By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, April 7, 2020
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson isn't open to closing city streets to give people more room to exercise outdoors, nor is he apologizing for the hefty fines that bylaw officers handed out on the weekend to residents violating social distancing rules.
Some people have complained that some streets and sidewalks, especially in central Ottawa neighbourhoods, are too crowded to maintain the two-metre distance required by COVID-19 social distancing policies.
(...)Other cities including Winnipeg and Calgary have closed some neighbourhood streets to give people in those areas more room to get fresh air, or for kids to play in the roadways. The idea is not to create a destination for people from across the city, but to make space for people in the areas where they already live.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/mayor-jim-watson-not-open-roads-covid-1.5524794?ref=mobilerss&cmp=newsletter_CBC%20Ottawa_727_17055