Ottawa looks to other cities for graffiti solution

By Dora Chang

City council is being asked to consider graffiti as an art form in need of legal spaces instead of as vandalism in a renewed effort to reduce property damage in the downtown core.

The Emergency and Protective Services Committee this summer passed a report presented by Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes on graffiti reduction, asking the committee to improve the city’s current strategy by using the findings as a guideline.

Holmes says she expects the report to be addressed by council in January. “I’m expecting there will be some recommendations that we become much more proactive than we have been,” she says.

The report compares Ottawa’s graffiti strategy with those of other Canadian cities, including Toronto and Victoria.

It suggests that partnerships, as exist in the City of Gatineau, should be developed with property owners throughout Ottawa to designate walls and buildings for legal graffiti.

The City of Gatineau’s program has inspired a pilot project for a legal graffiti wall to be set up at the Orleans Sportsplex.

“I think putting up legal walls will encourage the expression of graffiti,” says Mike Young, the graffiti photographer who convinced Orleans Coun. Bob Monette to approve the project. “It will give kids more of a sense of belonging and ownership of their community.”

The only permanent and officially legal wall in Ottawa is under the Dunbar Bridge, called the House of Paint, and was set up in 2003 by Capital Coun. Clive Doucet.

Graffiti in Centretown has been a problem for years and the city has tried several programs and strategies to handle the situation. The city’s current graffiti management strategy is based on the “4E” model – eradication, empowerment, enforcement, education – and primarily focuses on the “eradication” goal.

Gerry LePage, executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area, says his association has had to remove 260 cases of graffiti this year alone. He says the areas they clean off are often replaced by more graffiti within 24 hours.

“We need the city, the police, and the community to get engaged and come together to develop a comprehensive program,” he says. “If the city wants more people in the core, they need to go the extra mile to ensure that certain elements in the central area are taken care of, like graffiti.”

The report states that much of the energies and resources of the police are focused on public spaces and not enough attention is paid to private property, leaving homeowners and small businesses to deal with removal costs on their own.

The report also suggests the city should develop a support network for private property owners to deal with these costs.

LePage says the issue is often pushed to the backburner and that he is looking for the police to make it a higher priority. He says graffiti is a serious crime against property and appears threatening to the public, especially with gang tagging.

But Young says not all graffiti is a bad thing. “It can be an artistic art form. It’s only called vandalism because of its location.”

John Brownfield is a pioneer in graffiti art and one of the first founders of hip-hop graffiti in Canada. He created the “tech wall” graffiti mural at the corner of Slater and Bronson Streets.

“I wanted to see what could happen with a big mural and to see what people’s reactions were,” he says. “I found that good community murals do have the ability to straighten out areas that were big messes before.”

The report from Holmes’ office says such mural programs and legal graffiti walls are proactive measures in dealing with the graffiti problem. Reactive measures taken after graffiti has occurred, are also addressed.

The report suggests shortening wait times for reporting graffiti by setting up reporting websites or implementing graffiti hotlines to link callers with trained staff who can provide removal tips. The report also suggests incentives for reporting graffiti, such as vouchers for paint and removal products.

With files from Neala Barton