It’s the same old song and dance.
Tuesday’s devastating explosion downtown at the corner of Fourth and Dominion changed the lives of many folks: a civic employee just doing her job, homeless folks in a place they shouldn’t have been and many business owners just getting ready to open for a day of business.
The “cause” will be formally determined once the investigation is complete, the “reason” it happened is known by everyone familiar with the downtown. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened in the downtown core. Failure to act on a known issue in any other situation would be called “negligence.”
Is our city council aware of this point? Does our council care?
Well, some on council are well aware of this and want to address this ongoing issue. However, there are others who would rather not address their elected responsibilities. It’s the ongoing issue of lawlessness in the downtown core; the homeless, displaced, and addicted are a concern and it’s met its tipping point.
What can be done? Well, the city will be quick to point out housing is not the city’s problem; however, law and order are the city’s problem, and this issue needs to be addressed.
Just hours before the blast downtown, less than half a block away, a woman set trash dumpsters on fire in the alley between Third and Fourth between Dominion and Quebec St. A wanton act of arson at 11 p.m. at night for no reason. Arson is arson, there is no “grey area”, no excuse for lighting a fire that endangers the lives of others.
It’s time we start calling shenanigans on the narrative that’s being sold to us, the hurry up and wait for someone else to do something. The buck stops at city administration and city council as the civic leaders of the community.
Time to hit the ground and do some “actual work” for the community that granted you a pay cheque for the next three years and a few months. So far, I haven’t seen anything positive coming from council; no work groups, no strategy sessions, but lots of whining, name calling and below par performance from our civic leaders.
Time to roll up the sleeves and get down to working the issues, folks. We (the people of Prince George) are waiting for your proposed solutions.
John Zukowski is a Prince George writer.
