are approved, this will rise to $86.25 an hour. According to earlier newspaper reports, these same services were already slapped with a 15 per cent increase less than two years ago. Barry Woods, a coach in the Sandy Hill Minor Hockey League, says if user fees go up it will have a negative effect on minor sports. “I would be very disappointed because I think it reflects the failure of our community to focus on the things that really matter like making sports, in this case hockey, accessible,” says Woods. As a parent, Woods says he would be directly affected by the increases. He adds that if his children wanted to remain in hockey he would do whatever he could to give them the opportunity. Others may not be able to absorb the additional costs, according to Woods. He says some kids may not be able to play if there is an increase in fees because of the difficult financial situations their parents are in. “People are struggling as it is to get their kids to play.” Bruce Muise, president of the Sandy Hill League, says council is considering implementing fee increases over three years. This way, minor hockey associations would only have to deal with a five per cent increase each year for three years, rather than a 15 per cent increase at once. Baltare says he has spoken to various councillors who suggest another possible approach is to review expenditures to see where there can be a reduction in costs as opposed to increasing fees that impact kids. “There is going to be an effort on the part of council to get out and go to communities throughout the city and listen to what people have to say about where they think priorities for spending are and should be,” says Baltare. Even though council is looking at alternatives to user fee increases, Baltare vows he’s not letting up. “We’re certainly not of the opinion that we can be any less vigilant now as a function of this,” he says. “We’re still staying on top of this.”
By Alison Martin Winterlude wasn’t the only tradition “served” up in Ottawa on the first weekend of February. The 16th Glashan Girls’ Invitational Volleyball Tournament (also called the Eastern Ontario Invitational) ran Feb. 4 to 7. The tournament was originally to take place Jan. 14-17, but was re-scheduled due to the ice storm. Teams from Ontario and Quebec compete in three divisions of varying calibre. In total, over 600 girls on 50 teams entered the round-robin tournament. Team expenses were $65 per registered team plus accomodation and travel costs. “It’s important for us to have a high participation level and just to encourage girls to get involved,” says Vivian Gates, Glashan school physical education teacher and tournament coordinator. Gates organized the competition with the assistance of 15 other staff members including the principal and vice-principal of Glashan school. Glashan’s own “Spikers”, coached by Gates, captured the championship title in division “A”, while Metcalfe earned the silver. Fisher school received the bronze medal. After a slow start, Glashan took the first set easily, 15-6. Metcalfe rallied back in the second and nearly forced a third set. Glashan captain Chloe Engel claimed the title for her team and ended the match with a tense 17-15 win. Though Engel enjoyed the “competition and level” of the tournament, the relaxed player says she just “likes having fun.” The captain of Scarborough’s Birch Cliff public school felt the same way. “The people and competition were nice...the event was great.” says Meghan MacSween. Her team won the gold medal in the “B” division. Birch Cliff dominated their opponents Ottawa locals, Broadview and posted a 15-0 score in the final set of the championship match. Jim Sheppard, Birch Cliff’s principal and the team’s coach, was verbal — though a bit optimistic — in his rating of his team’s abilities. “This is the year (we) go all the way!” said Sheppard
Another Glashan team met Russell 2 in the final match of the “C” division. The hosts of the tournament took the gold medal and Russell 2 had to settle for the silver. Winners of all divisions received medals and trophies in the annual tournament. The postponement allowed visiting teams to enjoy this year’s Winterlude and to tour the sites of the Capital. “It’s been both an educational and athletic event,” says John Belcher of Birch Cliff School. Glashan School will continue the tradition next year with volleyball events in both boys and girls competitions.
