Crime, community services top of mind at River ward debate

Riley Brockington ended up on the hot seat at a debate at the Carlington Recreation Centre Saturday evening as he defended his record representing River ward over the past four years.

The CBC's Adrian Harewood, who moderated the event,also urged challengers FabienKalalaCimankindaand Hassib Reda for specific ideas about how they would do things better, on topics ranging from transit and crime to community building and development.

The fourth council candidatein River ward, Kerri Keith, did not take part.

The debatewas supposed to take place in late September, but was postponedaftertornadoes hit Ottawa andGatineauon Sept. 21, leaving the centre without power.

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Brockington'srecord

Incumbents frequently come under fire by their opponents during an election, and Saturday was no exception.

Reda, a social studies teacher,said the biggest issues in the ward were transparency and accountability. He criticized Brockingtonfor not consulting residentsand makingdecisions behind closed doors.

Brockington, however, vowed that henever trades votes with councillorsin exchange for support on ward projects and never will.

As for getting things done, he said he'shad his council colleagues' support on many issues, but acknowledged certain development files such as a proposed retirement community at Mooney's Bayhave been trickier.

"We have a council that has favoured or supported a lot of development files. You see city council rarely, if ever, push back on development files," he said.

Helping youth, fightingcrime

Community buildingand social issues were also top-of-mind for Saturday night, ratherthan core city services such as garbage or roads.

On the topic ofgun violence,Cimankindasaid many of the ward's troubles could be traced to a lack of long-term programs for youth.And while he believed mentoring youthis onesolution, he said he'd also supporthiring more police.

"I'm not going to fight violent crime with a basketball," saidCimankinda.

Brockingtontold the crowd that "we have a gang problem in the city of Ottawa" andthat he'd support increased police funding especially for its guns and gangs unit and for community policing.

Redasaidcrime prevention should be a priority and that Ottawawould be a changed place if it hadmore social workers.

Building a community hub

The Caldwell Family Centre was one of the organizers ofSaturday's debate, along with the CarlingtonCommunity Health Centre,RhemaMinistries, Making Voices Count, and the CarlingtonCommunity Association.

Cimankinda who grew up in the Caldwell community with his 11 siblings after emigrating from Congo said he'dmake the family centre's proposal fora community and social enterprise hub a priority if he's elected.

Hesaid it's clear the area isunderserved, and lacks both facilities and community programs.

We're not debating if there's needs. We all agree there areneeds here.- Riley Brockington

"The question is, 'Have you been inside this kitchen cooking for this community?' You'd know the needs of this community [if you had]," he toldthe candidates on either side of him.

Brockingtonsaid there have been talks about possible sites for the community hub, but a needs assessment will be required first to convince the federal and provincial governments to both contribute to the estimated $16 million cost and then help fund its operation.

"We're not debating if there's needs. We all agree there areneeds here," saidBrockington.

For a rundown of the debate, including discussion on transit andcampaign financing,see the CBC'sKate Porter's tweets below.