All posts by Shannon Milling

Graffiti complaint calls tripled in Barrhaven

Database assignment three
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Courtesy of the Kultur Burn blog
Courtesy of Deborah Landry’s Kultur Burn blog

Complaint calls about graffiti have tripled in the past year in Barrhaven, which has the potential to not only hurt a business’ appearance-but their wallet as well.

Prior to 2008 there were no graffiti-specific by-laws. There was a change in the regulation to prohibit any business owner to have graffiti on their building. If the owner’s space is vandalized and they fail to pay to remove it, they can be knocked with a fine.

Deborah Landry has studied graffiti in Ottawa for the past five years and is a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa. Landry says Ottawa’s approach is doing more harm than good. She said it does nothing to solve the issue of unauthorized art creation and can be costly to business owners.

Landry said a better solution would be for the city to set aside money for business owners in case they need vandalism removed.

“Looking at other cities and the way they deal with it, and looking at how the city of Ottawa has dealt with it in the past as well, [the best solution] is to set aside money [for the business owners].”

She said the city allegedly spends $3 million on graffiti removal annually, and painting over the area is also much cheaper.

The city of Ottawa set up the Mural Program to encourage legal street-art and reduce vandalism. This program allows artists to participate in large art projects around the city such as painting murals below under-passes.

Landry said she supports the projects that allow others to create on public space, but they do little to help the issue. “There is no evidence to suggest that these programs actually do the things they promise to do…I think it is more of an attempt for the city to try to find some common ground,” said Landry.

Background picture in the graphic is from the Kultur Burn blog
Background picture in the graphic is from the Kultur Burn blog.

Another issue with the city’s street art initiative is the murals don’t allow for text, only pictures. She explained that text is the basis for graffiti and stays true to the hip-hop culture in which it originated.

“They don’t want the aesthetic of graffiti anywhere near that,” said Landry. She explained there are also sometimes issues with bringing artists on board, because the programs don’t want to involve individuals with a history of working with graffiti.

Even when street-art is done illegally, she said the response to remove it is very different between text and pictures. Text is removed much quicker and is seen as more of an issue.

Landry said, “It is classist…and hip-hop graffiti is associated with a particular kind of root and I think that scares certain populations sometimes when they see that kind of artwork, but they don’t mind a mural with an octopus on it, for example.”

Mike Davis is a co-creator of Ottawa Urban Arts, which is a group that paints murals around Ottawa and is in coordination with Ottawa’s street-art initiative.

Prior to forming the group, Davis was a graffiti writer who gravitated towards the medium when he was a teenager because of its power for expression and self-identity. He used to participate in illegal art creation which led to unfortunate consequences like being arrested. When he started Ottawa Urban Arts, he wanted to give back to the community.

As for the issue in Barrhaven, Davis said it could all be because of a small handful of people. “It would probably be more like five people, and they would go out and hit up a whole bunch of spots,” said Davis.

Davis said there are levels of graffiti and street-art, which can range from tags, which is like a signature for that writer, to painted words, or pictures.

He said the city currently has two legal graffiti walls and in his opinion, there are never enough.

Davis believes having more legal wall space available for artists to create can help eliminate illegal art production.

“Maybe Barrhaven could really use a wall right now, you know? That would be a good idea, because these kids are definitely looking for somewhere to paint,” said Davis.

Rob is the manager of The Source in the Chapman Mills complex in Barrhaven. He thinks that graffiti can give a store a negative image, unless it happens to be a visually impressive art piece. If a store is covered in graffiti, “It looks like you don’t maintain your business and that is not the image you want … but if somebody left like, a nice mural, then sure, ya, I’m all for it,” he said.

The issue with the by-law change is that all graffiti must be removed, regardless if the owner likes the look and thinks it adds flare to their establishment.

Davis said it is a very gratifying experience doing art in an accepted atmosphere. “If you can do it legally, it’s a great reward. Communities love murals.”

 

Rideau-Vanier assault crimes on the rise

Database assignment two
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Assault rates (including sexual assault) appear to be on the rise in the Rideau-Vanier ward, rising 6.2 per cent between the year 2012 and 2013, while the solvency rate has gone down 8.2 per cent, according to Ottawa Police crime data.

Six candidates are currently running to be elected as the councillor for the ward. The elections are this Monday, Oct. 27.

The ward itself is comprised of various areas such as the downtown Byward Market, Sandy Hill, Lowertown and Vanier. These areas are prime spots for tourists, students, and partiers.

Close to the bar scene in the Market lies shelters and public housing.

In 2013, the second highest ward with assault crimes was Somerset. Even still, the Rideau-Vanier statistics were 56.8 per cent higher.


Mathieu Fleury, the current councillor for the area who is once again running for office, explained that the atmosphere attracts troublesome behaviour. Especially at night in the party scene where alcohol and drug use are apparent, and people are exchanging those things on the street it becomes “an area that is not friendly for most.”

Fleury said there are a number of things taking place and being discussed to keep the area safe. This includes police on foot patrol-where the police walk around and monitor problematic areas, security meetings with local businesses, along with changing dark and overgrown environments to lighten and open them up.

From his twitter page @MathieuFleury
From his twitter page @MathieuFleury

Linked with assault crimes is sexual assault, which is a problem affecting everyone, but disproportionately women.

