COLUMN WAS A CAPITAL OFFENCE

Oh, my. It seems I touched a raw nerve in Ottawa a couple of weeks
ago when I suggested they had a -- how shall I put it? -- okay,
they've got a drug problem.

TV and radio stations there picked up on it and took polls to see if
readers agreed with my assessment. Most of those who called in said I
was right.

My e-mail filled up with comments -- both for and against my view.

Truth be told, some people were very angry and thought I shouldn't be
writing about their city. One person told me to "shut my yap and go
back to Toronto."

Dozens and dozens of people wrote to tell me that the situation is
far worse in Vancouver. As if that somehow excuses it. Ottawa's got a
really bad problem with crack cocaine being dealt openly. But
Vancouver has a problem too -- so that makes it okay?

And, as I knew they would, people pointed out that Toronto has its
own problems. Yes, we have a gun problem here. Four people were shot
to death in Toronto last weekend. I have written endlessly about this
city's gun violence. That's what I do. I write about things that need
to change. If society sweeps these issue under the rug, nothing will
ever get done.

Just because Toronto or Vancouver has one problem, it doesn't mean
that I can't write about another problem in the nation's capital.
Three wrongs don't make a right.

As for going back to Toronto, well, whether you like it or not,
Ottawa is my city. It is the national capital. The cradle of
government in this country. It's where I go if I want to see my MP at work.

Where do we send our children when we want them to understand the
democratic underpinnings that keep this country great? We pack them
in buses and send them off on school trips to Ottawa.

Like it or not, fellas, your city is the guardian of every
institution we hold dear: The Supreme Court of Canada. The Parliament
Buildings. The Peace Tower.

When we want our kids to pay tribute to our war dead at the national
war memorial, that's where we send them. If we want them to watch
national debate in Parliament, they go to Ottawa. If they want to go
the War Museum, the National Gallery -- all those great institutions
that are the very essence of what it means to be Canadian -- they go
Ottawa. And I don't think we want our kids to see drug deals going
down right across from Parliament Hill.

Some people were insulted by my column. They think I don't like their
city. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I love Ottawa. It is one of the most beautiful and elegant cities in
the world. What better way to spend a hot summer evening than sitting
out on a patio having dinner in one of those superb restaurants in
the Byward Market? Yet I had to fight off panhandling drug addicts
clearly desperate for quick cash for their next fix.

I got countless e-mails from people who agreed with me. Those who
work in the National Defence Building seem to be under siege by crack
addicts. I got numerous e-mails from them. I also heard from visitors
from overseas who had been posted in Ottawa and who had been shocked
by the open drug dealing in that city.

It seems my column hit with a bit of a thud because it came hard on
the heels of the city canning a crack pipe program they'd been
funding. Crack pipes? For pity's sake! Crack pots, more like. They
make Toronto's loonies look moderate by comparison.

Of course, some people said I'm the one with the problem. Apparently,
by their logic, we should just hand over our capital city to junkies
and crack addicts because, well, that's the Ottawa way, apparently.

I don't think so. By far the majority of responses came from
concerned citizens who want to reclaim their city from the downhill
trend they have seen. That's a good thing. Because everyone knows the
first step to getting off drugs is admitting you have a problem.