Ottawa has 82 needle drop box locations for proper disposal of used needles, such this one outside the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. Photo © Kevin Martine.

Reports of used needles being discarded on Ottawa streets and sidewalks have quadrupled in the last five years, according to an analysis of data obtained from the city through a municipal freedom-of-information request.

Records of calls from residents to the city’s 311 line from the start of 2013 to July 2019 show that complaints to the city about discarded needles on city streets have risen steadily from 46 in 2013 to 180 in 2018, with nearly 100 already in the first six months of this year.

This chart depicts the number of 311 calls city-wide each year about needles discarded onto city sidewalks and streets. The number of calls has been trending upwards in recent years.

Michael Ferguson, manager of Ottawa Public Health’s Health Hazard Response team, cautions that the numbers change from year to year, and that more 311 calls do not necessarily mean more needles are actually on the streets.

“In the middle of this opioid crisis, there’s been a lot more media attention and there’s been a lot more education, so people might be more aware of what they can do when they find a needle compared to five years ago,” he said.

Ferguson advises that anyone who sees a needle on the streets to either call Ottawa’s 311 line so city staff can pick it up, or else carefully follow the city’s needle guidelines by picking it up with tongs and placing it in a hard-sided container. The city usually tries to respond to 311 calls within an hour of the call.

Ferguson said discarded needles pose a variety of health hazards, but one of the most common injuries is stabbing from the sharp needle point.

“The immediate risk is someone getting a needle stick injury,” he said, advising anyone who has been injured by a needle to seek medical attention.

According to additional data published by Ottawa Public Health, roughly 1.7 million needles are used and collected in the city each year, the vast majority of which are disposed of safely.

“It’s usually somewhere around one per cent of needles that are improperly discarded,” Ferguson said.

While Ferguson says that people should not place used needles in the regular trash, the city does have 82 drop boxes across the city where residents can dispose of their needles safely. Residents can also bring needles to a household hazardous waste depot operated by the city.

A map depicting the locations of all 82 needle drop boxes in Ottawa. Map plotted by Kevin Martine. Data Source: Ottawa Public Health.

Ottawa Public Health data shows that over 950,000 needles were collected through the drop boxes last year. Most of the remaining 800,000 needles were collected through other government programs and partnerships, such as Ottawa’s publicly-run safe injections sites and needle exchanges.

The city also has a dedicated program to pro-actively collect discarded needles from the streets, called Needle Hunters. Through a partnership with Causeway Work Centre, a non-profit that helps the unemployed re-enter the workforce, the city hires people part-time to patrol the city for used needles. The program collected roughly 20,000 needles in 2018.

Rachel McKeen, a spokesperson for Causeway, says that many of the workers in the needle hunter program are either homeless or at risk of homelessness.

“It’s an opportunity for them to earn a steady income, and to feel pride in the work that they’re doing and to feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment,” McKeen said.

McKeen said there were about 40 needle hunters last year. They work two-hour shifts each day, including weekends.

While the majority of the 311 calls since 2013 came from downtown wards such as Rideau-Vanier and Somerset, calls came in from every ward in the city. Rideau-Vanier led with 267 calls between 2013 and 2018, followed by Somerset with 112.

At least two to three times a year Public Health Inspector walks in unannounced into a premise that handles food with the purpose of assisting to prevent and reduce foodborne illness.

Bound to do their job, inspectors can note any infractions during the inspection expecting food operators to correct violations immediately or even force business to shut down the food premises.

“Of course I get scared when they walk in,” said Anju Chopra when asked about the announced inspections.

“First we get scared but we have to confident with what we do,” she added. Chopra has been working as a supervisor at the 80 Rideau street Tim Hortons location for 9 years.

Infractions

Two types infractions are observed during inspections; ‘critical’ infraction, which often presents an immediate or potential health risk required to be corrected immediately, and; a ‘non-critical’ infraction which presents a minimal health risk, often required to be corrected before next inspection.

Clicking on the double arrow to the left of the map produces two tabs: one for a summary, the other for the legend.

(Map showing Ottawa’s Tim Hortons’ as ‘Critical’ in blue spots as True and ‘non-critical’ infractions in red spots as False. Source: Ottawa Public Health)

For Tim Hortons, between the years 2015 and 2019 they received 133 ‘critical’ infractions while 258 were ‘non-critical’ according to the data provided by City of Ottawa from Public Health Inspections.