Erin Leigh is the executive director of the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women who offered an interesting perspective on the validity of assault crime statistics and what it means for women.

“It’s really hard to gauge from stats especially knowing 90 per cent of women who experience sexual assault won’t bring it to the police.”

What often happens she said is “victim blaming” where one can disregard the attacker’s actions and blame it on the victim, for not taking precautions. This is an unfortunate and false viewpoint that puts victims in an even worse situation.

Leigh said that numbers in assault crime rates fluctuating can either mean people are feeling more forward and reporting more, or more is happening-but it’s hard to tell.

There are a number of resources in Ottawa for women and people experiencing sexual assault, including French and English 24 hour crisis lines and services, such as Le CALACS francophone d’Ottawa and the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa.

The OCTEVAW has a variety of programs in place to reeducate society and help the issue.

One program is called “I Can MANifest Change.” This is a workshop to train men to recognize violence, whether it is verbal or physical towards women. With this knowledge, they are encouraged to challenge their peers in recognizing those things as well as not tolerating them. This workshop also challenges gender roles and “what it means to be a man.”

Leigh said that people can’t necessarily protect themselves from assault, but they can take measures to empower themselves, such as self-defence training.

A coordinator from Crime Stoppers, a volunteer network that takes tips from strangers to help police solve crimes, who wished to remain unnamed, said that crime happens in every ward in every community.

“Crime doesn’t discriminate,” he said, “All it takes is one or two people to cause more problems in that community.”

He said that social housing and drug pushing can be factors in making a neighbourhood more dangerous. Drug issues can bring out the negative elements in a community, but once certain people are removed, the problem might disappear, he explained. “The cause of it is a bad apple in the neighbourhood.”

The issues surrounding the Rideau-Vanier ward continue to be discussed, as many individuals are working hard to protect the people living in and visiting it.

Fleury said the issue is deep and complex. “The city needs to question themselves about what they mean to make the community safer…What is the root of the problem, and why are people coming here to commit crimes in the first place?”

Canada’s fur industry is more keen than green

Database assignment one
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China’s new economic class has made them the biggest fur importer in the world, and increasingly Canada’s biggest export, much to the dismay of animal rights activists, environmentalists and fur-bearing creatures.

Canadian fur exports have almost tripled from 2009 to 2013. China in particular has an increasing demand for the product, which is reflected in a 392 per cent surge from the same time period.

From the National Post
Bobcat furs hanging at the Fur Harvesters Auction from the National Post.

Alan Herscovici, the executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada, explains the growth in Chinese imports of Canadian fur happens for two reasons. The first being that China has a booming middle and upper class, which creates a market for traditional luxury products. They are now the largest buyer of fur internationally. The second reason is their lower cost of labour. In many cases, raw fur is imported in China, manufactured into fur products, redistributed and re-exported.

Adrian Nelson is the director of communications from the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals. This is a non-profit organization based out of Vancouver. They focus on protecting animals used for fur in Canada. He explains that when fur products are re-imported back to Canada, they return mostly as accessories on clothing. “Most comes back as fur trim,” he says, “Such as coyotes on collars and rabbits on boots.”

According to the Fur Council of Canada, “400 top designer collections” used fur in 2013.

The Fur Institute of Canada states that Canada’s fur trade contributes more than $800 million to the economy yearly. They report 85 per cent of the fur obtained in the global fur trade comes from domesticated and farmed sources which mostly focus on mink and fox furs.  The most important fur markets are China, Hong Kong, Russia, Ukraine, the US and various European countries such as Greece, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK.

The institute says trapping in Canada happens in every municipality and the most common targets are muskrat, beaver, marten and even squirrel and raccoon.

Both fur advocacy groups boast humane trapping methods and environmental sustainability.

Both groups promote the “Fur is Green” website created by the Fur Council which explains that fur is a renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and environmentally friendly product.

The APFA says that each year 2.5 million animals are raised for fur in fur farms and 700,000 animals are trapped annually in Canada.

Nelson explains there are numerous reasons why fur is not a “green” resource. “Anytime you are taking animals out of an ecosystem you are really making things off balance…we really get yo-yo effect.” This happens when part of an animal population is lost, there can be a surplus of other animals they would have usually preyed on.

A major environmental danger of fur trapping is the manure run-off from the farms, which led to water contamination in Nova Scotia over the past few years.

“Over half of the mink farms in Canada are in Nova Scotia,” says Herscovici.

In 2011, the David Suzuki Foundation took action to expose and demand regulation for mink farming in Nova Scotia. This was because for years the manure, carcasses and waste feed seeped into local waterways – increasingly polluting them. This created blue-green algae in the water, which made it dangerous to animals and humans.

Another environmental factor is the list of toxic chemicals used in fur production, which includes formaldehyde, chromium and naphthalene that are bad for the environment and can be considered carcinogenic to humans.

“It’s very interesting how something can be very long lasting and compostable at the same time…we’re talking about garments that have been chemically processed to not rot away,” says Nelson.

As for the fur boom, it’s uncertain if the trend will continue.

“The fur industry loves to say that it’s making a big comeback because prices are rising. It’s a fashion, and it will fade like any other fashion.”