Legal alcohol drinking coming to some Ottawa parks this summer, including Great Lawn at Lansdowne and Minto Park
You will be allowed to enjoy an alcoholic beverage on the Great Lawn at Lansdowne Park, in Minto Park in Centretown and at Champlain Park this summer, but legal drinking will not be permitted in many suburban neighbourhoods.
Starting July 1, alcohol consumption will be allowed in designated areas of Ottawa parks. Under the plan, councillors will work with the general manager of Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services and their constituents to select parks for alcohol consumption.
The alcohol in parks pilot project will have the following rules:
No alcohol consumption before 11 a.m. and after 9 p.m. or hours designated by the general manager.
No person shall possess or consume alcohol within a five-metre radius of a playground or playground equipment, wading pools or splash pads or outdoor pools, beaches, parking lots, natural or artificial ice rinks, and at sports fields, sports courts and ball diamonds.
Signs will be installed in selected parks before July 1 with information on:
Details about when and where alcohol can be consumed
Public health messaging
A reminder to take empty alcohol containers home
CTVNewsOttawa.ca reached out to Ottawa councillors on Friday to ask if they will designate a park in their ward for legal alcohol consumption.
Twelve councillors have said their wards will not be participating in the alcohol in parks pilot project.
Here is a look at where alcohol consumption will be allowed in parks this summer.
Great Lawn at Lansdowne
Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard says the Great Lawn at Lansdowne is the 'main' park in his ward for legal alcohol consumption under the pilot project.
Menard says he would also like to include the Brewer Park open sports fields for the pilot project.
Minto Park, McNabb Park
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says two parks have been selected for legal alcohol consumption in parks – Minto Park on Elgin Street and McNabb Park at Bronson Avenue and Gladstone Avenue.
Champlain Park
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said in a letter to constituents that Champlain Park will be recommended for the pilot project.
'Champlain Park strikes me as a low-stakes way to see how this will work. I'll say that I'm reasonably confident that permitting the consumption of alcohol in the park is unlikely to increase its occurrence. I'm quite certain that nearby residents are already enjoying alcoholic beverages responsibly in the park today,' Leiper said.
'I'm not particularly concerned that the park will become a destination for drinking. I've tried to imagine a scenario in which people make drinking the focus of an excursion to Champlain Park and simply can't.'
Queenswood Ridge Park
Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff says Queenswood Ridge Park has been selected for the alcohol in parks pilot project.
No alcohol in parks
Twelve councillors told CTV News Ottawa Friday morning they would not be recommending a park for the alcohol in parks pilot project.
The wards are Barrhaven West, Kanata North, Stittsville, Bay, Beacon Hill-Cyrville, Gloucester-Southgate, River, Alta Vista, Knoxdale-Merivale, Barrhaven East, Kanata South and Orléans South-Navan.
'River Ward will not be participating in the pilot. I will yield to my colleagues who wanted the pilot and will learn from it before any local park is proposed,' River Coun. Riley Brockington said in an email.
Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower said there was 'not much interest' from residents for a park to be selected for the pilot project.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Jessica Bradley said she would wait to see how it goes with the pilot project this summer before making any future decisions.
Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill said, 'based on the recommendation/advice from my community associations and residents, I opted not to participate in the pilot.'
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine told CTV News Ottawa, 'For the time being, and until we see what comes of this pilot project, I've decided not to add any parks in Ward 9 to the project. There's been absolutely no requests from Ward 9 residents in support of seeing local parks added.'
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