Is Ottawa the City that Fun Forgot?

[S-Man]

We can still regulate our way to utopia!

I swear in this city, regulations happen for the sake of regulation. Or to fill a regulatory gap that failed to cover something not in need of regulation.

Watson wants to make the city a big deal, which is fine, but he's been behind a lot of new regulations - and is clueless as to how they could impede his own intentions for the city.

I honestly think people like Watson, the NCC, and assorted usual-suspect NIMBYs think anarchy and genocide will break out if people do something spontaneous. The knee-jerk response is to regulate any behaviour into something predictable and SAFE.

I don't know if this is rampant political-correctness, or a bureaucrat mentality, or a "we're-not-them" mindset, or a combination of all three.

Much like removing the buskers and food carts (street meat) from the Market a few years back, the result of this misguided (and seemingly pointless) act was to make the area more STERILE. Can't have people buying $3.50 sausages and throwing money at a professional entertainer who isn't impeding traffic (or something)!

Then we have a city program to cautiously and gradually re-introduce food carts back into the populace, like they're a unicorn or something. I just don't get it.

And don't get me started on $350 fines for smoking in an empty park. In the U.S. they have trash cans and butt cans everywhere, so there are places to put your butt or coffee cup. Not so in Ottawa - you're just supposed to start out not having either.

And that smoking in a park fine, at the time, was more than double the city's fine for speeding through a school zone. Priorities, people!