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‘It’s a complex issue’: Prince George’s public meeting on downtown social issues draws huge crowd

City will form a new committee to keep the conversation going
Hanna Petersen
Hanna Petersen

Prince George came out in full force to voice their concerns regarding the social issues relating to homelessness and drug use facing the city.

Over 40 speakers addressed mayor and council for over four hours during last night’s (Dec. 2) public consultation regarding the social issues in the city with a focus on the downtown core.

It was standing room only as council chambers were packed full with people who squished in along the back and sides of the gallery. Those who came but couldn’t fit watched a live stream of the meeting in an overflow room.

A wide variety of people spoke including downtown business owners, social workers, non-profit staff and people who have experienced homelessness themselves.

City manager Kathleen Soltis, RCMP Superintendent Shaun Wright and Shane DeMeyer from Northern Health also gave a presentation about the state of downtown, and the initiatives already underway.

Although downtown, homelessness, and drug use have been hot button topics on social media and throughout the community, council concluded the community meeting was respectful and productive.

“This does keep me awake. This is a tough, tough thing we are facing,” said Mayor Lyn Hall after the feedback from the consultation. “We are going to be able to walk out of here with a plan and some direction.”

Ultimately, the public meeting concluded with Coun. Brian Skakun introducing a motion, which passed unanimously, for city staff to put together the groundwork for a committee that would include a variety of partners and representatives from the business community and social services to further this work.

“It was important to start this conversation sooner rather than later and people have been waiting quite some time for this conversation but it’s not the end of the process” noted Coun. Murry Krause. “We will be having lots of conversations about what we heard this evening.”

Downtown business concerns

Voices from the downtown business community and those expressing concern over safety were among some of the first speakers to take the mic.

“I have never seen downtown so bad, I’ve lived here my whole life,” said speaker Jesse Cody. “We have business owners and a full gallery of people here that are all hurting and upset.”

He said the initiatives the city and Northern Health are working on, like the First Ave. supportive housing project, are a long way away. “It does nothing today. What can we do today to fix the problem or at least alleviate the problem?”

Mike Krause, who had his chance at the mic later on in the evening, noted his frustrations about working downtown.

“We have people that are coming in who are committing offence, after offence, after offence, and that is affecting people downtown,” he said. “We pick up dirty needles every single day. We have to pick up feces, we have bloody gloves. We have broken into vehicles. It’s non-stop and it’s absolutely insane.”

In closing remarks Coun. Skakun echoed concerns from the business community.

“We talk about the homeless and drug addicts downtown as being victims and I guess they can be, but we also have victims in the business community who have been robbed, harassed and beaten up,” said Skakun.

“It’s not only concerning for me, it's concerning for a lot of people in the community. In this instance, I think the business community has been under-represented.”

A plea for compassion

Those who work or live on the frontlines of homelessness and addiction also spoke, and each stressed the complexities of the issue, but one of the key themes that came out of this discussion was the importance of compassion.

Major Neil Wilkinson of the Salvation Army told a story of two people named “Bob and Betty” who lived on the streets, and whom he had built relationships over time.

He said what they had the capacity in themselves to make different choices, but needed someone to be there for the long journey. He says he’s happy to report they are now no longer socially dependent, are housed, employed and are contributing members of society.

“One thing we haven’t heard from is someone who was homeless, who was a drug addict on the streets of Prince George - being myself,” said speaker Daniel Roy. “I didn’t want to be homeless, but addiction took hold.”

He said he’s used to be one of the city’s most prolific offenders, but has been clean for two-and-a-half years off of alcohol and drugs – a statement which was met by huge applause from the gallery.

“The opposite of addiction is grace, compassion and community,” said Roy, adding if he wasn't treated with compassion from an RCMP officer and the Salvation Army, his life would be very different.

Roy confessed he was actually the “Bob” in Major Wilkinson’s story.

“These people downtown need people to love them and to reach out to them,” said Roy. “If we can come up with a viable solution for a recovery centre for men and women, I would love that. The stigma around addiction and recovery needs to be broken.”

Through these discussions, more gaps in services and hurdles like trauma and mental health issues were identified.

“It’s not us versus them,” said Nancy Long, who works in social services downtown and also noted the need for a 24-hour safe consumption site. “They are using our doorways because they are well lit and safe.”

This concern was echoed by Shelby Wengenmayr of Positive Living North.

“I’m upset about the ignorance and I’m upset about the attitudes in this town. Harm reduction not only works, but saves lives as well.”

Connie Abe, executive director of Advocating for Women and Community (AWAC) spoke about the complexities of homelessness, focusing on how some individuals don’t choose to be sheltered.

“The reality is some of them don’t want to come in, they want to stay in the streets so we are advocating for them so they are safe,” said Abe.

“All I can say to the community is that we are doing our part. But it’s a complex issue. It’s not a health issue, it’s not a city issue - it’s a community issue.”

Christos Vardacostas with Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George said more needs to be done to help inform the general public. 

“You don’t have to be in social services to exert some compassion and talk to people and built a relationship rather than just deal with people”

What’s next?

Once city administration puts together the framework for the new committee - determining what it will look like and how it would work -  it will come back to council for further action.   

However, there was a consensus around the horseshoe that Mayor and council have a lot of information, notes and submissions to inform future conversations and deliberations.

“One of the biggest things we are hearing is that it's a complex problem,” said Coun. Cori Ramsay. “We need all of our partners to come to the table on this.”

Council is also still accepting feedback from the public, and any other submissions can be emailed to [email protected].