Police need community’s help
I read with interest the article “Cop Street Beat to Curb Crime,” in the February 19, issue of Centretown News and, in particular, the comments by centretown resident Dawn Densmore.
I wonder if Ms. Densmore and the Staff of the Centretown News are aware of the Centretown Citizens Safety Committee (CCSC) and our mandate to promote personal safety in the centretown area.
The CCSC operates as a sub-committee of the Centretown Citizens Community Association (CCCA), and its principles are to promote personal safety, to preserve property values and to ensure a sense of pride and security in the Centretown community.
The CCSC maintains liaison with the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Services (OCRPS), Regional and Municipal Councillors for the Centretown Ward, the Centretown Community Health Centre, and other stakeholders in the Centretown area on issues relating to safety and security.
Six main issues are currently the focus of attention: drugs, prostitution, break and enters, traffic violations, vagrancy, and property standards.
These issues embrace a wide range of subjects, but they seem to include the very ones that concern Ms. Densmore.
If she is interested in participating in the CCSC and helping us do something for ourselves, rather than relying solely on the police, then she is invited to attend our meetings, which are held at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Regional Headquarters.
Community-based policing is a good initiative, but the police need the support and help of the community, and working with CCSC is a good way of contributing.
Bill Moorman, Chair,
Centretown Citizens Safety Committee
Arts editor culturally challenged
It’s rather disturbing that the Arts Editor of a community newspaper would find Canadian culture so insignificant and dispensable as to recommend that government stop funding it to put more dollars into health care or tax cuts (Centretown News, Feb. 19).
Health care is of the utmost importance, but one doesn’t have to preclude the other. Health care is for the body and mind. Culture is for the soul, individually; collectively, it’s what makes us as a people unique in the world.
If you have trouble defining our culture, visit a few independent bookstores or listen to some Canadian music — and I don’t mean the theme from “Titanic”. Visit the Ottawa Folklore Centre or the Inuit Art Foundation or the Arts Court. Listen to the CBC on Saturday morning. Go to some local literary readings. Surely as an Arts Editor you’re aware of these.
How would the $1.4 billion spent in tax cuts benefit lower- and middle-income people? We might each be able to buy an extra cup of coffee a day. It’s a very small amount, as you said. And you know, arts and culture create jobs, too.
Do Canadians share the government’s enthusiasm for protecting culture? I believe they do, and for my part, I wish the government would do much more. I not only want, but insist, that a portion of my taxes be used for that purpose. Health care and education don’t have to suffer; there are many other places that cutbacks could be made – but that’s another whole issue.
Peggy Smith Krachun, Cartier Street