Dalhousie Community Association

 The Dalhousie Community Association met on April 1st to discuss items of interest to those living on the west side of centretown. Next meeting May 6th. The parole office proposed for 1010 Somerset Street was a key item. Everyone was discontented by the way the events unfolded. The events either galvanized the community, bringing it together to fight off disaster from those who view our neighborhood as a social dumping ground; or it polarized the community unnecessarily, with the result that residents were unfairly castigated for being intolerant. The association decided to write a letter to Correctional Services and the Minister stating that we supported having a parole office Somerset Ward, and that we felt the best location would be on the transitway in the least residential area possible, ie the downtown core. The passport office and other government agencies operate public access services in the core from shopping-mall-like environments at 240 Sparks and L’Esplanade Laurier...

  Present: Eric Darwin, Ida Henderson, Doug Gabelmann, Archie Campbell, David Seaborn, Phil Robinson, Emily Watkins, Michael Hatfield, Zsofia Orosz Guest: Diane Holmes, Grace Xim (Chinatown BIA), C. Scaller, Jessica Sellars, John Stewart, Sean Darcy, Charles Akben-Marchand Approval of agenda Ad to agenda CAFES documents' approval. Approval of minutes of March 4 Everyone received the comments from Charles - the minutes will be amended to indicate that the discussion about the anti-SCAN meeting was not offered as a detailed or official report of that meeting. A typo also has to be corrected in the councillor's report. Moved by David, seconded by Phil. Parole Office The possibility of the Ottawa Parole Office's move to 1010 Somerset was first raised in mid-March. There was a strong community outcry against the imperfect consultation process – the DCA sent in a letter. A public meeting on Monday, March 30 was attended by about 200 people. In light of the oppositi...