Pubdate: Thu, 06 Sep 2007
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Andrew Thomson

DRUG USERS MAR LAST DAYS OF ST. BRIGID'S

Needles Litter Grounds As Parish Set To Shut Church

Parishioners of St. Brigid's Catholic Church have fought an emotional 
campaign to save their 117-year-old spiritual home from being closed 
and sold. But they, and nearby residents, have encountered a separate 
battle before next weekend's final scheduled mass: they say the 
Murray Street property has become a haven for illegal drug use and 
trafficking in recent weeks.

It happens all over the property -- the parking lot, under the 
wheelchair ramp and on the corner of Murray and Cumberland streets.

Of particular concern is the rectory adjacent to the church, which is 
only staffed part of the day. The two-storey red brick house is often 
littered with syringes and empty wrappers for alcohol swabs.

Church volunteers have repaired holes in the wooden fence under the 
front porch, only to see the same punctures return. Clothes, boots 
and blankets litter the area underneath. Early yesterday afternoon, 
someone appeared to be covered by a blanket and passed out directly 
under the steps.

"If they were just sleeping, it wouldn't be a problem," said Michael 
Valiquette, who oversees the Sister Eleanor Fund at St. Brigid's.

"But there are other things going on down there. You can come and 
count the needles every morning. It's getting worse by the week."

Paul Jones, 45, has lived in the Byward Market area for 17 years and 
can vouch for the increasing difficulty in keeping drug users off 
private property. He and his wife, Jodie van Dieen, live next to the 
rectory in a condominium and community centre complex.

Mr. Jones finds needles strewn about his car in the morning, thrown 
across a fence by drug users on the rectory property.

He sees people scavenging the church grounds, picking up empty 
needles in the hope of a free score.

And while the nearby Shepherds of Good Hope provide important 
treatment services, he said, it also acts as a magnet for people 
across Eastern Ontario.

"As a matter of survival, urban cores are going to have to be vibrant 
and livable places, including the market area," said Mr. Jones, an 
officer with the Canadian Association of University Teachers. "We 
can't let a tiny majority determine living conditions."

Church officials are equally angered by the presence of drugs, saying 
they were doing all they could to keep the property clean.

They've contacted police, and teams from the Shepherds of Good Hope 
just down the street have come to collect needles. The City of Ottawa 
operates the Needle Hunter program to remove syringes from public property.

"It's very dangerous and disrespectful," Marilyn Donoghue, chairwoman 
of St. Brigid's pastoral council, said of the drug use.

"The people have justifiable reasons for complaining. We're doing our 
best to keep them out, but it's just shocking."

St. Brigid's, a municipal and provincial heritage property, is slated 
to close after the Ottawa archdiocese announced in May 2006 that 
renovations would be too costly. A court challenge by parishioners 
failed to overturn the decision.

The final eucharist is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 10 a.m., with 
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast officiating.

The archdiocese plans to amalgamate most of St. Brigid's parishioners 
with Notre-Dame Cathedral.

An Irish community group has pledged to buy the property -- including 
the rectory -- for $450,000 and transform the building into an 
Irish-Canadian cultural centre.

Patrick McDonald, a spokesman for the prospective owners, said the 
group would work to address the problem once the sale is finalized -- 
expected later this month.

Community outreach teams from the Shepherds of Good Hope have been 
co-ordinating with police and the city to stem the neighbourhood's 
well-publicized drug problem, said Rob Eady, the senior manager of 
public relations and support services.

An average of 175 people use their shelters each night, according to 
annual statistics dating to 2005.

Shepherds staff have worked to shut down area crackhouses in the 
past, Mr. Eady said, and have been threatened as a result. And 
there's been a noticeable increase in police presence this summer.

"We will not tolerate drug use on our property and anywhere around 
here," he said. But "there's more drug addicts who don't stay at the 
Shepherds of Good Hope than do.

"I would be angered, too, if it was my property, or having to see it 
every day. Whoever takes over the property should do something about 
it as well."

Ottawa police made 18 arrests during a late-August undercover sting 
operation in the Byward Market and Centretown after complaints about 
open drug trafficking in the core.

Rideau-Vanier Councillor Georges Bedard has asked for a special squad 
of narcotics agents to deal with his ward's drug-dealing problem.

"It's rampant and quite serious," he told the Citizen last week.

"The situation is out of control and we need a daily response. 
(Officials) have to come down hard."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman