TORONTO COLUMNIST SLAMS OTTAWA AS 'ROTTING AT THE CORE'

Ottawa residents beware: you live in a crack-infested cesspool that
may very well be the most dangerous city on Earth. At least, that's
what one Toronto Sun writer believes.

In a column reprinted in the Ottawa Sun yesterday, columnist
Christina Blizzard recalls a recent visit to Ottawa that convinced
her the national capital is "rotting at the core." Never in her
extensive travels, she writes, has she seen drug dealers operating so
freely in the open: "At an intersection just a few blocks from
Canada's beautiful Parliament buildings, I saw dozens of drug deals
happening in broad daylight. I saw countless people sitting around
smoking crack."

According to Ottawa police, however, Ms. Blizzard might want to
schedule another visit before judging the drug activity on the city's
streets. "Sure, you'll see drug deals in the market," said Staff Sgt.
Gerry Sabourin. "But it's not happening on every corner every two
minutes. It's not that rampant."

While trying to enjoy dinner on the patio of a Byward Market
restaurant, Ms. Blizzard and her husband were "shocked" to be
interrupted by addicts begging for money. In her short visit, Ms.
Blizzard also noticed that Ottawa's addicts are not just "twitching
hookers" and down-and-out types: "we saw at least one well-dressed
preppy suburban-type kid in Dockers and loafers."

Even more worrisome to the people of Ottawa: Ms. Blizzard says the
city's streets are amongst the most dangerous in the world: "I've
visited other big cities -- New York; Boston; London, England, and
yet I can't think of another one in which I felt as unsafe as I did
walking around Ottawa's main intersections."

Things are so bad in the capital, in fact, that Ms. Blizzard "can't
imagine anyone wanting to spend more than one night in this place if
you didn't have to."