By KateLynn Savidan
There is a new form of violence emerging in mainstream Hollywood cinema. A veritable ballet of blood, this new violence is a far cry from that made popular by Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. It is a controlled carnage, a highly choreographed dance of bullets, blood and death, where bodies and bullets fly gracefully and stylized through the air. This is the type of violence action movies should embrace. But viewers beware: if you think “beautiful violence” is an oxymoron, then this is not for you. This is not violence for shock value. This is beauty in the act of death. This sort of violence is for Die Hard action fans who wish for a Stallone or Willis movie with the style and elegance of an MGM musical. Even those film fans who can’t sit through Reservoir Dogs without closing their eyes and feeling sick would enjoy it. I offer myself as an example. I still cringe in my seat during the prison scenes in Natural Born Killers and could barely keep my eyes open during Alien Resurrection. But sit me down in front of Face\Off or Rumble in the Bronx and I can’t get enough. Instead of the rough, gratuitous violence of the ear-cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs, film-goers can enjoy lots of slow-motion, much-too-cool gun battles with minimal amounts of blood and guts. Why watch an innocent man being dismembered when you can watch Chow Yun-Fat take down bad guys to the beat of Crystal Method? This genre has been slow coming to Hollywood. It was born in Hong Kong and has arrived in mainstream cinema through action stars Jackie Chan (Supercop) and Chow Yun-Fat (The Replacement Killers) and director John Woo (Face\Off). This should make film-goers extremely happy. A breath of fresh air has drifted into the stale action genre. Maybe one day we won’t have to sit through two-and-a-half hours of Bruce Willis stumbling his way through saving the world. Like film critic Andrew Sarris once said, “I am tired of people smashing other people and things in the name of freedom and self expression.” He was referring to the way violence hinders the artistic merit of many films. But one look at Chow Yun-Fat take on 15 mafia bad guys “spicy-handed” (a gun in each hand) or Jackie Chan fight martial arts style with a ladder and a wheel barrow and there is no denying it: violence can be art.
By Meredith Dundas Alfonso Cuaron’s film Great Expectations probably won’t help students pass their English exams but it may inspire them to enjoy classic literature. The producers and directors of Great Expectations have taken the liberty of changing the books to suit today’s setting — and that can be a tricky thing to do without losing the appeal of the original story. Great Expectations has been criticized for doing just that. Even though most of Charles Dickens’ novels were originally written as bases for stage plays, the movie version of Great Expectations has both new character names and settings. But amid the criticisms, the World Exchange audience numbers are good, says World Exchange Theatre manager, Aaron Collins. Great Expectations is in a close race with As Good as it Gets, and Wag the Dog, and is the number two movie in Canada. These ratings are not surprising. Note some other recent movie titles: Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet, Emma, and Clueless. These four movies, starring such teen-icons as Leonardo DiCaprio, and Alicia Silverstone, are adapted from classic novels and plays, that target the large ‘Whatever Generation’. This ‘Whatever Generation’ is made up of pre-teens and teens. 1996 Canadian census reports show there are four million Canadians aged 10 - 19. That’s a bigger group than in the past two decades and a bigger market for movies targeting this audience. Carleton University film studies professor Charles O’Brien says targeting the ‘Whatever Generation’ with movie adaptations of the classics is something different, but not surprising. Since the turn of the century, movie-makers have been re-creating classic literature. “In the history of culture it’s always happening in one form or another,” O’Brien says. “Now there’s more movies and TV than books, and our understanding is mediated by television and popular culture.” Revising books into movies began as an attempt for cultural legitimacy. Movie-makers would target the upper-class audience with classic literature, to show that movies were a class above Vaudeville. Now they’re trying to appeal to the teenage generation — a new generation whose members may never have read the original book but who now have a chance to see the Dickens’ classic. And the audience at the theatres do fall in that generation, says Collins. Grade 12 Glebe Collegiate student Simon Bell says he likes the up-dated movie versions of the classics. “I find the books are hard to understand, especially the language,” says Bell. He says when he watched the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet, it was easy to understand even though it remained in original Shakespearian text. But, Bell says, there are some problems with the new releases. “They’re not always quite true to form, they sway a bit from the original to fit the time. I think to do a movie it should be more like the original to catch the effect of the book,” he says. “Sometimes [the re-makes] are too trendy, you can always tell when older people are trying to be hip -- it’s too commercial.” Commercial? The novelization of Great Expectations (the movie) is expected to hit the book stores soon. “Some people think there is something wrong and offensive about it, like they’re dumbing it down,” O’Brien says. “I don’t think that.” But buyers beware: if there’s a great expectation that recent remakes of the classics will grant great knowledge, viewers may be disappointed. But if beautiful scenery and famous actors and actress are what’s in mind, this is the film that can help to provide.
