Bylaw hurts small cafés
With reference to your article on small coffee houses in the March 29 edition: I realize the city is one of your major advertisers, but surely you owe it to your readers to be a little more objective, even if it will upset some of our “leaders” at City Hall?
These coffee houses are closing for a reason you didn’t dare mention — the smoking ban. Until last August most of these individually owned coffee establishments that permitted smoking were havens for downtown office employees during breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks. Most of these people were smokers (or friends of smokers). With the advent of the smoking ban this trade totally dried up and places are thus closing, or already have.
Your paper has a tendency to blame everything on “Big Business,” but surely you owe it to your readers to be a little more objective? ‘Big Business’ was not the culprit here, these small operations were driven under by “Big Government” in the form of City Hall and its smoking ban.
Track down the ex-owners and ask them what happened, don’t blame it on Starbucks!
Barry McKay,
General Manager,
PUBCO
Irish event huge success
“Claddagh”, an evening of Irish entertainment at St. Theresa’s Church on March 13, was a benefit for St. Patrick’s Home.
It was the premiere event of Ottawa’s “Irish Week” of 2002. The Somerset Street Church was filled to capacity with 680 people who were thrilled with the lively renditions of Irish music and songs by the renowned St. Theresa’s Choir. Ottawa’s top Irish fiddlers also performed, as did other Irish singers and the highly talented Sue Healey Irish Dancers. Author Joan Finnegan read a rendition of Ottawa Valley Irish tradition. CFRA’s Michael O’Brien, Master of Ceremonies, also amused the audience with Irish jokes and humour.
On behalf of the Irish Society of the National Capital Region, I wish to thank Centretown residents for their generous support of St. Patrick’s Home for the Aged.
Jim Robinson
Gilmour Street,
Irish Society of the National Capital Region