Rebecca Hardiment, Centretown News
Two toilets sit at McNabb Park as part of the GottaGo! campaign, which aims to build a washroom at Dundonald Park.A grey sky is overhead and a chill is in the air in McNabb Park. The sound of skateboards grinding against concrete at the Charlie Bowins Skate Park mingles with the revving of cars along Bronson and Gladstone avenues.
In the park, people are busy setting up tables with coffee, hot chocolate – and toilet paper. On the grass nearby sit two porcelain thrones, with an empty picture frame placed between them. These are not open-air onsite facilities to be used by passersby. In fact, there are no actual public toilets in McNabb Park, which is why the toilets have been placed at the downtown greenspace – as props in a public push for change.
They were part of the GottaGo! campaign’s latest event, ‘Make a Stand by Taking a Seat,’ held at McNabb Park. The event included a series of activities to raise awareness about the need for a network of public toilets in Ottawa.
Kristina Ropke, the master of ceremonies of the event, says she was pleased with the community response.
“It’s a good turnout considering it’s foul outside,” she says, noting that the cold weather didn’t dampen Centretown residents’ spirit, as they chanted “What do we want? Public Toilets! When do we want them? Now!”
Patricia Ballamingie, an associate professor of geography and environmental studies at Carleton University, attended the event. Ballamingie is a supporter of the GottaGo! campaign.
“I’ve been facilitating applied research to help advance the GottaGo! cause,” Ballamingie says.
“I think it’s a basic fundamental human right and it’s something that a country that’s as wealthy as Canada can certainly afford.”
Ballamingie is the academic co-lead for the Environmental Sustainability Hub for the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement, a research project that aims to strengthen Canadian communities through community-campus partnerships. It helped GottaGo! bring forward a motion in October to include public toilets in phase two of the Ottawa light rail transit plan.
About 7,000 people in Ottawa suffer from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis; these diseases are also referred to as forms of inflammatory bowel disease. Symptoms often require frequent trips to a toilet. Crohn’s and Colitis Canada have partnered with the GottaGo! campaign. Representative Maria Glidden spoke at the event. She emphasized the need for clean, safe public toilets by people who live with these diseases.
“That doesn’t go only for people with Crohn’s and Colitis, but lots of people in the community need access on a regular basis,” she says.
The idea for the event itself came from the desire to celebrate World Toilet Day, a United Nations sponsored event held this year on Nov. 19. The UN established the international day in 2013 and GottaGo! is the Ottawa chapter of the World Toilet Day campaign.
Alan Etherington, a water, sanitation and hygiene consultant, addressed the gathering on the UN’s involvement in promoting worldwide access to public toilets and sanitation facilities.
“Every time we defecate, one gram of our feces has an estimated 100,000 disease carrying pathogens,” he says. “It is really important to keep humans, especially children, away from feces.”
Etherington explains that while Canada is blessed compared to other parts of the world, there is still a public toilet issue in this country.
“We cannot have toilets and sanitation until we can talk about it,” he says. “Break the taboo, just like with HIV/AIDS we had to learn to talk about safe sex, so with toilets we have to talk about safe sanitation.”
Another topic of discussion at the event was public toilets at Dundonald Park.
While a Tim Hortons restaurant has opened across the street, next door to the Beer Store, the initiative to get public toilets will continue.
Joan Kuyek, chair of the GottaGo! campaign, says she hopes the new Tim Hortons will allow park goers to use the restaurant’s washroom facilities.
“However, it is across the street and people should not have to pay to pee.”