By David Kolbusz Arts organizations in the downtown area are concerned about how some new grant money will be divided. Truscan Property Corporation, owners of the World Exchange Plaza, announced at the end of January that they would donate $300,000 to the arts community in order to help enliven the downtown core. Jane Gardner, general manager of the Great Canadian Theatre Company, says that while new funding is always welcome, she must first wait to see how the city will handle the money. “It’s hard to react when there are so many questions left unanswered,” says Gardner. “We won’t really know anything about who will benefit at least for another few months.” The parameters for the grant money have already been set and those eligible include professional arts groups located in the city centre. The money is a flat sum that will be available each year indefinitely due to clever investment by the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton. The idea is to spend the interest earned on the investment. The first earnings will be available for performances beginning in 1999. The decisions as to which groups will benefit from the donation will be made by the City of Ottawa. Barbara McInnes, president of the foundation, says application guidelines will be established in a matter of months. “Any professional performance group is eligible,” says McInnes. “But the city’s cultural leadership committee will decide who receives the funding.” McInnes hopes this donation will inspire other major corporations to follow suit with other ongoing contributions. Computer giant Corel has also recently launched an endowment fund for the arts in Ottawa. Gerald Morris, communications manager for Opera Lyra, is optimistic about the Truscan fund. “I’m delighted,” says Morris. “In this era of cutbacks, any money donated by the private sector is welcome. I just hope more companies follow the Truscan Corporation’s lead.” David Gerofsky of Truscan says the company wanted to increase arts activity in the downtown area and to further emphasize that Truscan is a prominent force in Ottawa. “We have no particular groups in mind,” he says. “It could be any type of performance: dance, music, plays or whatever.” Gerofsky says the funded groups will be chosen by a jury of their peers and the city’s cultural leadership committee in the coming months.
By Amber Mything Actors have often been described as being a breed apart. Well, as Tom Wood shows us in his play Claptrap, they also inhabit their own universe. Set in the fictional town of Oslo, Ont., Claptrap takes a satirical look at a company of actors performing at a major summer theatre festival called the “Ibsen Festival,” named after Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Every imaginable stage stereotype is represented in the play: a tyrannical and effeminate director; a talented, yet out-of-work actress; a fame-hungry rich girl; and a neurotic festival veteran. The play follows these people as they deal with a director from hell and the pressures of performing. It attempts to provide a humorous and revealing glimpse of the “backstage” world, but it falls a little short. For stage aficionados, the inside jokes and actorial mishaps would make sense. The rest of us though, were left to chuckle over the antics of Patsy the dwarf (Nicola Cavendish) and Simon, the hormone-driven and neurotic stage veteran (actor/playwright Tom Wood). This isn’t to say the play wasn’t funny. It just left a non-theatre type like me with the feeling they weren’t getting the whole joke. But even the theatre illiterate could appreciate the impressive set design. In one scene, the main characters parade around singing — not very well, mind you — in their intricate and portable sets in a complex and excellently choreographed scene. The acting was also impeccable. Lucy Peacock gave a convincing portrayal of Julia Hudson, the talented actress who gets blackballed thanks to difficulties with the director. And Lorne Kennedy played a particularly nasty director, maybe even a little over the edge sanity-wise. But brilliant sets and wonderful acting can’t carry a show when the plot doesn’t fulfil its main purpose. This is assuming the main purpose really was to take an inside look into the chaotic and sometimes unstable acting “world.” The script was clever and well-written, but too much time was spent in the first half of the play familiarizing the audience with the actors’ theatrical woes. By the time it got around to the actual revenge sequence (for which some of us waited the whole first half), it was too late. If the characters had spent less time agonizing and more time doing something, the play would have moved along at a quicker and steadier pace. As it was, some of the audience had to be content with off-color remarks and physical humor to fill time.
