Buying St. Brigid's — We don't need more disruption in the ByWard Market
When I first saw the St. Brigid’s church property in Lowertown listed for sale, my worry was that the building would be turned into condos. I had no idea that a much worse outcome was looming.
The announcement that “The United People of Canada,” had purchased the building for $5.95 million made my stomach turn. This acquisition group, some of whose members attended “freedom convoy” protests, could provide a foothold for the dangerous reactionaries who held our city hostage this past winter, and who continue to harass our residents at their weekend convoys. That should be a concern for every Ottawa resident who cares about their neighbours and our city as a whole.
The ByWard Market, the neighbourhood where the St. Brigid’s property is located, is home to many of Ottawa’s most vulnerable residents. Despite having a lower unemployment rate than other parts of the city, residents in this community experience disproportionate levels of poverty, with a poverty rate among children below 14 nearly double the municipal average. During the occupation this winter, the ByWard Market was also the site of many incidents of harassment and violence by some convoy participants. Some of the people associated with this real-estate acquisition share ideas or ideology with those involved in the events that led to the harassment of marginalized Ottawa residents, including those living in the Market. And now they want to spend millions to buy their way into the community.
Of course, they are doing so while proclaiming “love” and “dialogue.” We’ve heard this before. The people who descended on Ottawa in January also claimed to be acting out of love. And the flimsy excuse of “just asking questions” has been the hollow defence of many a white supremacist-sympathizer who wants to normalize ideas that ought to be outside the realm of debate and discussion.
The largest financial backer of this project, Tony Cuzzocrea, claims to run an organization called Love First. Despite having the financial means to buy a multi-million-dollar property, Cuzzocrea does not have the capacity to create a meaningful digital footprint for this purported organization, which has no stated mission, vision or values. So what does “love” mean to Cuzzocrea and The United People of Canada?
It seems like their idea of love isn’t love at all; it’s entitlement. The kind of entitlement that occupied our city and harassed our residents for 26 days. The kind of entitlement that defaced memorials and cost Ottawa businesses millions in lost revenue. The kind of entitlement that now wants to create a “Disneyland” in a neighbourhood that more than 5,000 residents call home.
We don’t need any more disruption. We need the right to heal, rebuild and reconnect.
It’s time to call this acquisition what it is. And it certainly isn’t love.
This piece was originally published in the Ottawa Citizen.