LETTER

A fine for crossing a city park? Hello!

 

My son works in a restaurant in Ottawa and often takes the last bus to Aylmer. I say “often” because often the buses stop running before restaurant/bar workers end their shifts. That is another issue, though.

Thanks to the poor late-night STO service, he more often has to walk from the Galeries Aylmer.

The other night, as he walked through Woods Park, he was approached by someone saying they were from the parks department and that there is no access to the park at night; he was warned that next time he would face a $200 fine.

I accept that the city may not want people hanging around the park in the middle of the night. But it is easy to tell when someone is simply walking across the park.

To keep to the (mostly unlit) streets at night is not only dangerous but quite a bit longer to get home, especially at the end of a long shift on your feet.

I add that my wife and I often walk through the park to go to Principale to enjoy the bars and restaurants and are not pleased with having to go all the way around -- or be fined.

Is it true that people are banned from walking across parks after they close? When do our parks close? I do not see anything about hours in the Parks and Green Areas page on the website.

If crossing the park is banned, what can we do to get that changed, as it is completely unreasonable?

Bob McDougall
Aylmer

Editor replies: this is an excellent question to raise to the candidates for our next city council, at the October 12 debate.