Canada Day fireworks fumble | Letters to the Editor

The Ottawa Citizen's Letters to the Editor, Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Many thanks to city councillors for flood response Each of them has provided detailed information which must be of great use to citizens who have computers and can access the information provided about dealing with waste, discarded belongings and building materials, who to contact for help. I hope people with this information will take the time to print it out and share with their neighbours who might not have access to these notifications so they can refer to the information as each situation of this evolving problem arises, like help from city resources, insurance, other contacts.

Some elders do not have cell phones or computers so depend on the written word to refer to if their families want to help them. Councillors Sean Devine, Laine Johnson and Theresa Kavanagh deserve our collective thanks for all the hard work they are doing for their residents. Carolyn Herbert, Nepean Is ageism a problem for Ottawa Police?

As presented in the OPS’s own report, it might tend to look that way on the surface, but there’s a flaw in the logic. The report tells us that the OPS responded to 227,000 “calls for service” in 2025, but it doesn’t tell us how many individuals they interacted with during those calls, nor does it provide a breakdown, by racial group, of the people with whom they interacted. Without such information, that any certain group makes up a larger proportion of the total number of people who were subjected to the OPS’s use of force than their share of the total population, doesn’t lead to a finding that OPS’s application of the use of force is disproportional due to an ingrained bias against that particular group.

The same report that Mr. Adam is referring to also tells that 36.6% of the total number of people who were subjected to the use of force in 2025 were between 25 and 34 years of age. Meanwhile, 2021 census data showed that people of that age group make up only 14% of Ottawa’s total population, so that age cohort seems be more than twice as likely to be subjected to the use of force by police than their share of the population. Does that mean the OPS has a problem with “age-ism”?

It’s questionable. Bruce Reid, Nepean Ottawa again lives up to its reputation Ottawa again lives up to its reputation as the City that Fun Forgot. No suggestion of setting the fireworks off as a rescheduling to say the Friday or Saturday following Canada Day.

And where is our Night Mayor in all this?? Gotta love the reactions quoted by your intrepid newspaper, though: eg, notifying residents of the existence of these fireworks would create an “event surrounding an event”. In other words, helping taxpayers who might want to enjoy the spectacle.

Ed Fine, Ottawa Canada Day fireworks fumble Do you have an opinion or idea you want to share with thousands of smart Ottawa Citizen readers? Good news, you can write to us too, at letters@ottawacitizen.com Here are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind: How to submit an Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor