Dozens of calls about alcohol in Ottawa parks in 2024, Bylaw Services says
Alcohol could be allowed in some Ottawa parks this summer
As the City of Ottawa looks at allowing parkgoers to enjoy alcoholic beverages in certain areas of parks this summer, new data shows Bylaw Services officers responded to dozens of calls for open alcohol and drinking in parks last year.
An update to the Parks and Facilities Bylaw, to be discussed at the Community Services Committee meeting next Tuesday, recommends allowing alcohol consumption in designated areas of parks selected by councillors.
Under the proposed rules, people would only be allowed to drink alcohol in parks between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. and alcohol would be prohibited within five metres of beaches, splash pads, playground equipment and sports fields and ball diamonds.
The current bylaw prohibits alcoholic beverages in a park, except at events with a park rental permit and a special occasion permit.
Bylaw Services Director Roger Chapman tells CTV News Ottawa the city received 42 calls for open alcohol and drinking in parks in 2024.
'As a result of these calls, 10 tickets were issued under the Parks and Facilities Bylaw,' Chapman said.
Four tickets were issued for consuming alcohol in parks in 2022, while five charges were issued drinking alcohol/open liquor in parks in 2023.
The fine for open alcohol and drinking in parks is $260 per offence.
The Ottawa Police Service and Ottawa Public Health have raised health, safety and security concerns about allowing alcohol consumption in parks. Chief Eric Stubbs told the city that 'adequate bylaw enforcement presence and clear guidelines for managing alcohol consumption' in parks would be required.
Staff are recommending allowing alcohol consumption in designated areas of parks, as determined by the ward councillor, in consultation with the general manager of Public Works. The report does provide two potential options for allowing alcohol consumption in parks:
Option 1 : Allow the councillor in each ward to work with their communities to decide on designating a park, or not, to permit personal consumption of alcohol.
: Allow the councillor in each ward to work with their communities to decide on designating a park, or not, to permit personal consumption of alcohol. Option 2: Implement a phased approach, whereby the Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department general manager would, in consultation with the local ward councillor, select 'up to one park per ward' to authorize personal consumption of alcohol from July 1 to Oct. 31.
The proposed rules include:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
34 minutes ago
- CBC
Widow takes on CIBC after husband's $15K pension sent to stranger's account
Social Sharing When longtime Edmonton lawyer and retired family court judge James Koshman died last fall, his family never imagined a simple transfer of his survivor's pension benefit to his widow would go so wrong. But soon after the $15,000 survivor benefit was issued, the money was gone — deposited into a stranger's account. CIBC blamed the Koshmans, saying they used the wrong transit number — a five-digit code that directs deposits to specific bank branches. The family was floored. They say that number came directly from a CIBC employee — confirmed during a call to the local branch. Got a story you want investigated? Contact Rosa and the Go Public team at gopublic@ The Koshmans later discovered CIBC had sent crucial instructions about when to use the transit number, but it went to James's email account — weeks after he died. Another serious blunder, the family says. WATCH | Bank blames family after deposit goes to a stranger: Widow takes on CIBC after pension transfer sent to stranger | Go Public 6 hours ago Duration 2:14 A grieving Edmonton woman got a nasty surprise when CIBC put her deceased husband's pension transfer into someone else's account — and then blamed the family. CBC's Go Public team looked into what went wrong and the limits of Canada's banking complaint system. "There's something very wrong about what's going on," said the couple's son, Jason Koshman, who helped his mother apply for the benefit. The money should have been moved from Alberta Pensions Services Corporation to one of the Koshmans' CIBC accounts. CIBC told the Koshmans it could only recover $3,200 of the misdirected funds — and Yvette Koshman, James' widow, would have to swallow the nearly $12,000 loss. What followed was months of back and forth with the bank — until CIBC told the family there was nothing more it could do. Consumer advocate Duff Conacher, co-founder of the non profit consumer advocacy organization Democracy Watch, says the case reveals troubling gaps in bank accountability — and cracks in Canada's system for handling complaints. "The marketplace is completely out of balance, tilted totally in favour of the powerful banks who have all the money," he said, "and totally against the customers who are on their own, frustrated, having lost money." In an email to Go Public, CIBC says its process for handling complaints is clear and meets all the requirements for financial institutions in Canada. See CIBC's full response to Go Public Key email sent to deceased man This all started because the branch where James Koshman had banked for decades was in the process of closing. All accounts were being automatically transferred to another location with a different transit number. The Koshman's say weeks