Denley: City has only sad excuses in response to Britannia Beach's dangers
The City of Ottawa should just get a barge, fill it with sand and dump the sand to reduce the depth of drop-off areas.
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How many more people have to die before the city takes its responsibility seriously and fixes dangerous swimming conditions at Britannia Beach?
In 2020, a person drowned at the beach. In 2023, two more drowned on back-to-back days. In June of this year, nine-year-old Antonio Burpee drowned at the city-owned beach.
The details of the latest drowning have not yet been released, but a coroner’s report on the first three deaths found significant similarities. The three victims were newcomers to Canada and inexperienced swimmers. They entered the marked swimming area from an adjacent area of shallow water, stepping into water that is up to 10 feet deep.
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The problem appears to stem from a 2020 dredging of the swimming area, intended to remove years of accumulated silt. The areas........
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