Group awards city councillor with ‘golden plunger’ to highlight lack of public washrooms in Ottawa parks

‘Gotta Go’ is a local volunteer group calling for more public bathrooms in city parks and sports fields. CTV’s Natalie Van Rooy has more.

As people get outside this summer and visit city parks and sporting fields, there’s concerns over a lack of access to public washrooms in Ottawa.

Gotta Go, a local group of volunteers, says there simply isn’t enough places to go when you have to use the washroom urgently.

The group honoured city councillor Shawn Menard with the “Golden Plunger” award on Sunday to highlight his work on the issue.

“The parks in Capital Ward all now have a bathroom,” said Bessa Whitmore, who runs the Gotta Go campaign.

The group says the golden plunger highlights Menard’s dedication to opening more washrooms and portable toilets.

“Whether it’s in a field house or the porta-potties that we’ve added, we’re so pleased to see this happen, but there’s more to be done,” Whitmore said.

In the City of Ottawa 2025 budget, Menard advocated to double each ward’s funding to $4,500, allowing councillors to extend hours at existing washrooms and install portable toilets.

“When you add your parks together, it’s several thousands, but it’s worth it. It’s a low cost for having bathroom access for everybody. Everybody needs to go and to have something that works for everybody makes a huge, huge difference,” said Menard.

Access to a toilet remains a challenge at some suburban parks, including at Tauvette Park, where a local baseball team foots the bill for a portable toilet.

“It’s unfortunate that the team has to pay for that,” said Tasha Stefanis, who has a child on a team.

“This is added to the fees of the parents who pay for our kids to play baseball. We have to pay for a porta potty at a field that’s a city field, that’s also used not just by the baseball team.”

For residents that frequently use Ottawa parks, some say they plan their day around which parks have access to bathrooms.

“There’s definitely no porta potties in the wintertime and in the summertime, it’s hit and miss,” said Stephane Fournier, who was running through Confederation Park on Sunday.

“Sometimes they’re locked and sometimes they’re available so you can never really rely on them.”

There are also no washrooms on site at Minto Park in downtown Ottawa.

“Sometimes I have gone into restaurants to use the washroom because I can’t make it home,” said Kimm Chamberlin, who was at the Minto Park on Sunday.

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