after they called CIBC and were given the transit number, the bank sent an email explaining that number shouldn't be used until after Nov. 21. But because the message was sent to James Koshman's email account — after he died — his family says they didn't see it until it was too late. The paperwork had already been filed. "They know he's passed away. They still sent him emails," said Jason. Frustrated and out thousands of dollars, the Koshmans tried to resolve things through CIBC's official complaints process — first with CIBC's main customer service department, then escalating to the bank's Client Complaint Appeals Office. The family got the same response from both: The wrong transit number had been used, only a fraction of the funds could be recovered, and there was nothing more the bank could do. "I just don't think it's right or it's fair that CIBC can just do what they want," said Yvette Koshman. Banking watchdog can't force banks to pay The family then escalated the issue to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), which opened an investigation. CIBC reversed its decision and reimbursed the Koshmans in full — but only after Go Public reached out to the bank. OBSI says that, generally, when a problem is resolved before an investigation is complete, it closes the file. Going to the media was the right move, says Conacher, because even if OBSI had ruled in the family's favour, the federal watchdog has no power to force banks to pay. OBSI can review complaints but can't force banks to follow its recommendations — something the Liberals promised to fix during the 2021 election. Years later, it still hasn't happened. "It's completely negligent that no federal government, no federal finance minister has done anything to correct this over the past decades," said Conacher. It seems unlikely the Finance Ministry will change that. In an email to Go Public, it said only that it had recently introduced "guardrails to encourage banks" to follow OBSI's recommendations. When asked why it twice denied the Koshman's compensation, only to reverse course and compensate the family after Go Public's inquiries. CIBC said, "Given the unique circumstances, and after further review, we've decided to reimburse our client for the remaining amount." No answers on missing money The Koshmans are also frustrated that it appears a stranger was able to keep money that clearly didn't belong to them. "It's a fraud," said Yvette. Jason says the fact that CIBC recovered some of the missing money suggests the bank knows who received it. But when he asked what steps were taken to hold that person accountable, he said CIBC refused to say, citing privacy laws. "The bank should be compensating the people whose money was lost and then pursuing the people who… took the money out of the account," Jason said. Go Public asked CIBC what steps it took to recover the missing money. The bank didn't answer that question, but confirmed it has since apologized and fully reimbursed the Koshmans. Jason says they're grateful — but worries about others in similar situations who may not be so lucky. "My family is fortunate," he said. "But what if this was a widow relying on that money to pay rent? To eat? Banks need to be held accountable. And this shouldn't be allowed to happen to anyone else."
CBC
34 minutes ago
- CBC
Toronto man still allowed to employ staff despite owing more than $1M in wages, fines
Social Sharing Ontario's Ministry of Labour published a news release in late May alerting the public that a Toronto businessman and his private school were fined $410,000 for failing to comply with orders to pay wages. At the time, those fines were already two weeks past due with the courts. Anchuan Jiang and his company Ontario International College were convicted under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) in March for not paying nearly $185,000 in wages owed to 14 employees as ordered. On top of the fines, there was also a 25 per cent victim surcharge. Both were supposed to be paid in Toronto's provincial offences court by May 12. But they weren't. As of last week, Jiang hadn't paid a cent of the $580,730 in fines and surcharges, according to Toronto's court services division. It's a familiar story: Jiang has been convicted before. Now, his case has employment lawyers calling for new enforcement tools to ensure workers get paid and new employees aren't victimized. Previous company, same problem Four years ago, Jiang and his previous company, Norstar Times, were fined $100,000 for failing to pay more than $320,000 in wages as ordered. Those earlier fines, which total $141,610 with the victim surcharge, still haven't been paid either. CBC Toronto first reported on wage theft claims involving Jiang seven years ago when former employees reached out with stories of waiting years to be paid. Most of them were international students who'd recently graduated or other newcomers working their first job in Canada. Despite the province's enforcement efforts since then, a CBC investigation found that Jiang still owes up to $952,000 in wages and more than $732,000 in overdue and unpaid fines. Jiang did not respond to requests for comment for this story. New enforcement tools needed Employment lawyers say Jiang's case highlights the limitations of Ontario's enforcement system for wage theft and why new tools are needed to stop employers from continuing to run a business — and potentially victimize more workers — if they haven't paid outstanding wages and fines. "It's