(Map showing infractions received by Tim Hortons in Ottawa between 2015 and 2019. Source: Ottawa Public Health)

Overall, Tim Hortons has the highest number of infractions since 2015, with a total of 391 infractions reported by Ottawa Public Health.

The second food operator with high number of infractions is Subway with 321, followed by McDonalds with 249 infractions.

(Map showing inspected food operators with violations in Ottawa. Source: Ottawa Public Health)

“There is a significant number of Tim Hortons establishments,” said Blayr Kelly, a supervisor with Public Health Inspections.

“To some degree that would make sense just from a numbers perspective and the number of inspections that would occur in Tim Hortons versus another one-off establishment,” she added.

Despite having such high numbers, Tim Hortons number of inspections and categorized infractions over the years have significantly dropped since 2015.

In 2015, Tim Hortons restaurants had a total of 97 infractions but slightly increased in 2016 with 111 infractions just that year. In 2019, Tim Hortons received 25, a difference of 72 infractions within four years.

Change in Policy  

The significant drop could have largely been contributed by the change in policy of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations that was enforced on January 15, 2019.

Ottawa Public Health has reported that the fundamental changes to the regulations is licensing, preventive control and traceability.

Licensing allows food business owners to take certain actions through licensing such as taking responsive actions when non-compliant activities are found. Preventive Controls are protocols that must be met by all food businesses while traceability requires food operators to be able to trace how the food got to the customer and backward to the supplier.

Such change in regulations amongst others have set high standards in food safety says Martha Healey, founder of the Healey Law Office & Regulatory Consulting.

Even though there is so much at hand for food operators to be consistent with the regulations, Healey says that such regulations are needed to keep the public safe.

Healey also mentions the concerns food business owners have after receiving infractions is if they have done enough to make their food safe and if there is more they can do. “We want to work with the operators, owners and food owners,” said Kelly.

“It’s important that they have a strong understanding of the expectations that they have and what is needed of them to comply,” she added.

On the same matter, Chopra feels confident that their Tim Hortons is maintaining health and safety requirements, pointing out at the certificate they received after their last inspection on October 22.

Ottawa gas prices have risen faster than any other major city in the country since March. Photo courtesy of Elron6900.

By Kevin Martine

An analysis of Statistics Canada data shows that Ottawa gasoline prices have risen faster than any other major city in the country since the federal carbon tax was applied in April. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Ottawa rose 7¢ per litre to $1.18 between March and August, a 6.2 per cent increase over that time.

In much of the rest of the country where the carbon tax was not applied, prices fell, such as in Montreal, where the price dropped 1.0 per cent.

Prices also rose in other cities in Ontario after the carbon tax was applied, such as Toronto, where prices are up 2.3 per cent. The same is true in New Brunswick, as prices rose 4.7 per cent in Saint John. However, in cities in the western provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba where the carbon tax was imposed, prices actually fell slightly. The price in Regina for instance, dropped 2.0 per cent. Western oil prices also fell during that time.

The largest decline in the country was in Calgary, where prices dropped 10.0 per cent.

While some of Ottawa’s 7¢ price increase can be attributed to the federal carbon tax being applied to fuel in April, experts say that only adds about 4¢ per litre.

“There are three components to the price we pay at the pump,” said Jean-Thomas Bernard, a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa. The first Bernard said, is the price of oil, which makes up roughly 65¢, although it varies as the oil price changes. Then there are taxes, including provincial taxes as well as the carbon tax, and costs related to refining and distributing gasoline.

“So the carbon tax,” Bernard said, “is still relatively small compared to the changes in the price of oil.”

Bernard also noted that while gas prices may have risen faster over the past few months, prices in Ottawa are still well below those paid in Vancouver, where the average price was over $1.48, or more than 30¢ higher.

Morgan Gay, NDP candidate for Ottawa-South, said he supports the carbon tax even with the price increases.

“We need to stop looking at fossil fuels as the be all and end all because that’s not the way of the future,” Gay said.

Gay said the NDP plans to set up a government commission to regulate gas prices and help keep prices under control.

Other federal candidates did not respond to requests for comment. However, the Liberal government says the average household in Ontario can expect to receive roughly $300 in tax rebates. An analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Office released in April suggests most Ontarians will receive more back in rebates than they pay in higher gas prices.

The Conservatives have promised to repeal the carbon tax, and the Green Party says it will keep the carbon tax while also eliminating the separate system for industrial emitters.

The carbon tax is set to rise from $20 per tonne currently to $50 per tonne in 2022.