Inuit community pushed out of 60-year gathering spot

The Circle — a gathering space near the pedestrian underpass at the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive — has been home to Ottawa's Inuit community for 60 years. Now, after recent increases in police presence downtown, the spot sits nearly empty.

Members of the community say Ottawa Police Service patrols and city efforts to "clean up" downtown have made them feel unwelcome. A few have received fines ranging from $75 to $130 for consuming liquor in unauthorized spaces. The result: people who once spent their days there playing cards and dice games have stopped coming.

"(The Circle) is one of the only places in Ottawa where Inuit have gathered for the last 60 years, and now, for the first time ever, they can't gather together," said Nick Illauq, an Inuk man behind the Ottawa Inuit Circle nonprofit.

For some, the spot was more than social — it was survival. Illauq explained that members struggling with alcohol addiction relied on the community there. "When they start to have withdrawals, they know they could go to Circle. Somebody will give them a beer and they won't get sick," he said. "Because otherwise they're gonna start to have seizures and have to get taken by ambulance to the emergency room."

Sydney Squirrel, who has frequented the Circle since 1994, described it simply: "It's my second home."