By Crystal Kingwell and Jennifer Lee
Those who say that 16-year-olds are not mature enough to be trusted with the vote are missing an important point: society already entrusts them with equally weighty responsibilities. Allowing them to vote is only logical. The Progressive Group for Independent Business Youth, a Calgary-based group of people under 21, is currently lobbying the federal government to lower the voting age to 16. They argue that young people are concerned with the economic health of the country and should have a say in how political decisions are made. They have already started a letter-writing campaign to convince federal politicians to give Canada’s youth a chance to cast their ballots. NDP Leader Alexa McDonough has already indicated she supports the idea. The possibility of lowering the voting age brings to mind a fundamental question: at what point does a person become an adult? How old must you be before you can be trusted to make informed, rational decisions? In our society, 16-year-olds are permitted to drive cars, move out of their parents’ houses, and get jobs. They get deductions taken from their paycheques just like everyone else. It’s the old argument from the American Revolution: no taxation without representation. Sixteen-year-olds can also join the Armed Forces and even get married. These are not exactly inconsequential decisions. Some may say that young people simply don’t want to vote. For many, this may be true. But it is equally true of some people in their 20s and 30s and beyond. No one can force people to go to the polls. But the fact that an organization such as the Progressive Group for Independent Business Youth even exists is evidence that there are some young people who are informed enough and who do want a chance to have their views heard. Why should they be denied simply because of what amounts to an arbitrary age limit? Giving the vote to high school students would give more relevance to the classroom lectures on Canadian politics. It would make the system more real to them, because they would know that their opinions count. Rather than being passive observers, they would — or could — also be active participants. Thirty years ago, no one under 21 could vote in this country. In 1972, the minimum age was lowered to 18, and Canada didn’t go to hell in a handbasket. And we won’t if we lower the age to 16.
I am writing concerning your Jan. 23 article, editorial and cartoon about Richard Patten’s bill to amend the Ontario Mental Health Act. Your editorial and cartoon demonstrate a serious lack of understanding of the issues which society in general, and families and friends face while dealing with individuals suffering from a major mental illness such as schizophrenia. Changes to the Mental Health Act are urgently required as one of the steps to improve the lives of those with mental illness and provide them with what they and society have a right to expect — treatment appropriate to their particular situation. The current wording of the Act causes individuals to be denied such treatment when they most need it, i.e. when they are in a severe psychotic state and suffering hallucinations and delusions including voices which seem absolutely real to them. In effect, these individuals are not “conscious” by any definition and are unable to make informed decisions about treatment. It is extremely difficult to demonstrate that these individuals are an “imminent” danger to themselves or others and thus doctors and hospitals do not treat them until after a tragedy has occurred, or never in the case of suicide. The wording of the Act must be changed so that doctors and hospitals react the same way when a person in a severe psychotic state arrives on their doorstep as they do when an unconscious heart attack victim arrives. Finally, contrary to what is stated in your coverage, there is no community treatment program in Ontario of the sort Patten is suggesting. Bruce Maynard Director, Schizophrenia Society of Canada
I was amazed to learn that some people who call themselves Christians are at odds with one another as to who Jesus is. Jesus clearly states who he is in the Gospel according to Luke. Immanuel or Emmanuel, Manual means God with us. That was the name given by Isaiah to the Messiah of his prophecy (Is 7:14) It is often applied to Jesus (Matthew 1:13) E.M. Skuce Lisgar St.
Who should be forced to take the pharmaceutical industry’s pills? (re: Richard Patten’s proposed mental-health legislation) I’ve known many of the best minds of my generation undergo mental duress from this alienatiing and insecure society. But perhaps the tranquilizers should be given to the “globalizers” and “rationalizers;” the politicians and businessmen who mould this new world order of insecurity and alienation. There is an old saying: don’t shoot the messenger! Michael Larson Lewis Street
Aboriginal Youth Today was wrongly identified as Native Youth Today in the Feb. 6 issue. It is also a quarterly, not a bimonthly, publication
A photograph on Page 16 of the Feb. 6 issue was incorrectly attributted to James Raiswell. The photographer was Victoria Fulford.