By Sara Parkes
A recent two-day prostitution sweep in downtown Ottawa, during which police arrested 53 people, was triggered by warmer temperatures, not by complaints from local business, say police.
Centretown business representatives say they had little to do with the crackdown.
Sgt. Roland Campbell, who sent out a press release about the sweep, said the recent arrests were motivated not by specific complaints, but by changes in the weather.
“There’s nothing that triggered it. Just thought we’d nip it in the bud before the warm weather,” he says.
Around the corner, in the Preston Street Corso Italia area, Lori Mellor, the executive director of the Preston Street BIA, says the businesses and residents have had trouble with prostitution, even in the morning when children are walking to school.
“I feel so bad for these women, but you can’t live in this area with a family,” she says. “You need all ages to make a neighbourhood.”
She says she was concerned for the businesses in the area, as families must walk by women on the streets who solicit fathers, particularly around the Gladstone Avenue area.
“That’s the problem that’s been happening here.”
She says businesses and residents have complained to and talked with Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes.
Though businesses sometimes complain about prostitution in the street, they do not make up the bulk of the lobbyists against the problem, says Det. Kal Ghadban of the Ottawa Police.
“A majority of complaints come from residents,” says Ghadban.
“Though it affects everyone in the community, it’s the residents that complain the most,” Ghadban adds.
However, he says he would not discount the fact that businesses played a part in the March 23-24 sweep.
Rob Sproule, chair of the City of Ottawa’s Business Advisory Committee, says the topic of prostitution has never come up in meetings.
“I guess one could conclude it’s not a high priority problem on anyone’s agenda,” he says. “With lower visibility (of the problem) it becomes less of an issue.”
Pat Carrozza, whose family business is the Trattoria Caffé Italia on Preston Street and Gladstone Avenue, says he has been closing the café five nights a week for years.
“I haven’t seen anything like that for years now. To be honest I haven’t noticed anything for three or four years.”
Jason Barkley, a clerk at the Ottawa Medical Pharmacy on Somerset Street in the heart of Chinatown, says he sees prostitutes regularly, but they do not affect the store.
“Some women you’ll see around here at certain times are prostitutes,” he says.
But he says he has attended local safety meetings in the area as a resident. Berkley says he has noticed few business people attending the 20-30 people gatherings.
He says the group has been trying to co-ordinate with the local business interest associations, but has not been able to develop a shared initiative, though he says there are roadblocks in the way, such as cultural differences in the area.
Campbell said enforcement against prostitution is ongoing, though not with such large numbers as the recent sweep and not all at once.