AN IDEA TO HELP YOUNG ADDICTS

It takes someone as innovative as restaurateur and community activist
Dave Smith to recognize a way to help solve a nagging problem in this
city.

That's why Mr. Smith is a worthy recipient of an honorary degree from
Carleton University this week for his selfless charity work.

Mr. Smith has established the David Smith Centre for youth drug and
alcohol treatment. From his business vantage on Rideau Street, he
knows that social problems can pop up like toadstools after a rain.
Mr. Smith also understands that social woes are not solved by
redevelopment. That just moves them elsewhere.

We are unlikely to solve all the social and drug difficulties on
Rideau Street soon, if ever, but with Mr. Smith there, we will
alleviate some, case by case.

All of this discussion is by way of saying that Mr. Smith's suggestion
to Mayor Bob Chiarelli to buy the former Rideau Correctional Centre in
Burritts Rapids and create a residential drug-treatment centre for
troubled youths is a good one.

At present, the closest such treatment centre is in Thunder Bay, just
too far away.

With such a centre in this region, we will also develop a community of
expertise in treating drug addiction -- an expertise that,
unfortunately, looks as if it will be necessary for years to come.

The mayor has proposed the purchase of the buildings and of 800 acres
of land from the province along the Rideau River at the
bargain-basement price of $1.3 million. Land not used for a rehab
centre would remain greenspace.

Renovations can be done at a reasonable cost, Mr. Chiarelli said, with
the centre to serve those 16 and younger.

One would hope the city, with its public-health mandate, would offer
some money for operating costs as well as there being some funding
from foundations and the private sector. The province should also
contribute to these operating expenses.

Mr. Chiarelli and the city health committee should be reasonably sure
that operating funding from those three sources can be put in place
before moving forward.

There is a need for this centre. The Community Network says there are
30,000 addicts in Ottawa, and only 12 per cent are receiving treatment.

For all the good work Mr. Smith has done, this community would have
trouble thanking him enough.

But if we get a centre with 100 to 200 beds available in a few years
as Mr. Smith has suggested, and rehabilitated youngsters leaving it,
Ottawa will have yet another reason to show the great restaurateur
gratitude.

And just maybe a few of those graduates will have come from Rideau
Street and the problems of that troubled road will be reduced.