Police services board chair says Ottawa mayor 'out of touch'
The chair of Ottawa’s police services board says Mayor Jim Watson is ‘out of touch’ with the work being done to fight violent crime in the city.
Coun. Diane Deans says the mayor’s meeting this week, at which he established a ‘leadership table’ to address violent crime and suggested more funding for the city’s police service, was a ‘simplistic’ response to a violent Labour Day weekend in the city that saw two shootings and a stabbing.
“For the mayor to respond to an incident and say we need to form a new committee and we need to throw more money at police is just too simplistic a response to a very complex set of issues,” Deans told CTV News Ottawa on Friday. “I would like to be involved in helping him get up to date on what those issues are.”
Deans, who chairs of Crime Prevention Ottawa along with her police services board role, said she wasn’t invited to the meeting.
“I know that the mayor is more comfortable dealing with members of council that tend to agree with him on all of the issues,” Deans said.
The mayor’s office said in a statement that he meets “frequently and almost daily” with city leaders and officials to address city-wide concerns.
“After the recent rash of violent incidents, the Mayor’s Office has no record of Councillor Deans contacting the Mayor’s Office to seek or propose a meeting,” the statement said. “Mayor Watson is always amenable to dialogue with members of Council who engage with him on their priority concerns or issues.”
In an open letter to the mayor, Deans said she wanted to ‘introduce’ the mayor to the efforts of people working every day toward ‘evidence based, holistic, upstream solutions to community safety and crime prevention.’
“I am shocked and surprised that as the Mayor you are so out of touch with the work that is being done on these fronts and the importance of funding these initiatives,” she wrote.
Deans said groups that work to address the root causes of violent crimes, such as community health agencies and groups that provide mental health services, need adequate, predictable funding.
“Those groups have had to beg the mayor to get funding,” she told CTV News. “If the mayor really wants to be part of the solution, he needs to be the person that loosens the purse strings to get the agencies the money they need to help us create a safer community.
“The strategy can’t just be let’s give police more money or let’s form a new committee.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
NEW For their protection, immigrants critical of China and India call for speedy passage of Canada's foreign interference legislation
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
OPINION No reunion between Prince Harry and the King signifies a setback for royal unity
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
Israel says it reopened a key Gaza crossing after a rocket attack but the UN says no aid has entered
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, a key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid that was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.