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."