By Katie Donnelly O’Neill
Recent protests are taking their toll on Ottawa’s downtown.
Many shops, transit riders and restaurants have been reporting disruptions to their routines due to numerous weekend and evening protests.
The protests began more than a month ago and have increased since the war in Iraq began, with residents showing support for both the anti-war and pro-war stance.
While protesters may be exercising their constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully, protests can hurt local businesses.
Tricya Tyers, the manager of Room 535, Schad and JouJee, three clothing stores along Sussex Drive, says there is a lull in business during the protests.
“People are intimidated to come downtown and shop and we rely upon walk-by traffic,” she says.
Of the three stores she manages, Tyers says JouJee, the smallest one, has been hit hardest financially by the protests. The store is directly across from the American Embassy.
The weekend protests are especially negative on the businesses, Tyers says, because in retail “you live for Saturday.” Along with the lack of shoppers she has also had to deal with missing staff.
“I have had to come down and open the store on my own because my two morning employees have been late for work because of the bus situation,” she says.
Gillian Martin is dependent on city buses to get her downtown on the weekends. She relies on public transit to get her to church, the library and the University of Ottawa. But during protests she says this system has been letting her down.
“When there is a protest I have to wait between half an hour to an hour extra for my buses,” she says.
Martin says she understands that the buses need to be re-routed to avoid the protests but thinks it is a “pain in the neck when you are trying to get somewhere important.”
Ottawa residents are still making it downtown to eat even if it is taking them a little longer to get there, says Jennifer Childs, a server at the Social.
The Social, a restaurant on Sussex Drive, has experienced an increase of people seeking only to use their washrooms, Childs says.
“There are only two of us working, so it is kind of annoying when you go over to greet people for lunch and then find out it is just protesters wanting to use the bathroom,” she says.
Great Canadian Souvenirs salesperson Frank Belly says protesters are causing a different type of inconvenience for his Sparks Street store.
“There is no place to park,” he says.
Belly adds he is also seeing a lack of American tourists and attributes this to Canada’s stance in the war.
The Ottawa-Carleton Police have also been dealing with the protests. Police spokesperson Monique Ackland says they are prepared for the protests that have been occurring in response to the war and have added more officers on those days.