very telling that this employer has previous convictions and was able to start a new business and do the same thing all over again," said Ella Bedard, staff lawyer at the Workers' Action Centre, which helps low-income workers solve workplace problems. "There needs to be consequences for employers who don't pay, that aren't just slapping more fines on top of money owed." Ontario's Ministry of Finance handles collections of orders to pay wages on behalf of the Ministry of Labour if they're not paid within 30 days. CBC Toronto asked the Ministry of Finance how much money Jiang and his companies still owe in unpaid wages. In an emailed statement, spokesperson Scott Blodgett said the ministry can't discuss specific cases or "say anything that may breach confidential taxpayer information." Public records, however, offer some insight into the ministry's recovery efforts. Writs add up to $952,000 in debt There are 13 active writs of execution against Jiang, and one against Ontario International College, registered by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the labour ministry between 2018 and 2024. All together they total more than $952,000 in debt. Writs can be used to enforce debts by having a sheriff seize and sell a debtor's assets to pay off what they owe. While it doesn't appear the finance ministry has tried to seize and sell Jiang's fully-detached Toronto home, it has placed a lien of more than $300,000 on the house, according to Ontario lien records. Last year Bedard says Workers' Action Centre helped recover $250,000 in unpaid wages for workers across the Greater Toronto Area, but that's "just a drop in the bucket" of the wage theft claims brought to the organization. "If the case ends up going to the Ministry of Finance, we know that it becomes very unlikely that they're going to get their money — and so we try to prepare workers for that," she said. In its statement, the finance ministry said it makes every effort to recover amounts owed to workers under the ESA. $60M in unpaid wages in Ontario Despite those efforts, internal government records obtained by CBC through a freedom of information request last year show that of the nearly $80 million in unpaid wages owed to Ontario workers between the 2017-2018 fiscal year and July 2024, almost $60 million remained unpaid last summer. "That is a huge number," said Joanna Mullen, an employment lawyer with Waterloo Region Community Legal Services. "It certainly demonstrates that the efforts to date, the tools that are at the disposal of the government, are insufficient." Mullen made submissions on changes to ESA enforcement at the Ontario legislature last fall. She told the standing committee on finance and economic affairs that she supported proposed amendments to increase fines in Bill 190, but argued the change wouldn't make a difference for some employers. "What we need you to be doing is to change the law to allow the ministry to go in and say 'stop, you're done. You can't have employees anymore. You can't operate a business in the manner that you have been,''' Mullen said she told the committee. Strip employer's business licenses Practically, the employment lawyer says that could be done by stripping an employer's business license and banning them from applying for a new one, or taking away other licenses like a liquor or driver's license. A similar enforcement mechanism already exists for occupational health and safety, according to Bedard. "If you're an employer who repeatedly causes serious, life-threatening injuries on your work sites, you at some point aren't allowed to operate a business anymore,' she said. "Why hasn't that happened to this individual? It's not something that currently the Ministry of Labour has power to do, but it seems like a consequence that would make sense for such egregious cases." Bill 190 passed without any of Mullen's suggested amendments in late October. CBC Toronto asked the Ministry of Labour whether it plans to implement new enforcement tools like a licensing regime for employers or the ability to strip non-compliant employers of other licences they need to operate their business. The labour ministry did not provide a response before deadline for this story.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
2 killed in Kawartha Lakes boating accident: OPP
Two men are dead following a boating accident on Sturgeon lake on June 8. (OPP photo) Two men are dead following a boating accident in the Kawartha Lakes region on Sunday afternoon. The incident happened on Sturgeon Lake, which is roughly 155 kilometres northeast of Toronto. Emergency responders were called to that area shortly after 3 p.m. after receiving reports of a canoe carrying three males that had capsized. In a news release, the OPP's Kawartha Lakes Detachment said one of the males was able to make his way to the shore, however two others were 'unable to remain afloat and succumbed to their injuries.' They added that there were no life jackets in the boat. The local OPP, including its Marine Unit, along with City of Kawartha Lakes Fire and EMS, and the OPP's Aviation team were involved in the lifesaving and recovery efforts. 'With capsized vessels and falling overboard the top contributing factors in boating deaths every year, a significant number of lives stand to be saved if boaters, personal watercraft users and paddlers wore a lifejacket or personal floatation device,' said the OPP, which patrols more than 110,000 square kilometres of Ontario's waterways.
