Karen Henderson, Centretown News
Data indicates Ottawa residents enjoy their drink – or two – or more.Newly analyzed health data suggests Ottawa residents have higher rates of binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption compared with others in Ontario – a finding that has prompted Ottawa Public Health to launch a probe of the problem.
Ottawa Public Health launched an online survey in early February requesting feedback from local residents on the impacts of alcohol.
The decision to release the survey was prompted by a trend in OPH’s data that indicates Ottawa residents have been drinking at rates higher than the provincial average since 2007. The data also shows that each year 1,000 people in Ottawa are hospitalized from factors related to alcohol consumption.
The trend specifically consists of binge drinking and heavy drinking. Binge drinking is defined as having more than five drinks on one occasion. Heavy drinking refers to having five or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month, within in the past year.
Ginny Warner, spokesperson for an OPH team focused on prevention of substance misuse, says the survey is a starting point for the agency to connect with the community and address the concerns seen in the data.
She says the city-funded OPH will also be consulting with health partners, law enforcement officials and other stakeholders on the issue of alcohol.
The survey consists of 10 questions, which ask the public to rate their concerns on alcohol-related issues such as binge drinking, assaults, drunk driving and under-age drinking.
It also gives survey participants the opportunity to describe specific alcohol-related issues or situations they have encountered.
In Centretown, Elgin Street is lined with bars and pubs for those craving a cold beverage.
John Macklem, manager of Lieutenant’s Pump, says OPH’s survey is a good idea to establish a conversation about alcohol consumption, but from his experience, he doesn’t think Ottawa’s drinking habits are a major concern.
“There are lots of things that excessive drinking can result in that are strictly against the law,” he says. “It’s against the law for us to allow those types of behaviours, as well, so we deal with those situations appropriately as they arise.”
Macklem says individuals who wander off the streets into his bar or those who have been at previous bars are more of a concern.
“There’s the occasional fight and the occasional overly intoxicated person. These issues definitely do exist, but I don’t believe that it’s epidemic or something that’s overly common.”
Sgt. John Kiss is the Ottawa Police Service’s impaired driving and counter-measures expert.
Kiss says the police often have to deal with criminal behaviour that results from excessive drinking.
“We arrest approximately 700 impaired drivers in Ottawa every year,” Kiss says.
“Many of the incidents involve collisions and on occasion injury or death. Each prosecution is a significant drain on police resources and a significant cost to taxpayers.”
Kiss explained that assaults and vandalism are also two common offences that are often attributed, in part, to alcohol.
“Each year hundreds are arrested for public intoxication and lodged in cells,” he says.
“These intoxicated individuals are often violent, resulting in injuries to police officers. This takes police away from their primary role of responding to emergencies.”
The survey, which began on Feb. 2, ended on Feb. 29.