Despite the reluctance of Ottawa Police, the City of Ottawa has approved amendments to its alcohol policy that will allow the more liberal sale of booze on city property and streets during special events — a move triggered by the approaching 150th anniversary of Confederation.
When consulted, officials with the Ottawa Police Services were opposed to the idea of drinking in the streets for reasons of public safety.
Di Monte, the city’s acting general manager of emergency and protective services, noted that city staff did their best to accommodate all those concerned during the consultation process.
“It probably doesn’t give everybody everything they wanted, but it is a balanced approach,” Di Monte said.
What the police most pointedly disagreed with was the establishment of a “Bourbon Street”-style zone — modelled on the famous party strip in New Orleans — where festival-goers would have been permitted to bring purchased alcohol into the street in a more free-roaming manner.
According to a Nov. 10 report, city staff did not recommend this model after consultation with police raised the concern that it would “pose potential risks to public health and safety.”
The decision to make the changes to policy came in preparation for the many Canada 150 celebrations being planned for the coming year around the city, which is promoting anniversary events under the banner Ottawa 2017.
The report and recommendations were presented at the Nov. 17 community and protective services committee by Pierre Poirier, the city’s security and emergency manager.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of special events and festivals over the last two to three years, with a significant increase in the number of events wishing to serve alcohol,” Poirier said.
The proposed changes will make it possible to rope off certain sections of city streets where an event is taking place, and will allow the establishment of beer tents.
Alcohol may be cleared for sale in these designated areas and businesses on that section of street may have the opportunity for an extension of their liquor licences, allowing them to lengthen existing patios and serve booze in the extended area.
The plan to liberalize drinking on Ottawa streets came about just after Ottawa Public Health warned in a recent study that a high number of Ottawa residents participate in binge drinking.
This was a concern brought up at the Nov. 17 committee meeting by Jasna Jennings, a representative from the Byward Market Business Improvement Association, who argued in favour of the Bourbon Street model and argued that roping off sections of streets might produce an unintended incentive to binge drink.
“People will buy a drink at a restaurant on a patio, the stage is setup, the show is about to start — oh you can’t leave with your drink — what happens? They guzzle their drink back and then they go out here and buy another drink,” Jennings said.
“Essentially this whole policy is encouraging binge drinking.”
Di Monte called the proposed amendments an approach that equally serves public safety, public health and private enterprises. He also noted that the changes will help to remove some red tape and delegate authority so that the city will be able to respond quickly to business requests during the upcoming celebrations of Canada’s 150th anniversary.