CHIEF DISPUTES DRUG CENTRE LOCALE CONCERNS

White Says Baycrest Drive Area Unfairly Labelled High-Risk Community

Ottawa police Chief Vern White, who is leading a $6-million
fundraising campaign for a new youth drug-treatment centre, says he
is dismayed by comments that unfairly label a proposed site for the
facility as being in a crime-infested neighbourhood.

Contrary to popular perception, the area surrounding Baycrest Drive,
near Walkley and Heron roads, does not have higher-than-average rates
of drug-related crime compared to other parts of the city, said White.

"We have (marijuana) grow operations in Barrhaven, we have drug
dealing in every other community in the city. There's no place that's
exempt from this," the chief said in an interview Thursday. "And I
can tell you right now, that community is not our highest-risk
community in this city."

The two treatment agencies that would work together to staff the
city's first residential program for young addicts have described the
Baycrest location as a "toxic environment" because of its proximity
to neighbourhoods with a reputation for crime.

The proposed site is close to Ledbury-Banff, an area dominated by
social housing and which, only a few years ago, was one of the city's
most notorious neighourhoods for gangs, guns, drugs and poverty.

The Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre and the Alwood Treatment Centre
in Carleton Place prefer a residential facility in a rural setting,
which, they say, helps shield addicts from negative influences,
allowing them to focus on rehabilitation.

But White said recent efforts to clean up the south Ottawa
neighbourhood have resulted in lower levels of youth crime. Surveys
suggest residents feel safer, youths are doing better in school and
people are healthier than they were four years ago.

The approach, called No Community Left Behind, involves stepping up
police patrols and mobilizing residents to organize health,
recreation, education and employment programs.

According to Ottawa police statistics, the rate of violent crime and
theft in the area is within the citywide average.

"In reference to some comments that have been made about it (the
neighbourhood), I think they're unfair," said White. "It's not an
environment that I concern myself with. I have many other communities
that I consider much higher risk than Baycrest."

Even so, White said he favours a more secluded site for the treatment
centre, namely a 130-acre property in West Carleton owned by the
Royal Ottawa Mental Health Group.

That site has the benefit of having served as a former drug-treatment
centre for adults and is already zoned for that purpose. As a result,
there would likely be little public objection to having the centre in
that location, White said.

The West Carleton site was considered a contender, but was eventually
deemed unaffordable and unrealistic if the centre was to get off the
ground by December.

Instead, the United Way, charged with finding a site and raising
money to pay for it, identified the Baycrest site as an alternative,
prompting protests from the Dave Smith Centre and Alwood.

In a last-ditch effort to secure an ideal site for the new treatment
centre, the region's health-planning agency will attempt to broker a
deal for the Kanata property with the Royal Ottawa.

If a deal can't be reached by early next week, the Champlain Local
Health Integration Network, which has the final say over where the
treatment centre should be, will have no choice but to approve the
purchase of the Baycrest property. A conditional offer on the
property expires on Oct. 2.

Health officials are concerned about unnecessary delays in getting
the program going, given that 490 people are already on the waiting
list. They are also worried about losing $2.4 million in annual
provincial funding set aside for the centre once it opens.

White said if needed, he's willing to meet with Royal Ottawa
officials to help reach a deal.

"There's nobody I won't meet with when it comes to this. It's, I
think, that big of an issue for us in our community."