Though a man was stabbed in Nepean’s Craig Henry Park on July 23 when intervening in an argument between young girls, Deidre Guy isn’t worried about her neighbourhood’s safety.
What concerns the Craig Henry resident most after the incident is the Islamophobia that has come out of it.
“I know that, through the association and my exposure to this circumstance, people are looking for some place to lay blame. That is a huge factor playing into this,” said Guy, who is also vice-president of the Craig Henry Community Association.
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Sean Devine is concerned about those sentiments, too.
“People take what are the actions of a relatively small number of individuals from within a community and then put blame or point fingers at an entire community,” said the councillor, adding there had been a “diverse array of public safety concerns and violent incidents in this neighbourhood for a number of years.”
As such, Devine has called for an increased police presence in the Craig Henry and Manordale neighbourhoods, which he said are among the most concerning to him.
Guy and other neighbours say more can be done to combat hate in the area — before it takes place.
Facebook posts
After the stabbing, Devine made several posts on Facebook with updates on the situation.
In screenshots of comments on the posts that were obtained by the Ottawa Citizen — some of them have been deleted — several Facebook users blamed Muslims and newcomers to the area for the recent violence.
Devine said he turned off comments on his July 25, 26 and 28 posts for several reasons.
“I was seeing a lot of anti-immigrant comments. I was also seeing tons of incorrect information. I was also seeing people posting names and information about those involved,” he said.
Natasha Mott, a resident of the area, estimated that more than 25 per cent of the comments on Devine’s various posts “would bring religion into it.”
“Residents have every right to be frustrated about violence in their community, especially when they feel that a pattern of incidents has not received an adequate response,” Devine said. “That frustration can turn into cynicism and anger, which can lead to the kind of cultural scapegoating I was seeing online, where the actions of a few individuals become unfair judgments about entire groups.”
But Mott said she had also seen Islamophobia expressed in the community, not specifically related to the July 23 incident, through her involvement with the Manordale-Woodvale Community Association.
Guy agreed. “It’s sad that it has come to this, but it’s not something that’s just happened out of the blue.”
Councillor wants more police
After the recent incident, Devine called for an increased police presence in the Craig Henry and Manordale neighbourhoods.
He said the Ottawa Police Service had “fallen short” on this, telling him a lack of resources had made this request difficult to implement.
“Ottawa police officers have responded to reported incidents and continue to investigate matters brought to our attention. We remain engaged with residents, businesses, community partners, and local leaders to better understand the challenges affecting the neighbourhood and identify opportunities to improve safety and community confidence,” OPS Insp. Ian Hayes wrote in an email statement.
While Mott said she didn’t believe increased police presence in her neighbourhood would make the situation worse, she said it depended on what that meant.
“Are they patrolling in their vehicles? Are they talking to people? Are they looking for people who are getting into trouble, or are they looking to just connect with the youth in the area?”
Youth support needed, residents say
A combined effort is needed to address this “moment we’re having in the community,” said Keith Egli, a Craig Henry resident and former Knoxdale-Merivale councillor.
“Now, it’s a question of figuring out the motivation for the attack, and how that can be addressed. It may be through policing, but it also may be through working with some social-services agencies, bringing different resources and services into the community,” said Egli, adding that it was never a simple task.
Guy said the solution would start by identifying the community’s lack of support for youth.
“I found that there’s an age group of kids that are not as well-served in the community as we would like, and that falls within the 10- to 15-year-old range,” Guy said. She’s trying to organize community-building events where informed members are present and might be able to combat hate.
“It would be great to have another way to express concerns and have a structured environment so that we can be sure that people’s voices are heard, but also have people who know what they’re talking about involved, so correct information can be given to everyone, so that they’re not playing the guessing game,” Guy said.
Mott thinks that’s easier said than done.
“A lot of people who have these opinions aren’t going to want to come to a community picnic. A lot of families in the area don’t attend community events,” she said, noting it may be because they don’t feel as though they are as welcome as others.
“It seems like everybody’s forgotten that this (suspect) is a child and this child may have siblings who are in the area, and all of the rumours that are going around aren’t helpful for any of them,” she said.
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