For whom are we protecting Riverside Park?

The recent hullabaloo over the parkade focused on the “gem” that is Riverside Park and the need to protect it. The question arises, for whom are we protecting it?

Yves Lacasse, who heads up the local RCMP detachment, wants to extend the so-called “red zone” to include the park. He raised the idea back in September, and then again a couple of weeks ago.

Most people think the downtown and Tranquille Road red zones are all about keeping hookers away from commercial areas, but the no-go areas aren’t just about the sex trade.

Police can ban anyone charged with a serious offence in a red zone. The ban can be challenged but, in the meantime, if you’re caught going where you shouldn’t you can be subject to a hefty fine. In many cases, though, it’s the courts themselves who order a ban.

Not everybody thinks red zones are a terrific idea. When Lacasse brought it up at the last Coordinated Enforcement Task Force meeting, Bob Hughes of the ASK Wellness Centre called it a “slippery slope,” though he wasn’t real vocal about it, probably because ASK and the police have a pretty good relationship right now.

The annual Take Back the Night march — held to draw attention to women’s rights — makes a point of going through the downtown red zone as a protest.

The Sexual Assault Counselling Centre is of the view that the red zones “marginalize” women’s safety rather than protecting the public at large.

The centre claims women excluded from the zones aren’t allowed to access services and technically shouldn’t even be living there without permission from police.

Lacasses points out that those who have doctor’s or counseling appointments or otherwise need to be in a red zone can get permission.

It’s true the red zones have often been used to fight the sex trade. Judges frequently combine red-zone bans with probation and orders to seek counseling.

But druggies and thieves can also be subject to it. In one case, it was even applied to a dangerous driver.

One of the worries is that crime is simply pushed elsewhere. Seniors residences and at least one corner store on the fringe of the downtown red zone have complained about prostitution showing up on their doorsteps since the zones were established.

Merchants as far away as Valleyview have said prostitution seems to have moved into their shopping areas due to the zones.

Despite these suspicions, Lacasse is of the view that extending the downtown zone to include Riverside Park would be a positive move.

“We’ve had some bad assaults and other high-profile cases at the park,” he says.

I tend to agree with Lacasse. What good is a public park if people become afraid to go there? I have trouble buying the argument that if somebody beats someone up — or tries to sell sex, for that matter — in Riverside Park it amounts to an infringement of rights if that person isn’t allowed to go there anymore.

Nobody needs to go to the park to access medical services. Nobody has an apartment there. A public park, especially that one, should be a safe environment.

So if we don’t want a parkade in the park, why would we want to allow criminals and prostitutes to use it as a place to do business? Shouldn’t we be protecting it for the public, not for those who prey on the public?

IF THERE WAS A GOD, he’d have a sense of humour. Ian King tells the joke about the atheist chased by the grizzly bear. “Oh, God!” the atheist screams. To which God complains that the only time the atheist mentions His name is when he’s in trouble. So the atheist asks God to at least make the bear a Christian. God agrees. And the bear bows his head and says, “Lord, bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Mel Rothenburger is editor of The Daily News. He represents the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce on the Coordinated Enforcement Task Force.