British Columbia’s minister of state for community safety and integrated services visited Prince George on Thursday, March 27 to meet with community leaders and business representatives on public safety.
Speaking with reporters in the afternoon, Vancouver-Yaletown NDP MLA Terry Yung said he was speaking with locals about policies that could be used to address Prince George-specific challenges.
Yung retired from the Vancouver Police Service, rising from patrol to inspector. He said there are some similarities between issues facing Prince George and those he saw on his beat in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside — addictions, mental health, homelessness and repeat offenders.
“I heard that secure care is going to be welcoming news because, obviously, a small percentage of people are in danger themselves and others while they’re on the streets and suffering from mental illness,” Yung said.
“We also heard about prolific offenders. Some businesses like Save-On (Foods), they were saying they have the same person victimize them day after day and sometimes it tends to get more violent and their employees are afraid for their safety. Everybody deserves to feel safe when you go to work.”
Asked about municipalities’ frequent concerns that higher levels of government are downloading responsibilities onto their shoulders, Yung said that shouldn’t be happening.
The minister said he has known Mayor Simon Yu since before he entered politics and has a very clear line of communication with him. He said his government is working on things like housing, secure care and other resources to treat people with concurrent mental health and drug addiction issues.
Something else he said his government is working on is a restorative justice program that balances being sensitive to certain areas while still establishing consequences for criminal behaviour.
Though BC Housing recently opened a temporary housing facility at 397 Third Ave. that has housed many of the people who once lived in nearby Moccasin Flats, some residents remain in the encampment.
The City of Prince George has filed a claim with the BC Supreme Court asking for permission to close out what remains in the flats.
Yung said he didn’t know the specifics, but it is his understanding that BC Housing has announcements coming up that will expand housing supply in Prince George.
“And then we’re going to continue to look at other ways we can support the local government, the mayor into looking at revitalizing the downtown core,” Yung said.
At the Tuesday, March 18 meeting of Prince George’s Standing Committee on Public Safety, members discussed overnight security patrol options for the downtown core.
The option of hiring private security to keep an eye on the area from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. paid for by downtown businesses through a local area service tax was advocated for by Downtown Prince George president Eoin Foley, who said it was the “fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to provide overnight peace of mind for business owners and property owners."
The minister said that many places augment policing with private security, but that there needs to be a balance and a business improvement area shouldn’t have to spend the majority of its funding on security.
“They should spend the money and effort on attracting tourism instead of making the place safe, so I think it’s a partnership,” Yung said. “We’ll have to lay out expectations. I’m going to bring that up again today with the RCMP and say ‘what can the RCMP do better to address these issues so it won’t end up on the costing side on local businesses to actually have to step in and take over whatever perceived gap it is.’”
He said some communities, like Vancouver and Kelowna have business liaison police officers that have been paying dividends in the proper deployment of resources through evidence-based intelligence.
After the media conference, Yung said he was going to tour the Third Avenue housing facility and meet with local RCMP officer-in-charge Supt. Darin Rappel.
